Box Offers Permanent 50 Percent Discount To Non-Profits

Enterprise-grade cloud storage specialist Box has announced a number of concessions for non-profit organisations, as part of a new initiative dubbed ‘Box.org’. These include a permanent 50 percent discount on all products, as well as 10 completely free licences.

The future development of Box.org will be guided by an advisory board which includes leaders from global philanthropic and charitable organisations.

Box says that more than 1,000 NGOs already rely on the company’s services for everyday operations, including the UN Foundation and Charity: Water. At the same time, only 27 percent of non-profits have a dedicated IT department, and most are strapped for resources.

“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,” said Karen Appleton, SVP of Global Alliances at Box.

Giving back

Box has appointed Bryan Breckenridge, former head of Nonprofit Solutions at LinkedIn for Good, as the executive director of Box.org. He will be helped by an advisory board, which already includes members from the Clinton Global Initiative, World Bank Group, International Rescue Committee and Salesforce Foundation.

From today, any qualifying organisation can log into the dedicated web portal to receive 10 free licences as part of the Starter Package, and a 50 percent discount on all further Box products.

To qualify, a non-profit must be registered with a 501(c)(3) tax exemption in the US, or an equivalent designation abroad.

“Many of the non-profit organisations we work with are very global, so they tend to have people who are scattered around the world. Some of them are working in low bandwidth areas, so using Sync and similar tools they can easily exchange information with the headquarters,” David Quantrell, general manager for EMEA at Box, told TechWeekEurope.

“If you look at the loose nature of some of these organisations, the collaboration tools become very important. And then, there is the ease of deployment: you literally put your email address in, sign up and start working. I think these are the main adoption drivers.”

Quantrell added that it was better to give NGOs products than shower them with money, because many of these organisations are struggling to support their ageing IT infrastructure, and such approach helps replace some of the hardware and provides an ongoing benefit.

In March, Box filed for an IPO, hoping to raise $250 million (£181m) despite the fact that it doesn’t make any profit yet.

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