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There's a number of SaaS offerings I've considered suggesting for non-profit organisations (technically charities), however being Australian based, rules like t

There's a number of SaaS offerings I've considered suggesting for non-profit organisations (technically charities), however being Australian based, rules like this can be tricky/off-putting because it's explicitly a US requirement. (With hindsight, I feel like maybe I should've emailed with a "hey we're not US based, but we have the Australian equivalent, see: ..."; but the explicit-ness of the wording made me feel like it wouldn't work... (I assumed there was a reason for needing the official status...)) I do agree with the suggestion that case-by-case may not scale; although I'm not sure I've ever considered the bias side, but don't know how I would ever "notice" the bias as a consumer. Back to the question itself: I've been on the consumer side of non-profits/charities using SaaS offerings before (both through probono project at work, and side projects) and think it's awesome for the non-profit/charity (and have been incredibly thankful for the services we've received), but also think it can be good for the SaaS too (there are at least 3 SaaS offerings I now actively advocate to use in future projects because I used them first in a non-profit/charity context, and I can do it with hands on experience too). Doing probono or side-projects in this context allows for far more flexibility (IME) and hence I'm much more likely to investigate and consider a SaaS than I am in a normal project for a customer (working at consulting/SI shop). It's also meant that a lot of the other people involved in the non-profit/charity now know about XYZ now too, and can suggest it in other contexts. (It's not a direct example (but it comes to mind): we used Mailchimp for a Scout thing, and now about 4 (that I know of) of my friends have started using Mailchimp at their workplaces because they now know that it exists; what it is; and how to use it (and they're unlikely to consider competitors because they already know Mailchimp and use it).

giaour 10y ago
You can always say "501c3 (or the equivalent in the country where you are located)." Most jurisdictions have an official tax designation for charitable/non-profit organizations (Salesforce has a list of them at http://www.salesforce.org/nonprofit/power-of-us/eligibility-guidelines/ http://www.salesforce.org/nonprofit/power-of-us/eligibility-...), so you don't have to restrict the program to US-based organizations. I know what you mean about these programs being good for the SaaS. If it weren't for Salesforce's pro-bono license program, I never would have used it, programmed against it, or advocated adopting it at work.

giaour 10y ago

You can always say "501c3 (or the equivalent in the country where you are located)." Most jurisdictions have an official tax designation for charitable/non-profit organizations (Salesforce has a list of them at http://www.salesforce.org/nonprofit/power-of-us/eligibility-guidelines/ http://www.salesforce.org/nonprofit/power-of-us/eligibility-...), so you don't have to restrict the program to US-based organizations. I know what you mean about these programs being good for the SaaS. If it weren't for Salesforce's pro-bono license program, I never would have used it, programmed against it, or advocated adopting it at work.