SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — TechSoup, the leading nonprofit network facilitating distribution of technology solutions to civil society organizations globally, today announced that it has received a $1 million impact investment from Microsoft Philanthropies to support an ambitious initiative to nearly double the number of nonprofit organizations it serves.
Microsoft is the lead impact investor in TechSoup’s newly launched $11.5 million direct public offering, a funding source that enables individuals and corporations to invest directly into the growth and mission of TechSoup. TechSoup’s DPO will be leveraged to distribute more than $5.4 billion of additional resources to the nonprofit sector.
As the DPO’s first corporate investor, Microsoft’s leadership will enable TechSoup to develop new offerings to help nonprofits utilize technology to amplify their mission and impact, and it will encourage investors of all stripes to support TechSoup’s growth initiative and catalyze the impact to the sector.
“TechSoup has been a critical partner in building a remarkable and robust societal ecosystem that brings the promise of technology to nonprofits serving on the frontlines, those trying to solve and address the world’s biggest challenges,” said Justin Spelhaug, General Manager, Microsoft Philanthropies Tech for Social Impact. “Microsoft’s investment in and collaborative partnership with TechSoup is building bridges to digital inclusion and empowerment to help the nonprofit sector realize all the benefits of cloud technologies.”
For more than 30 years, TechSoup has worked with over one million organizations in 236 countries and territories around the world, delivering the services and resources for people and nonprofits to come together to make an impact on the issues about which they care the most. Since inception, it has worked in partnership with 100+ corporations and 200+ foundations and facilitated distribution of more than $11.1 billion in technology products and grants.
“As one of our earliest, most innovative and longest-standing corporate partners, Microsoft has played a critical role in helping TechSoup bring the promise and potential of technology to people and organizations around the world,” said TechSoup CEO Rebecca Masisak. “This significant new investment will dramatically expand TechSoup’s services, financing five new initiatives to help NGOs, philanthropists and civil society around the world leverage technology to create, connect, activate and transform their organizations and communities.”
Microsoft and TechSoup are investing in the civil society infrastructure necessary to ensure that NGOs in all countries have access to Microsoft’s cloud solutions as well as the services, support and education that will enable them to realize the social impact of digital transformation. According to Jane Meseck, Senior Director, Microsoft Philanthropies Tech for Social Impact, “Building capacity and digital skills for NGOs is vital to our strategy. Our investments in mission-based partnerships like TechSoup have enabled a scale of impact and a sustainable model that can now contribute significantly to our cloud adoption goals and ensure NGOs are ready for the future.”
The Microsoft Philanthropies investment was made through a Direct Public Offering (DPO) on SVX.US, a new investing platform offering debt and equity investment opportunities in high impact companies, organizations and funds that can deliver positive social and environmental impact alongside financial return. With investment minimums as low as $50, the DPO is uniquely structured to engage with TechSoup’s community, including the nonprofits they serve and the technology companies they partner with.
The Microsoft funding deepens and expands the longstanding Microsoft-TechSoup partnership, which started in 1996, and represents Microsoft’s growing commitment to a strong portfolio of partnerships to serve the global nonprofit sector. TechSoup estimates that Microsoft’s $1 million investment will be leveraged to distribute more than $470 millionof additional resources to the nonprofit sector.
“The Nonprofit/NGO sector is under‐resourced and under‐represented in an increasingly digital world, but with support from Microsoft and our other investors, we will be able to increase the resources we distribute to organizations and nearly double the number of nonprofits we serve,” said Masisak. “By leveraging the emerging trends of online communities, the World Wide Web for information sharing, and e‐commerce marketplaces, we can help close the tech gap for more of the world’s frontline NGOs that serve billions of the most vulnerable people and help them more effectively address the world’s most critical problems.”
About Microsoft
Microsoft enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
About TechSoup
TechSoup provides the transformative technology solutions, the digital platforms, and the in-person experiences that enable people to work together toward a more equitable world. With 70 partner NGOs around the world, TechSoup manages the only global philanthropy program that brings together more than 100 tech companies to provide technology donations to NGOs everywhere. TechSoup’s data and validation services enable companies, foundations, and governments to connect their philanthropic resources with vetted NGOs around the world. In the past 30 years, TechSoup has reached 1.06 million NGOs and facilitated distribution of technology products and grants valued at more than $11.1 billion. https://www.techsoup.org/
