Tips & Tricks > Anyone Use TechSoup.org?
11/14/2009 7:05:54 PM
Hey everyone, we are looking at using TechSoup's software offers for our non-profit. Anyone have any experience with them? It almost sounds too good to be true! Maybe a scam? Windows 7 Pro Upgrade for $8? Office 2007 Pro for $20? Norton 360 1 Year for $8? TechSoup.org
11/14/2009 7:56:40 PM
Those prices look too good to be true. I would compare them to other non-profit microsoft pricing before I gave them any information.
11/15/2009 6:24:23 AM
The thing is that I can't a single negative thing about them online. I did as you suggested and compared them to other non-profit and they are cheaper but not a lot cheaper.
11/15/2009 6:38:14 AM
Looks like they may be legit. Look at this article on Microsoft.com
And this one on ZDNet.com
11/16/2009 8:41:36 AM
WOW!
This is a great site Just looking I see Microsoft Server 2003 for 40.00 and Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition (Includes Software Assurance) for 160.00. at these prices I may be able to get my computers on a domain ;-)
Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
This is a great site Just looking I see Microsoft Server 2003 for 40.00 and Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition (Includes Software Assurance) for 160.00. at these prices I may be able to get my computers on a domain ;-)
Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
11/17/2009 7:53:27 AM
Looking at this site a bit more yesterday it seems that companies other than Microsoft do not allow these donations to go to religious organizations
for example:
it seems that in order to get software from these companies we can't tell others about the Lord and I think that this shows really what the Corporate America thinks about the church. Kind of depressing what this country has become and is continuing to become
.
for example:
(from Cisco)The following organizations are not eligible:
Religious organizations without a secular community designation — A secular designation is defined as an organization separate from the church or religious organization that provides services to people regardless of their religious beliefs and does not propagate a belief in a specific faith. Example: A food bank with nonprofit or charity status that is run by a church but is a separate and unique organization that provides food and meals to anyone who qualifies for services, regardless of religious beliefs.
(From Symantec/Norton)This donation will not be made available to religious organizations, except that religious organizations requesting software for use in secular community service programs are eligible to receive donations.
it seems that in order to get software from these companies we can't tell others about the Lord and I think that this shows really what the Corporate America thinks about the church. Kind of depressing what this country has become and is continuing to become
.11/17/2009 8:22:29 AM
Posted By Christopher Garrett on 17 Nov 2009 07:53 AMOn the plus side, Adobe and Microsoft used to have similar restrictions a few years ago and have now dropped them
Looking at this site a bit more yesterday it seems that companies other than Microsoft do not allow these donations to go to religious organizations
for example:
(from Cisco)The following organizations are not eligible:
Religious organizations without a secular community designation — A secular designation is defined as an organization separate from the church or religious organization that provides services to people regardless of their religious beliefs and does not propagate a belief in a specific faith. Example: A food bank with nonprofit or charity status that is run by a church but is a separate and unique organization that provides food and meals to anyone who qualifies for services, regardless of religious beliefs.
(From Symantec/Norton)This donation will not be made available to religious organizations, except that religious organizations requesting software for use in secular community service programs are eligible to receive donations.
it seems that in order to get software from these companies we can't tell others about the Lord and I think that this shows really what the Corporate America thinks about the church. Kind of depressing what this country has become and is continuing to become
11/18/2009 7:24:23 PM
If I had the connections to do so, I would file a religious persicution lawsuit against them.
The 1st Amendment, contrary to popular belief, says that the Government cannot set up a religion. It DOES NOT say that the Government cannot allow religious expression. Nor does is seperate the Government from religion. Unfortunately the ACLU, and liberal judges, has forced the rest of the country to interpret the 1st Amendment incorrectly.
11/19/2009 6:25:22 AM
However, these are private corporations and can sell their products at prices that they set. This is not a government matter.
11/19/2009 8:19:00 AM
If you check out the restrictions for Microsoft, Churches are not eligible for donation. This has not changed.
11/19/2009 9:43:06 AM
Posted By Charlie Gilman on 19 Nov 2009 08:19 AM
If you check out the restrictions for Microsoft, Churches are not eligible for donation. This has not changed.
I see that you are correct. I guess it's not worth the paperwork to sign up because just about everything is not for churches.
11/19/2009 9:47:33 AM
Posted By Christopher Garrett on 19 Nov 2009 09:43 AM
Posted By Charlie Gilman on 19 Nov 2009 08:19 AM
If you check out the restrictions for Microsoft, Churches are not eligible for donation. This has not changed.
I see that you are correct. I guess it's not worth the paperwork to sign up because just about everything is not for churches.
Those are the donations. Churches can get the non-profit pricing, however. And it can be very much worth it.
11/20/2009 4:54:26 PM
Posted By Joel Osborn on 19 Nov 2009 06:25 AM
However, these are private corporations and can sell their products at prices that they set. This is not a government matter.
If it is a Government matter that churches have to hire homosexuals, then this should be a Government matter. I am tired of having to give up my freedom of relgion because someone has convinced this country that the 1st Amendment says freedom FROM religion. The 1st Amendment only provides for freedom OF religion (in regards to religion).
If a private company decided not to sell its product or services to a person or company that was covered under one of the "protected" groups, there would be consiquences. Look what happened to the Boy Scouts when they tried to prevent girls to joining. And if I remember correctly, there was some recent litigation because they tried to keep homosexual adults from being Troop leaders.
Face it. In this country only Christian can be discriminated against. And in some cases it is actually law to discriminate against Christians.
11/24/2009 7:25:04 PM
I noticed the restriction, there is a loop hole in it, IF you also have a charity that does not discriminate against anything, such as a thrift store, you can get the pricing through that designation of your organization. That is my understanding of the restriction. But read it for yourself to determin the legality of the restriction, since I am not a lawyer I can't say for sure of anything legal.
11/29/2009 5:26:42 PM
I've used Techsoup. Great folks. Great prices, more than a few strange restrictions to be put on the non-profit organizations who are eligible to be part of the mix.
Not all of the software has severe restrictions. Most are pretty sane, but some corporations have agendas and force them on participants. Most are common sense, most simply go along with typical Equal Opportunity type guidelines, but some go into dreadful detail to the point that makes religious non-profits cringe. A couple of the donor corporations require signed statements having to do with hiring policies that must not discriminate against homosexuals. I can't remember the exact wording, but it came down to if your church preaches against what many consider to be the sin of homosexuality, but not against the homosexual or "sinner" if you will, they would not allow the purchase of the license! It was NOT TechSoup that laid that on the dot orgs.
The other point that needs to be heard is that they don't have all those titles in stock all the time. You might want a 10-license pack of MSOffice, but if they are fresh out of the 10 pack and only have 5 or 100 packs, you have to keep an eye out for the next time your desired package is available.
I worked for an educational dot org that was able to take advantage of a LOT of their stuff, especially from Microsoft. We updated our badly outdated server software and updated Windows and Office so that everyone was finally on the same revision. Same with antivirus.
Good folks to deal with. I trusted them and they never let me down. Highly recommended.
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DeanZF
Missouri
Not all of the software has severe restrictions. Most are pretty sane, but some corporations have agendas and force them on participants. Most are common sense, most simply go along with typical Equal Opportunity type guidelines, but some go into dreadful detail to the point that makes religious non-profits cringe. A couple of the donor corporations require signed statements having to do with hiring policies that must not discriminate against homosexuals. I can't remember the exact wording, but it came down to if your church preaches against what many consider to be the sin of homosexuality, but not against the homosexual or "sinner" if you will, they would not allow the purchase of the license! It was NOT TechSoup that laid that on the dot orgs.
The other point that needs to be heard is that they don't have all those titles in stock all the time. You might want a 10-license pack of MSOffice, but if they are fresh out of the 10 pack and only have 5 or 100 packs, you have to keep an eye out for the next time your desired package is available.
I worked for an educational dot org that was able to take advantage of a LOT of their stuff, especially from Microsoft. We updated our badly outdated server software and updated Windows and Office so that everyone was finally on the same revision. Same with antivirus.
Good folks to deal with. I trusted them and they never let me down. Highly recommended.
--
DeanZF
Missouri
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