Obtaining Donated Software
Having up-to-date software is essential to getting the most out of your computer. Fortunately, most key Internet applications are free to non-profits, including Eudora Light, Netscape Communicator and various utilities such as RealPlayer and Acrobat Reader. The bad news is that major application programs such as Microsoft Office and Adobe PageMaker are not; in fact, they are very expensive, often costing several hundred dollars per copy. However, many major software manufacturers have corporate philanthropy programs through which they give away software to nonprofit organizations, either at no cost or for a relatively small shipping and handling fee. This document contains some contact information for software donation programs:

Microsoft Windows 98/2000, Windows NT, Office 2000, FrontPage, et al.	For donations directly from Microsoft, see: http://www.microsoft.com/ giving/np_tsolu.htm#3 Also: CompuMentor 800.659.3579 or 415.512.7784 Gifts In Kind America 700 North Fairfax St., Suite 300 Alexandria, VA 22314 (703)836-2121 If your organization has a friend who works at Microsoft, they can buy heavily discounted software at the company store, donate it to your group, and Microsoft will then match the donation! This can be an excellent way to obtain software at a very low cost!
Adobe PageMaker, Photoshop, Acrobat, PageMill, et al.	Adobe processes all donation requests through Gifts in Kind America (see above). For more information, call Adobe's Philanthropy Council hotline at (408)536-3993, or visit their Web site for procedures and guidelines.
Symantec Norton Utilities, Norton AntiVirus, WinFax, et al.	Symantec has recently shifted their software donation program to the Gifts-in-Kind model. For more information contact: Gifts In Kind America 700 North Fairfax St., Suite 300 Alexandria, VA 22314 (703)836-2121 Or, it may be worth an attempt under the old paradigm. 1. Submit a request letter on your nonprofit organization's letterhead to: Jeri Stark, Chair Symantec Giving Program 175 West Broadway Eugene, OR 97401 or Fax: 541-334-7401 2. Provide a brief summary of your organization. 3. Include the title(s) of the software you would like to receive, how many machines your organization has, and what operating system you are using. 4. Provide a copy of 501(c)3, or appropriate tax exempt certification. All requests will receive a response, even if it is no, within four weeks. More information is available on the Symantec Web site.
Lotus cc:Mail, Notes, Domino, etc	Sharon Glassman, Product Donations Manager Lotus Development Corporation 55 Cambridge Parkway Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142 (617) 577-8500. Generally, they have an evaluation form which a group fills out, and then, if this preliminary handshake passes muster, Lotus contacts the group to try to help determine what software they need - package, number of seats, etc.
FileMaker Pro FileMaker Pro 5.0, FileMaker Server	If your organization purchases a copy of FileMaker Pro, FileMaker will donate you additional licenses (you need multiple licenses in order to have multiple simultaneous users of ebase!). Complete donation information can be found on the FileMaker Web site.
Macromedia Dreamweaver Web editing software, Fireworks, Drumbeat 2000	Fill out product donation request form (PDF- 31k \| Word 6.0/95 - 288k) and submit to [email protected] or via fax at 415-252-2348.

In addition, CompuMentor runs a substantial software donation pass-through program, through which it makes available copies of many different programs, including Microsoft Office & Windows, at low cost. You can find more information on this program at:
http://www.compumentor.org/cm/services/
software/default.html