Your MS Gifts at Work
It cannot be overly praised how integral your matching software donations are to Compassion International's ministry. This year alone, Microsoft employees have saved Compassion more than $240,000 by donating software through Microsoft's matching gift program. Because this software is so necessary to Compassion's daily operations, these gifts are more valuable than cash.
Below are just a few examples of how software donations have helped Compassion become a more efficient organization and serve children in need all over the world.
Access to growth
In the 1950s, the Rev. Everett Swanson began Compassion's ministry with a $50 check and one orphanage of 35 children in Korea. Now, 55 years later, Compassion's ministry has grown to serve more than 850,000 children in 24 countries. In addition, we have area offices and partner country offices around the world. Our technology needs span the globe and were it not for MS software donation matching, we would be spending a lot more money on equipment such as Windows CALs and licenses to MS Office.
MS donors helped us to secure:
- 237 licenses for our Exchange server
- 297 licenses for MS Office Professional
- 63 licenses for LCS CAL
- 48 SharePoint Portal Server licenses
- 211 Windows Server licenses
- 14 Windows Server Standard
- 7 SGL Server Std Single Processor
- 2 SMS licenses
All this donated software allowed our Information Technology Division to keep up with the explosive growth Compassion has experienced. Without it, we would have spent tens of thousands of dollars on licensing, taking away precious money from children in need.
Chatting all over the world
The average corporate e-mail user sends and receives about 130 e-mails a day. Imagine how long it takes to sift through and read or write all those e-mails. Now imagine if you're on a dial-up computer in the middle of Rwanda. Thanks to the implementation last year of Live Communication Server and the Communicator Client, Compassion's 1,500 employees have instant access to each other without the inhibitors that come with e-mail and lack of access.
The introduction of the Microsoft product allows our IT Division to offer instant technical support to many of our IT specialists overseas. The product has made it easier for us to fix problems and troubleshoot, allowing our regional and country offices to become more efficient and productive. Through instant messaging we're able to share applications and ideas immediately, working in real time to solve complex issues. The real-time application is essential for a global organization with 40 offices in dozens of time zones.
Without the instant messaging program Compassion's ministry would have to spend thousands of dollars on other forms of communication, including the telephone. Instant chat eliminates that need, allowing workers in Lima, Peru, to speak with workers in Colorado Springs without delay. With the application we've created dozen of "virtual work groups," which can collaborate and talk on a secure network.
Thank you for your support of Compassion's ministry. Because you chose to participate in Microsoft's matching gift program, nearly 1 million children are being released from poverty in Jesus' name. Don't forget to turn your cash donation into software by using the MS software matching program. May God bless you for your generosity!
