Understanding Microsoft donation limits

How many Microsoft products can you order?

If your organisation is eligible to receive Microsoft donations, you may request up to six software titles and up to 50 user licenses per title (or one license per server title) in every two year cycle You may request these titles and licenses all at one time or split them between two requests, at least twelve months apart.

A "title" refers to any product listed in DonorTec's Microsoft catalogue. For example, Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition and Exchange Server User Client Access License (CAL) - Standard are two titles. If you request Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition and 50 User CALs, that counts as two of your six titles.

The chart below illustrates the two-year cycle for Microsoft donations. You can make a second Microsoft donation request after at least one year has passed from your first request in a two-year cycle, but the sum of both requests cannot exceed six software titles and up to 50 licenses per title. If you requested your limit at the beginning of the cycle, then you must wait until a new cycle begins two years after your donation.

There are some exceptions for servers and additional licenses of titles you already requestedand these are listed below:

Exceptions:

At the end of the two-year cycle, your limits are reset. You cannot carry over unused titles or licenses from one cycle to the next, so you should maximize your requests during each two-year period.

Take full advantage of each Microsoft request

Unless you reach both your title and licence limits in your first request of the two-year cycle, you can place a second request starting 12 months after your first. To find out how much you can request, make sure you are logged in then click on “My Orders” to see what Microsoft software you have already received.

Your organisation may request additional licenses of Microsoft software titles that you already received through DonorTec as part of your previous request within the two-year cycle. However, the total number of licenses requested for this title (between the two requests) may not exceed 50.

For example, if you requested all six Microsoft titles but only 20 licenses of each in your first request of the two-year cycle, you can request up to 30 additional licenses of each of those titles one year later.

Reaching the minimum order requirement

Each Microsoft donation request you place via DonorTec needs to have at least five "seats," but what exactly is a seat?

For most products, a seat is the same as a single installation of the product, so either of the following example requests would meet the minimum requirement.

Example Shopping Cart 1 — five seats of one product/title

• Quantity 5: Office Professional Plus 2007 (Includes Software Assurance)

Example Shopping Cart 2 — 2 seats of one product/title & 3 of another

• Quantity 2: Windows Vista Business Upgrade (Includes Software Assurance)
• Quantity 3: Publisher 2007 (Includes Software Assurance)

A request can also meet the five-seat minimum requirement if one of the titles counts as five seats. Titles that count as five seats are those that support multiple devices or users. The five-seat products available through DonorTec have one of these characteristics:

• The name includes the term "processor license."
• The name includes the term "external."
• The product provides multiple software applications for testing purposes: for example, Visual Studio.
• The product includes multiple client access licenses

It is also good to remember that you do not need to request five different Microsoft titles to meet the five-seat minimum. Five licenses of just one title count as five seats.

For server titles and licenses, read the product descriptions very carefully to make sure that you are requesting the correct number and type of licenses. All of the products you procure via DonorTec will be licensed under an eOpen Volume Licensing Agreement.

Make sure you check out the links below to ensure you get the most out of your Microsoft donation.