Microsoft is again sponsoring the annual IT Makeover Campaign for local nonprofits. It's something the company has been sponsoring for the last 15 years and a way to help nonprofits all over the region with their technology needs.
"This year we have $25,000 in eligible community funding for nonprofits to apply for an IT makeover to help them enhance to the latest and greatest in technology," said David Taylor with Microsoft Reno. "Nonprofits across Northern Nevada can apply and this literally goes towards anything to upgrade and enhance their IT capabilities."
The deadline to complete the online application is April 14. Over the years Microsoft has helped more than 40 local nonprofits upgrade their technology.
"Nonprofits look at technology and sometimes it's the last thing they think of in terms of planning for budgets," Taylor said. "And when we give them these funds for it, it lets them improve their organization and in turn help more people and serve the community a little bit better, so it's kind of a win-win for all of us."
One of the winners last year was Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful, a nonprofit that's been serving the community since 1989. That group used the money to buy new laptops that are now being utilized in all three of their programs.
"That's youth education, sustainability education, and beautifications and cleanups," said KTMB Executive Director Mark Cameron. "We use them daily because pretty much we're in a computer world at this point, so it's a great thing to have, it's a great tool. The laptops allow us to get a little more mobile, we can get out into the community and do our things at different locations so it's been a really great thing for us."
And it's something that will come in handy at KTMB's Great Community Cleanup on April 29.
"It's a huge boost," Cameron said. "It's great Microsoft does this for nonprofits because it's one of those things that is often overlooked. We're always about our mission and this is one of those things that really helps to support that."
Nonprofits new to the process can ask questions on a teams call on March 31.
"They can ask their questions about the different questions that are on the application, and we can steer them in the right direction before they submit it," Taylor said.
15th Annual IT Makeover Campaign: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/reno/itmakeover
Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful: https://www.ktmb.org/
