Many nonprofit staff are facing increased stress and multiplying concerns about privacy, security, and vulnerabilities. What should you be tackling first in this new political environment?

The takeaways:

• Most attacks are still financially based: criminals want you to wire money to the wrong account. The good news is that cybersecurity basics that protect you from fraud also protect your organization from politically motivated attacks.
• Taking action – even modest first steps or reading up on the issues – goes a long way to assuage fears and stress. But when the stress is all around us, it is hard to prioritize the boring, back-office tasks like reviewing your incident response plan or acceptable use policies, or updating your cybersecurity awareness training. Working with an accountability partner can help!
• To find motivation to carve out the time to gather stakeholders together, remind them that as Jenny says, a trip in an ambulance to the emergency room costs way more than an annual check up. The cost of a breach will likely be a lot more than the time it would take your team to strengthen your security.

There are lots of resources available – here on our site we have free resources on basic cybersecurity, anti-doxxing resources, staff training, and governance policies. If you need motivation to start, listen to this podcast and take those first steps.

Presenter:

Jennifer Huftalen is a 17-year veteran at Community IT and is our Director of Client Services. She speaks daily with clients about their needs and fears and shares her insights in this podcast interview with Carolyn.

The good? news is that our fundamental recommendations on foundational cybersecurity still stand, and will protect most nonprofits from most threats, financial or political. More good news? Basic solutions do not have to be expensive, in fact in our experience, most nonprofits worried about cybersecurity need to walk – put fundamentals in place – before they can run – engage vendors in expensive comprehensive testing when an assessment could have already revealed those weaknesses, for less.

Bottom line, it feels good to take action, and Community IT has lots of resources on taking your first steps.

If you have questions that aren’t answered by our downloadable Cybersecurity Playbook or other online resources, schedule time with our Cybersecurity Expert Matthew Eshleman, no strings attached.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

NOTE: The Microsoft policy on the end of their donation program for the free and discounted Microsoft Office 365 Business Premium and E1 licenses for qualified nonprofits is shifting frequently, and we are working to keep you updated. Please check for the most recent blog or podcast from us to ensure you have the most recent update.

This podcast provides updates to our episode from June 13th about the changes to Microsoft's donation program for nonprofit licenses. The active date of July 1st has now passed and we are learning more about Microsoft's approach to rolling over or just canceling existing licenses on their anniversary/renewal date.

Steve Longenecker, Community IT Director of IT Consulting, explains our updated understanding and advice on how to handle the changes to these licenses on your anniversary/renewal date.

We will continue updating our podcasts and blog posts as soon as we learn more information from Microsoft and as we begin to learn best practices from our clients who are renewing and changing these licenses. Check back if you have questions not answered in this podcast, we'd love to hear from you!

Some Key Takeaways:

• Check your licenses through your Microsoft admin portal
  • Check the renewal date
  • Check the license types -look for "donation" or "discounted"
• If you are currently using Microsoft 365 Business Premium licenses you were getting 10 free licenses. Any licenses over the first 10 that you are using are being billed at a discounted nonprofit annual rate. When your licenses renew after July 1, 2025, NONE of them will be free.
  • Microsoft says that your 10 free licenses will be automatically cancelled on your renewal date.
  • You don’t need to do anything to make this happen. However, we recommend actually cancelling your donation licenses about 2 weeks before your renewal date. That will ensure (we hope) that you don't get charged somehow if Microsoft automatically converts those free licenses to discounted licenses.
  • About 2 weeks before your renewal/anniversary date, you should purchase the equivalent number of discounted Business Premium licenses.
  • Your finance team needs to be aware that going forward, your payment method on record will be charged an annual renewal fee for ALL your Microsoft 365 Business Premium licenses.
  • We recommend using the free licenses until about 2 weeks before your renewal date, then purchasing the equivalent number of licenses you need. Why pay for the new licenses early? Save your money until the free licenses are about to expire.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

Board.dev Co-Founder and CEO Alethea Hannemann on how to recruit tech leadership to join your nonprofit board, and why you should have tech leaders an/or a tech committee on your board helping your organization to grow and thrive.

In part 1, Alethea presents research on the benefits of board members with tech experience and gives two case studies. In part 2, she delves into how to recruit a tech-savvy board member and takes audience questions.

Do you have tech expertise on your nonprofit board?

Board.dev was founded to help nonprofits recruit and engage tech leaders for your board—so you can fully and responsibly harness the power of technology to maximize your impact. Board.dev also helps educate tech leaders from the for-profit world on the benefits of joining a board, and helps train them to help them be effective quickly in the nonprofit world.

Alethea Hannemann is the co-founder and CEO of Board.dev and an architect of the pro-bono service movement, with a career in nonprofits, investing, and advising. She will share Board.dev’s insights into the necessity of having board members fluent in tech and nonprofit needs, and how to build tech expertise on your board.

Why tech board leadership? Why now?

Technology is increasingly a key differentiator for nonprofit performance, from operational efficiency to better service of the community. Yet too few nonprofits have the technology resources they need to achieve their missions.

Board service is a high-potential lever for tech capacity-building in social sector organizations. By placing a tech leader on your board, you bring a unique technology perspective to board conversations, add to your general business knowledge, and engage a valuable strategic technology planning partner to the CEO. Making technology risk and opportunity a regular topic at the highest levels of leadership can transform an organization, driving mission success and building greater support for the community.

As with all our webinars, this presentation is appropriate for an audience of varied IT experience.

Community IT is proudly vendor-agnostic and our webinars cover a range of topics and discussions. Webinars are never a sales pitch, always a way to share our knowledge with our community.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

Board.dev Co-Founder and CEO Alethea Hannemann on how to recruit tech leadership to join your nonprofit board, and why you should have tech leaders an/or a tech committee on your board helping your organization to grow and thrive.

In part 1, Alethea presents research on the benefits of board members with tech experience and gives two case studies. In part 2, she delves into how to recruit a tech-savvy board member and takes audience questions.

Do you have tech expertise on your nonprofit board?

Board.dev was founded to help nonprofits recruit and engage tech leaders for your board—so you can fully and responsibly harness the power of technology to maximize your impact. Board.dev also helps educate tech leaders from the for-profit world on the benefits of joining a board, and helps train them to help them be effective quickly in the nonprofit world.

Alethea Hannemann is the co-founder and CEO of Board.dev and an architect of the pro-bono service movement, with a career in nonprofits, investing, and advising. She will share Board.dev’s insights into the necessity of having board members fluent in tech and nonprofit needs, and how to build tech expertise on your board.

Why tech board leadership? Why now?

Technology is increasingly a key differentiator for nonprofit performance, from operational efficiency to better service of the community. Yet too few nonprofits have the technology resources they need to achieve their missions.

Board service is a high-potential lever for tech capacity-building in social sector organizations. By placing a tech leader on your board, you bring a unique technology perspective to board conversations, add to your general business knowledge, and engage a valuable strategic technology planning partner to the CEO. Making technology risk and opportunity a regular topic at the highest levels of leadership can transform an organization, driving mission success and building greater support for the community.

As with all our webinars, this presentation is appropriate for an audience of varied IT experience.

Community IT is proudly vendor-agnostic and our webinars cover a range of topics and discussions. Webinars are never a sales pitch, always a way to share our knowledge with our community.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

When do your licenses renew? What kind of free or discounted licenses do you have? What are your options?

Microsoft announced in the spring of 2025 that after July 1st two classes of nonprofit discounted licenses would be changing. Steve Longenecker, Community IT’s Director of IT Consulting, explains how the license discount and donation program is changing at Microsoft, and how to form a plan of action before your renewal date in this podcast with Carolyn Woodard.

Steve reviews the history of the Microsoft donation and discount programs for nonprofits and how they have changed over the years. Microsoft’s office suite is of course one of the industry standards and very reliable, reputable, and very affordable for nonprofits who qualify for discounts and donated licenses.

Some Key Takeaways:

• Check your licenses through your Microsoft admin portal
  • Check the renewal date
  • Check the license types -look for "donation" or "discounted"
• If you are currently using Microsoft 365 Business Premium licenses you were getting 10 free licenses. Any licenses over the first 10 that you are using are being billed at a discounted nonprofit annual rate. When your licenses renew after July 1, 2025, NONE of them will be free.
  • Microsoft says that your 10 free licenses will be automatically cancelled on your renewal date.
  • You don’t need to do anything to make this happen. However, we recommend actually cancelling your donation licenses about 2 weeks before your renewal date. That will ensure (we hope) that you don't get charged somehow if Microsoft automatically converts those free licenses to discounted licenses.
  • About 2 weeks before your renewal/anniversary date, you should purchase the equivalent number of discounted Business Premium licenses.
  • Your finance team needs to be aware that going forward, your payment method on record will be charged an annual renewal fee for ALL your Microsoft 365 Business Premium licenses.
  • We recommend using the free licenses until about 2 weeks before your renewal date, then purchasing the equivalent number of licenses you need. Why pay for the new licenses early? Save your money until the free licenses are about to expire.
• If you are currently using free nonprofit Office 365 E1 licenses for some staff, those also will roll over to discounted licenses on your renewal date after July 1, 2025.
  • Because Microsoft 365 Business Basic licenses are very similar to Office 365 E1 licenses, and are free for qualified nonprofits for up to 300 licenses, we recommend procuring Microsoft 365 Business Basic licenses and unsubscribing from Office 365 E1 before your renewal date.
  • Changing licenses can be done at any time before your renewal date, so you can go ahead and do it now rather than risk rolling over to paying for E1 licenses.
  • Steve walks through the steps he likes to take to change these licenses over for our clients. It is not difficult but not automatic.
• For further clarity or support, contact your IT provider, IT staff, or Microsoft account manager.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

Are you worried?

In part 1, Nura and Carolyn covered introductions, policies, and resources on three main categories you may be worried about - cyber, data, and staff safety. In part 2, they go over budgeting for IT when your budget may be up in the air, what to move into the "nice to have" and what needs to stay in the "must have" column, resources on how to stay mentally healthy under stress, and how to make a plan to move you and your nonprofit forward with confidence in your priorities.

Where does your IT fit into this new world? Is your IT strategy flexible, and have you revisited your IT planning, performance, and policies? As you examine your finances, what IT is essential and where can you afford to pare back without hurting your productivity and morale? Do you have some smart savings opportunities lurking in your IT budget that could help your organization in this moment? Is your cybersecurity up to date and do your staff know how to protect your organization and data? Perhaps most importantly, how are your staff coping with all this stress?

What are the top steps to take NOW to adapt your IT quickly to the new nonprofit sector reality?

Join Senior Consultant Nuradeen Aboki who answers your questions about priorities, strategy, and next steps. Nura has been in nonprofit IT for decades and has enormous experience helping our clients’ executives strategize priorities and cut through the noise to the essentials. This is a perfect opportunity to get guidance and reassurance.

The current situation for the nonprofit sector is highly changeable and changing fast. Every day there’s a new worry turning up around your mission, your funding, and your future.

What you are doing matters. Don’t burnout with worry but don’t leave your organization vulnerable either.

Learn what Nura recommends and leave with a plan for your next few months and the resources to help you sort out your nonprofit IT essentials for these challenging times.

As with all our webinars, this presentation is appropriate for an audience of varied IT experience.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

Are you worried?

The current situation for the nonprofit sector is highly changeable and changing fast. Every day there’s a new worry turning up around your mission, your funding, and your future.

Where does your IT fit into this new world? Is your IT strategy flexible, and have you revisited your IT planning, performance, and policies? As you examine your finances, what IT is essential and where can you afford to pare back without hurting your productivity and morale? Do you have some smart savings opportunities lurking in your IT budget that could help your organization in this moment? Is your cybersecurity up to date and do your staff know how to protect your organization and data? Perhaps most importantly, how are your staff coping with all this stress?

What are the top steps to take NOW to adapt your IT quickly to the new nonprofit sector reality?

Join Senior Consultant Nuradeen Aboki who answers your questions about priorities, strategy, and next steps. Nura has been in nonprofit IT for decades and has enormous experience helping our clients’ executives strategize priorities and cut through the noise to the essentials. This is a perfect opportunity to get guidance and reassurance.

In part 1, Nura and Carolyn cover introductions, policies, and resources on three main categories you may be worried about - cyber, data, and staff safety. In part 2, they go over budgeting for IT when your budget may be up in the air, what to move into the "nice to have" and what needs to stay in the "must have" column, resources on how to stay mentally healthy under stress, and how to make a plan to move you and your nonprofit forward with confidence in your priorities.

What you are doing matters. Don’t burnout with worry but don’t leave your organization vulnerable either.

Learn what Nura recommends and leave with a plan for your next few months and the resources to help you sort out your nonprofit IT essentials for these challenging times.

As with all our webinars, this presentation is appropriate for an audience of varied IT experience.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

A week in the life of the On Site Support Team - what do they do?

We’re inordinately proud of our On Site Support Team (OSST), who work with clients who need IT help in person, particularly at the nonprofit schools we serve in the DC area.

So many of us work remotely - but many nonprofits do work that can't be remote, and many of them need IT support at the office or workplace. For those clients, Community IT is proud to employ a team of customer service professionals that travel on site to keep IT running smoothly and answer questions in person.

In fact, all our On Site Support Team members have achieved HDI Customer Service Certifications.

Listen to this presentation, meet our team, and learn about a typical week filled with teamwork, expertise, partnerships with our clients, and love of helping people that goes into providing excellent IT support service.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.