Forum Discussion
Fundraising and Engagement solution retiring on December 31, 2026
Sharing this for those who haven't seen the announcement (the following was emailed to existing users of the Fundraising and Engagement solution):
Fundraising and Engagement will be retired
Microsoft remains committed to providing affordable and relevant technology and skilling to nonprofit organizations worldwide. As we continue to innovate and enhance our technology offerings, we are making strategic updates to our suite of solutions. Notably, the Fundraising and Engagement solution will be retired, with technical support concluding at 11:59 PM PT (US) on December 31, 2026.
As of July 15, 2024, Microsoft will continue providing necessary security updates, but will not make additional enhancements to Fundraising and Engagement.
Between July 15, 2024, and December 31, 2026, you can continue to use Fundraising and Engagement, apply security updates as they are made available from Microsoft, and receive technical support from Microsoft. After December 31, 2026, Microsoft will no longer implement security updates for Fundraising and Engagement, and there will be no further technical support for the solution.
What action should your organization take?
We want to ensure that all customers have a successful path forward on the Microsoft Cloud for their organizational fundraising needs.
Customers currently using Fundraising and Engagement should work with their Microsoft Partner to identify the future configuration of Dynamics 365 Sales needed to meet their specific needs. If your organization does not have a Microsoft Partner, you can find a partner with knowledge of the Fundraising and Engagement solution at Microsoft.com/nonprofits.
Alternatively, customers can explore Microsoft partner solutions for donor management and fundraising built on Dynamics 365 Sales that have been specifically designed for customers transitioning from Fundraising and Engagement, including solutions from Barhead, mhance, and SylogistMission CRM. More solutions will be coming soon in the Partner solutions area of Solution Center.
If you have questions about these changes, please contact your Microsoft account team, your Microsoft Partner, or use this form to contact us.
Sincerely,
Microsoft Tech for Social Impact Team
- We acknowledge Microsoft's strategic shift towards AI; however, it is quite disappointing to hear about the decision to retire the Fundraising and Engagement (F&E) solution. Over the past few years, we have made significant investments in onboarding our fundraising teams to adopt F&E, and it has truly been a transformative tool for our efforts. Nonprofit organizations typically plan for long-term technology implementations, often spanning 5+ years. While there is an option to continue without Microsoft's direct support, it is hard to overlook the sense that Microsoft has not fully honored its commitment to this space.
MattBurr While microsoft commitment to non profit is appreciated, the retiring of F&E is a huge let down and this decreases the trust on Microsoft product offering for Non Profits. Microsoft should consider the reality of Non Profits and should not change the product offerings. F&E was introduced two or three years before and organisations like us trusted this commitment from Microsoft , but only to find that after three years Microsoft decides to retire Fundraising & Engagement. Imagine the plight of Non Profits who are already struggling with minimum technology budget , now need to recalibrate and spend more dollars to adopt a different approach. Microsoft should understand the sensitiveness and the reality of Non Profits and support them for long term. Clearly this is creates distrust and Microsoft for Non Profits is not walking the talk.
- Extremely frustrating news. As a fairly new product and wanting to engage and tailor to the NGO space I can imagine organizations going to Salesforce or other companies that have CRM solutions tailored and adapter to our industry...
Yesterday, Microsoft released this post which sheds some light on the decision and future strategy: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/microsofts-commitment-nonprofit-success-evolving-1rrvf/
Microsoft's commitment to nonprofit success: Evolving our innovation strategy with AI
July 25, 2024At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As part of that work, Tech for Social Impact (TSI), part of Microsoft Philanthropies, develops technology and skilling that help nonprofit organizations tackle the world’s biggest challenges. Last year, Microsoft provided more than $3.8 billion in technology discounts and donations to more than 377,000 nonprofits around the world. And this year we will provide more grants and discounts to more nonprofits than in any previous year.
Over the past two years, we have witnessed the rapid rise of AI innovation and adoption, inspiring us all with its promise and impact. Our goal in TSI is to ensure that AI’s promise can be realized by all nonprofits, and that means we must focus our resources on the Microsoft Cloud and AI. To do that, we are dedicating more AI resources to help nonprofits navigate their AI transformation. We will be launching a new Azure Landing Zone for smaller nonprofits to help them secure their data and prepare for AI. We will also be releasing new Power Platform-based template apps that are aligned to the Common Data Model for Nonprofits to help accelerate partner innovation in the areas of fundraising, grant management, and outcomes management. These template apps will be available in Solution Center during the second half of calendar year 2024.
We will be retiring our first-party fundraising solution called Fundraising and Engagement. Microsoft will continue to fully support Fundraising and Engagement through December 31, 2026, providing a 2.5-year transition planning timeline. All standard Microsoft service and support levels will remain in place until that date.
This evolution represents an important change for our nonprofit and partner ecosystem, enabling us to offer more choice and more innovation to nonprofits of all sizes globally. For larger organizations, customers can utilize Microsoft partner solutions for fundraising and donor engagement built on Dynamics 365 that are designed for customers transitioning from Fundraising and Engagement – available on Microsoft AppSource. Smaller organizations can take advantage of the fundraising template app built on Power Platform.
Additionally, customers can leverage other best of breed industry-specific fundraising solutions on Microsoft AppSource built on our AI platforms, the Microsoft Cloud, and the Common Data Model for Nonprofits.
Customers should work with their partner to determine the best path forward for their organizational fundraising needs. If your organization does not have a Microsoft Partner, you can find a partner with knowledge of the Fundraising and Engagement solution at Microsoft.com/nonprofits.
To support your decision-making, Microsoft will provide a one-time assessment for customers spending over $5000 (USD) annually on Dynamics 365. This assessment, available in late August 2024, aims to help your organization determine the best path forward by evaluating the available alternatives for your fundraising needs.
Our mission remains steadfast – we are here to empower nonprofits around the globe with the technology and skilling they need to solve the world’s problems. We provide discounts and grants across the Microsoft Cloud including Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Surface, Microsoft Azure, and Power Apps. We will continue to invest in AI evolution and optimization within our own teams so we can help our partners and customers utilize, evolve, and optimize this powerful technology to meet their mission impact and business goals.
Learn more about nonprofit offers from Microsoft at aka.ms/nonprofits.
Thanks for sharing this post MattBurr, I saw the email yesterday and to say it rankled would be an understatement.
Our charity (of around 25-30 staff), with the expensive support of our Microsoft Dynamics Partner, spent a good bit of time trying to implement Fundraising & Engagement to our Dynamics environment last year without success. We had F&E and it's entities there but we couldn't configure them to work.
Recently I've looked at adding donations to our environment and it made sense to me to give F&E another go. I got the Azure Grant, done a lot of courses through Microsoft Learn and had got further than I did with the Microsoft Partner but still unable to use it in the small way we required.
Last week I spoke with Microsoft Support and was advised to go through them to speak to Tech Support which I was looking to do this week.Now I'm wondering what F&E was all about. My guess would be that it's barely been used because not enough of the Partners know how to install it and run it correctly for smaller charities. Those that moved from Raiser's Edge/E-Tapestry or another system to F&E must be in a tough experience.
The money up front isn't cheap but the time spent in learning it
.
Disgruntled Dynamics user here that needed a place to vent.
Thanks!This is very dissapointing news.
Would be nice if Microsoft would explain what the long term plan for nonprofits is?
Will the nonprofit common data model continue?
