The company will give away software to help the charity

Sep 23, 2014 17:39 GMT  ·  By

Redmond-based software giant Microsoft is already known as a company that supports charities worldwide, and this isn’t at all surprising given the fact that it was founded by one of the world’s leading philanthropists, Bill Gates.

Microsoft continues these efforts with a new donation to World Vision Australia, but instead of money, the company has donated software worth $4 million (€3.2 million).

In a press release rolled out today, the organization announces that these new applications are supposed to help reduce World Vision Australia’s admin costs and support funding campaigns for emergency relief and long-term community development projects.

This isn’t the first time Microsoft donates software to organizations in Australia, and according to official statistics, tech companies have until now given away applications worth $120 million (€90 million) to help these charities.

Office 2013 among the donated apps

Microsoft has donated key products that could help the charity keep its activity up and running, including Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013, SharePoint, Lync, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

Unsurprisingly, representatives of the two organizations claim that such an effort obviously deserves all the praises given the fact that donated software would bring more benefits in terms of collaboration and communications.

"This partnership and the technology it brings will transform the way our staff work and collaborate, advancing World Vision's customer relationship management system so we can better target the information our Australian supporters receive," World Vision Australia's CEO Tim Costello said.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with World Vision Australia and providing them with the tools they need to support their employees and improve the experience of their Australian supporters," Microsoft Australia's Citizenship Manager, Anna Howarth, added.

Microsofties also donating money to charities

Last year, Microsoft employees donated a record $113 million (€87.8 million) to 19,123 non-profit organizations and charitable causes across the world.

According to Microsoft’s internal policies, the company is matching every employee donation up to $15,000 (€11,500) per year and offers $17 (€12.5) for each hour of volunteer time. In 2013, Microsofties performed a total of 460,000 volunteer hours, which means that the company donated a total of $7.8 million (€6.06 million) to select organizations.

Microsoft executives themselves encourage employees to donate money to charities, so the company itself offered $50 (€32) to each worker in order to make a donation to a select organization.

"The past year has been a busy one at Microsoft – and not just because of new products, a new acquisition and a new CEO," Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, said in early 2013. "It has also been a busy time for our employees and their support of the nonprofit community."