Box gives non-profits free & discounted access to products

blue box logo

Cloud storage player Box is offering UK non-profit and charitable organisations free and discounted access to its products.

The offer forms part of the firm’s new Box.org initiative, which has been billed by the company as a means of delivering “lasting social impact through better use of technology.”

The company has brought in Bryan Breckenridge as Box.org’s executive director, who has overseen similar initiatives in the past at LinkedIn and Salesforce.

Through the scheme, eligible non-profit organisations will be offered 10 free Box licenses and, if they require more, will be able to take advantage of a 50 per cent discount to purchase them.

The Box.org eligibility document, published on the cloud collaboration firm’s website, states that UK organisations must have a Charity Commission or a Community Interest Companies’ registration number, and a memorandum of association to benefit from the deal.

“Organisations eligible for the Box.org programme have a declared and verifiable charitable or philanthropic mission to benefit communities that could include, but not limited to, providing relief to the poor, advancing civil society, delivering education, preserving culture, restoring the environment and championing human rights,” the document states.

Karen Appleton, senior vice president of global alliances at Box, said the aim of the scheme is to help charitable organisations access the technology tools they might miss out on as very few have dedicated IT departments.

“We believe that organisations committed to doing good and serving others should have access to innovative technologies that will help them be more connected, productive, and effective in achieving their goals,” she added.

Caroline Donnelly is the news and analysis editor of IT Pro and its sister site Cloud Pro, and covers general news, as well as the storage, security, public sector, cloud and Microsoft beats. Caroline has been a member of the IT Pro/Cloud Pro team since March 2012, and has previously worked as a reporter at several B2B publications, including UK channel magazine CRN, and as features writer for local weekly newspaper, The Slough and Windsor Observer. She studied Medical Biochemistry at the University of Leicester and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism at PMA Training in 2006.