Set up your charity’s Microsoft 365 tenant
Organizational setupEmail & Workspace · about 25 min · Charity owners and admins standing up the organization’s Microsoft 365
Microsoft for Nonprofits grants require validated 501(c)(3) (or equivalent) status.
Your personal mailbox guide covers signing into a mailbox FFC made. This guide is the organization side: the tenant those mailboxes live in, claimed through Microsoft for Nonprofits.
FFC does most of this with you — the tenant underpins the whole charity, so changes are made carefully.
The tenant is the charity’s foundation — change it deliberately
The Microsoft 365 tenant holds every mailbox, identity, and security setting. It’s powerful and easy to misconfigure, so FFC partners with you on tenant-level changes rather than leaving them to guesswork.
- 1
Get the Microsoft for Nonprofits grant
Once recognized, register at Microsoft for Nonprofits to receive donated/discounted Microsoft 365 licenses (with FFC’s help).
Microsoft’s nonprofit offers are validated through TechSoup — being validated there first makes this smoother (see the TechSoup guide).
- 2
Add and verify your domain
In the Microsoft 365 admin center, add the charity’s domain (e.g. yourcharity.org) and verify it via DNS — FFC manages the DNS records so mail routes correctly.
- 3
Create users and assign licenses
Create a mailbox for each person (you@yourcharity.org), assign a license, and require MFA. Each person then follows the personal Microsoft 365 guide to sign in.
- 4
Set baseline security with FFC
Turn on security defaults / conditional access and MFA enforcement. Ask FFC before changing sharing, retention, or admin roles.
Keep at least two global admins, each with MFA, so the tenant is never locked behind one account.
Common questions
What’s the difference between this and the personal email guide?
The personal guide is one user signing into a mailbox. This guide creates and runs the tenant that all those mailboxes live in — the grant, the domain, the users, and security.
Should I make tenant changes on my own?
Coordinate tenant-level changes with FFC. The tenant underpins every account, so mistakes are costly; FFC helps you make them safely.
Next setup guides
Stuck on any step? Text Clarke Moyer at (520) 222-8104 — every step is meant to be simple, so if something doesn't match what you see, ask.