Charities in Ireland need reliable IT that protects donor and service-user data without eating into the budget for their actual work. The essentials are the same as any organisation: secure Microsoft 365 accounts with MFA, managed devices, tested backups and someone to call when things break. The difference is licensing and budget. Microsoft changed its nonprofit offers in July 2025, so many charities are paying for licences they used to get free. ERS IT Solutions has supported Irish organisations from Dublin 15 since 1983.
What IT support does a charity need?
A charity needs a helpdesk staff and key volunteers can call, managed and patched devices, Microsoft 365 set up securely, backups that have been tested, and clear rules on who can see donor and service-user records. Most small charities do not need an in-house IT person. A managed provider or a co-managed arrangement with a volunteer usually covers it.
The charity IT checklist we work through with not-for-profit organisations:
- One account per person, never shared logins for a "general" mailbox user.
- MFA on every account, including trustees and volunteers with access.
- Same-day removal of access when staff or volunteers leave.
- Devices owned or managed by the charity for anyone handling personal data.
- Backups of SharePoint, OneDrive and email, with a test restore.
- A list of every system and supplier, including fundraising and CRM platforms.
How did Microsoft nonprofit licensing change in 2025?
Microsoft retired its free Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Office 365 E1 grants for nonprofits from 1 July 2025. Eligible nonprofits can still receive up to 300 donated Microsoft 365 Business Basic licences, and can buy Business Premium and E1 at discounts of up to 75%, according to Tech Impact, a nonprofit technology organisation.
What this means for an Irish charity:
- Business Basic covers email, Teams and SharePoint, and suits many staff and volunteers.
- Business Premium includes everything in Business Standard plus Microsoft Defender for Business and Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 for device and email security. It is now a discounted paid licence, not a free grant.
- A mix often works best: Basic for most users, Premium for those handling sensitive data or working on charity laptops.
Check Microsoft's nonprofit portal for current eligibility and prices before planning. ERS is a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, and our Microsoft estate management covers licence management, including finding licences nobody uses.
How should a charity protect donor and service-user data?
Start with access control: only the people who need donor or service-user records can open them, and every account uses MFA. Then make sure the data is backed up and the devices holding it are encrypted and patched. Charities are covered by GDPR like any organisation, and any IT provider with access to that data needs a written processor agreement.
Ireland's NCSC sets out six steps in its cyber security guide for small business that apply equally to charities: identify what matters most, keep devices and software up to date, implement basic protections, turn on MFA, back up your information and use strong passwords. Its list of what matters includes third-party suppliers, such as cloud providers who manage data on your behalf.
Under GDPR Article 28, the contract with your IT provider must set out confidentiality, security, subcontractor rules and what happens to the data at the end. That applies to charities exactly as it does to companies.
IT support for small charities on a tight budget
Small charities get the most value by keeping things simple: Microsoft 365 for email and files, one managed laptop per staff member, MFA everywhere and a support arrangement sized to the team. Avoid running an old server in a cupboard. Avoid shared passwords. Spend on backups and security before anything else.
Ways a small charity can keep IT costs down:
- Use donated Business Basic licences where they fit, and pay for Premium only where needed.
- Move files to SharePoint instead of replacing an ageing server.
- Standardise devices so support is simpler.
- Remove unused licences when people leave.
- Choose a support scope that matches the team. A five person charity does not need the same service as a 50 person one.
For published Irish price ranges, see managed IT services cost in Ireland. ERS quotes per organisation after a short call.
What about volunteers using their own devices?
Volunteers on personal phones and laptops are one of the hardest parts of charity IT. The safe approach is to keep sensitive data in Microsoft 365, not on the device, use MFA, and apply app protection so charity data can be wiped from a phone without touching personal content. Volunteers who handle service-user records should use charity-managed devices.
ERS sets this up through mobile device management, which lets the charity lock, wipe and update devices remotely.
Should a charity use an IT provider or a volunteer?
Many charities rely on a volunteer who "knows computers". That works until the volunteer moves on, and nobody else knows the admin passwords. A managed provider gives continuity, documentation and cover. A good middle path is co-managed IT: the volunteer or staff member stays involved, and the provider handles security, backups, monitoring and escalation.
See co-managed IT and fully outsourced IT support.
Does ERS work with not-for-profit and member organisations?
Yes. ERS works with member-funded and not-for-profit organisations including trade unions. For Fórsa, ERS virtualised and live-migrated 120 users and cut recovery time after a disaster from 3 days to 4 hours. For the Teachers' Union of Ireland, ERS moved to Office 365 with a SharePoint intranet and permissions down to document level.
Read the Fórsa case study and the TUI case study, or see our page on trade unions and membership bodies.