Microsoft 365 Licence for NGO - has it been cancelled??

Hi @Magdalene Lim,

I'd like to clarify a few things before pointing you in the right direction. As a forum moderator, my role is to offer general guidance and troubleshooting support I don't have access to internal systems or backend tools, so I appreciate your understanding here.

As another volunteer moderator pointed out, the free Business Premium grant is no longer available for nonprofits. That change is most likely what's behind your issue. When the free grant ended, the licenses were removed from your accounts. Without an active license, sign-in and OneDrive access stop working which is why you can't open your files right now, your files aren't deleted; they're just locked behind the missing license until a new one is applied.

To get access back, you'll need to move your users onto a current nonprofit offer:

• Business Basic free for nonprofits, up to 300 users (enough to unlock OneDrive and reopen your files), or
• Business Premium no longer free, but heavily discounted for nonprofits (if you need the full desktop apps and advanced security).

For more details, please refer to: ANNOUNCEMENT: Microsoft 365 Business Premium & Office 365 E1 grant discontinuation

Here are a few steps you can try:

1. Re‑verify eligibility and renew the grant

• Sign in with a Global Administrator account to the Microsoft Nonprofit Hub.
• Go to Account > Eligibility and complete the nonprofit eligibility re‑verification.
• Once Microsoft approves the re‑verification, the grant‑based licenses can be renewed for a new term and reassigned to users in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
• Activate the nonprofit offer In the Nonprofit Hub, open the Microsoft 365 page, choose the offer your organization needs (the free Business Basic grant, or a discounted Business Premium subscription). For more details, please refer to: Activate an M365 Grant

2. Reassign licenses to restore email and Office

• In the Microsoft 365 admin center, check if the subscriptions show Active by going to Billing > Licenses and confirm you have available nonprofit seats.
• Go to Users > Active users, open each user, choose "Licenses and apps", and assign the appropriate nonprofit licenses to each person who needs email and Office.
• Save the changes.
• Have users sign out of all Microsoft 365 apps and sign back in. Service usually returns within 15 minutes, but it can take up to an hour.

If your OneDrive data is still missing after re-licensing, I suggest opening a support ticket through the Microsoft 365 admin center Support > Help & Support. Microsoft's technical support team can look into the account and data status on the backend and advise on data recovery options this is something only they can check, as it's outside what we can see from the forum side.

For more details, please refer to: Get support - Microsoft 365 admin

Note: If you’re an end-user, please coordinate with your Office 365 Global Administrator to handle these steps.

Before submitting the ticket, make sure the Support Assistant is turned Off as several customers have reported that when the Support Assistant is enabled, the Contact Support option may not appear.

As shown in the screenshot, simply switch Support Assistant > Off, then enter your issue description. Once disabled, the Contact Support button should appear, allowing you to submit the ticket normally.

If you are unable to sign in at all or you keep seeing the “account not active” message even with admin credentials, then the tenant may have been disabled due to inactivity, or the setup was never completed. In that case, the only way to proceed is to contact Microsoft Nonprofit Support directly, as backend intervention may be required to reactivate the account.

For more details, please refer to: Support and Troubleshooting - Microsoft for Nonprofits

You can submit a request here: https://nonprofit.microsoft.com/en-us/contactus

When submitting the request, make sure to include your organization name, the email used during registration, and a clear explanation that the account was approved but never fully activated and is now showing as “not active.”

I hope this helps clarify the path forward, and I understand how disruptive this is when your files are tied up, hopefully it will help work with your issue and if you have any other questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask.

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Business Premium is no longer available for NGOs. You need to switch to Business Basic (free for NGOs - up to 300 users) or to purchase Business Premium (prices for NGOs are significantly discounted from commercial prices).