Providing access to technology to benefit nonprofit organizations and empower individuals is an underlying theme for the Community Affairs group at Microsoft. Today’s announcement of more than $6.4 million dollars in software donations to seven non-profit organizations through the annual Non-Profit Technology Leadership Grants is just one highlight of recent giving activity at Microsoft. As fiscal year 1998 ended, Microsoft also announced another round of Connected Learning Community grants, which help finance programs that bring neighborhoods and communities together, as well as the sponsorship of many other enriching educational opportunities.
The 1998 Non-Profit Technology Leadership Grants, this year totaling more than $6.4 million in retail-valued software, are offered annually to selected larger non-profit organizations to help them become more effective in their daily operations. The grant’s goal is to provide software solutions for multiple locations to help enhance communications and organizational efficiency, make use of the Internet and improve the delivery of service to those in need. For 1998, all applicants were required to have staffed offices in at least three states.
Seven non-profit organizations received the 1998 Non-Profit Technology Leadership Grants: Ronald McDonald House Charities; The Nature Conservancy; Rails-to-Trails Conservancy; The March of Dimes; Make-A-Wish Foundation; Second Harvest; and the Corporation for Supportive Housing.
At the same time Microsoft Community Affairs announced the Non-Profit Technology Leadership Grants, Microsoft also marked the end of fiscal year 1998 with donations to a wide range of programs that provide access to technology.
The most recent round of Connected Learning Community grants, a program that seeks to expand information technology access to enhance learning and communication in disadvantaged communities, includes cash and software donations and volunteer commitments to 12 organizations across America. This round of CLC grants finances programs such as Hearing Impaired Press (HiP), which provides print and electronic instructional materials for deaf and hard-of-hearing children, and Kids Online!, a new program that will install six computer labs in community-based organizations serving disadvantaged youth in the Los Angeles area.
Fifty-four charitable organizations have been awarded grants in the two years that the CLC grant program has been in place, with a total contribution of $630,000 cash plus several million dollars worth of software and volunteer time to communities across the United States.
Microsoft Community Affairs also made grants to diverse educational programs this quarter. The American Indian Science & Technology Education Consortium, which aims to help Native American students stay engaged in math and science, received a gift of $75,000 plus software, and The Mathematical Association of America received $25,000 in support of the USA Math Olympiad for high school students.
Microsoft Community Affairs is motivated by the belief that if you provide people with the resources they need they can accomplish great things. All the organizations that received grants this quarter are inspiring in their ability to inspire others.
“Microsoft is proud to announce these grants and we are impressed by the capacity of all these organizations to serve their communities,” says Barbara Dingfield, Director, Microsoft Community Affairs.
