Microsoft to sunset social impact advertising grant program

Author Sharlene Gandhi

Tech giant Microsoft has announced that its Ads for Social Impact grant will be discontinued at the end of the year. 

The company’s website states that the program is currently paused for grants, but emails have surfaced suggesting that it will be ending indefinitely. The final grants will be awarded on Nov. 30, and grantees must spend them within 45 days. 

“Once the grant period ends or your grant funds are used up, you must pause your campaigns if you do not want to be charged,” the email reads. 

Two weeks ago, Microsoft Ads Liaison Navah Hopkins posted on social media there was a waitlist for the program that interested non-profits could register for. 

This move comes not long after Microsoft announced that it would cancel grant programs for its Business Premium software, shifting instead to offering large discounts. 

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  • Sharlene Gandhi is the Future of Good editorial fellow on digital transformation.

    Sharlene has been reporting on responsible business, environmental sustainability and technology in the UK and Canada since 2018. She has worked with various organizations during this time, including the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business at Lancaster University, AIGA Eye on Design, Social Enterprise UK and Nature is a Human Right. Sharlene moved to Toronto in early 2023 to join the Future of Good team, where she has been reporting at the intersections of technology, data and social purpose work. Her reporting has spanned several subject areas, including AI policy, cybersecurity, ethical data collection, and technology partnerships between the private, public and third sectors.

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