TechSoup and Google for Nonprofits: How the Application Routes Differ in Japan

Software that nonprofits can use free or at a discount does not come through a single door. Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft's programmes are listed by TechSoup Japan, while Google Workspace and Canva's nonprofit plans are verified by a separate company, Goodstack, before you apply.

This guide sets out how TechSoup Japan works after its November 2025 handover, how it differs from Google for Nonprofits, and where to apply for each product. Everything below was checked against the official pages between 14 and 16 September 2026.

ISVD, the author, is paid to help organisations apply for Google for Nonprofits and to run Google Ad Grants accounts. TechSoup and the other programmes are not part of that service, so read this knowing we have an interest in Google's programmes.

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Grouped by who verifies the organisation, the application routes come to four.

Goodstack

The company Google, Canva and Zoom rely on to verify organisations

Programmes applied for here

• Google for Nonprofits
• Canva for Nonprofits
• Zoom nonprofit discount

Who qualifies

Goodstack's definition for Japan: public interest associations and foundations, NPO corporations, social welfare corporations, general incorporated associations

TechSoup Japan

Run directly by TechSoup Global (US) since 15 November 2025

Programmes applied for here

• Adobe Creative Cloud
• Microsoft donation and discount programmes
• Asana, Box, Autodesk, Tableau and others

Who qualifies

NPO corporations, social welfare corporations, public interest associations and foundations, general incorporated associations (fully non-profit type)

Directly with each company

Each provider checks against its own criteria

Programmes applied for here

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic (free for up to 300 users)
• Adobe Acrobat Pro and Adobe Express

Who qualifies

The eligibility criteria each company publishes

Digital Channel for Nonprofits

A programme the Japan NPO Center launched in November 2025

Programmes applied for here

• Backlog and kintone
• Kaikei-O (accounting) and Kyuryo-O (payroll) software
• Refurbished PCs

Who qualifies

Ten corporate forms, including fully non-profit general incorporated foundations and workers' cooperatives

* Slack is not shown because its application route could not be confirmed on an official page

The first, Goodstack, is the verifier Google names in its own help pages: it reviews an organisation's legal and programme information to confirm it is a lawfully registered, active nonprofit. Canva and Zoom also leave eligibility checks for their nonprofit plans to Goodstack.

The second, TechSoup Japan, registers organisations against its own conditions and then brokers donated or discounted software to them. The third is the vendors that check eligibility themselves, such as Microsoft and Adobe. The fourth is Digital Channel for Nonprofits, which the Japan NPO Center launched in November 2025.

None of the official pages we checked say that a TechSoup registration can be reused for Goodstack's check. If you plan to use both routes, expect to be verified separately in each and prepare the paperwork accordingly.

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The handover

TechSoup Japan was run from June 2009 by the Japan NPO Center with the cooperation of TechSoup Global in the United States. Since 15 November 2025, TechSoup Global has run it directly. In its closing note the Japan NPO Center reports that 6,522 nonprofit corporations used the programme, receiving more than 140,000 donated or discounted licences worth roughly 60 million US dollars at market prices.

Which legal forms qualify

According to TechSoup Japan's page on registering an organisation (checked 14 September 2026), registration is open to specified non-profit activity corporations (NPO corporations), social welfare corporations, public interest incorporated foundations, public interest incorporated associations, general incorporated associations of the fully non-profit type, and their branches.

General incorporated foundations, religious corporations, school corporations and medical corporations are excluded, as are neighbourhood associations with authorised status, unincorporated groups, national agencies and local governments. The same page states that no exceptions are made. Because general incorporated associations qualify only when they are of the fully non-profit type, check your articles of incorporation against the requirements for non-profit type status（このサイトの記事） before you register.

What it costs

Registering an organisation and keeping the account carries no registration fee and no annual fee. Applying for a product, however, carries an administrative fee or usage charge, as the same page states.

The rate of that fee could not be confirmed on TechSoup Japan's current pages. The Japan NPO Center's guidance page gives 4% to 10% of the market price, but the page carries no publication date, and whether the same rate applies after the November 2025 handover is unclear.

Terms of use and duplicate registrations

Registering means agreeing to nine conditions on TechSoup Japan's eligibility page. They include not copying, reselling, transferring or lending the products, and limiting use to devices the organisation owns or manages, by paid and unpaid staff, directors, councillors and auditors only. A serious breach can lead to a suspension of up to 5 years.

A note on the same page excludes voting members and other members of the organisation from using the products, and prohibits handing out products or licences as a staff benefit or a membership service. Decide who will use the software before you apply.

One more thing to settle first is whether your organisation is already registered. TechSoup Japan warns that registering again, which happens when the person who first signed up has left, will hold up product applications, and that registration data cannot be deleted once created. Use the contact form to ask whether a registration exists, giving the organisation's name, its 13-digit corporate number, and the contact person's name and email address.

Vendors with published donation criteria

TechSoup Japan's eligibility page links to the donation criteria of each participating vendor. As of 14 September 2026 the list covers Microsoft (software donation, Microsoft Discounted, Microsoft Cloud), Adobe, Asana, Norton, Box, Autodesk, Bitdefender, Tableau, TeamViewer and NortonLifeLock. Zoom and Slack are not named on that page.

The products themselves are listed separately in the site's product catalogue. If you already know what you want, check how it is handled there before registering.

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Google for Nonprofits bundles Google Workspace for Nonprofits, Google Ad Grants and other services, and every application goes through Goodstack's check. Both the verifier and the list of eligible legal forms differ from TechSoup Japan.

Goodstack's published definition for Japan names public interest incorporated associations, public interest incorporated foundations with official authorisation, specified non-profit activity corporations certified by their competent authority, social welfare corporations, and general incorporated associations, without restricting the last to the fully non-profit type. ISVD's guide to Google for Nonprofits（このサイトの記事） treats non-profit type status as the condition for general incorporated associations, so for either programme, confirm your articles meet the non-profit type requirements before applying.

The cost model also differs. The free tier of Google Workspace for Nonprofits carries no usage charge, and the paid tiers come at a discount (see how Google Workspace becomes free and how to apply（このサイトの記事）). With TechSoup Japan, registration is free but each product application carries a fee.

What the reviewers look at, and how to write the plan they read, is covered in writing a plan that passes the Google for Nonprofits review（このサイトの記事）.

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Microsoft

Microsoft publishes its own eligibility rules for nonprofit donations and discounts. The organisation must hold recognised nonprofit or non-governmental status in its country; government bodies, schools and universities, financial institutions, political organisations and labour unions are excluded.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic for nonprofits is free for up to 300 users, and Business Premium is 5.50 US dollars per user per month on an annual commitment — priced in dollars even on the Japanese page. Set against Google Workspace, which is priced in yen, the comparison moves with the exchange rate. Microsoft's programmes also appear in TechSoup Japan's criteria, so check both before applying.

Adobe

Adobe splits its products between two routes. Creative Cloud is offered at a discount and is handled by TechSoup, Adobe's programme partner.

Adobe Express and Acrobat Pro are requested directly from Adobe with the organisation's name and a valid organisational email address; verification of nonprofit status takes 1 to 3 business days. The Adobe Express premium plan is free for up to 50 licences, and Acrobat Pro comes as a discounted one-year subscription for up to 10 licences.

Canva

Canva opens its paid features to eligible nonprofits at no cost and leaves the eligibility check to Goodstack. Its exclusions cover government bodies, political organisations, schools and universities, membership bodies whose main purpose is benefits for their members, and foundations that mainly grant funds to other organisations — worth reading first if your organisation is membership-based.

Zoom

Zoom works with Goodstack to offer verified nonprofits a discount on subscriptions. Its support article says applications start from the "Get 50% off select Zoom products" section of the Zoom Cares page, that organisations with an operating budget under 10 million US dollars go through Goodstack's verification, and that Goodstack emails the next steps within two to three business days.

Slack

We could not confirm where nonprofits apply for Slack's discount. Slack is not named on TechSoup Japan's criteria page, and the relevant Slack help page would not open, so check Slack's own help for the current route before applying.

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Having handed TechSoup Japan over, the Japan NPO Center started Digital Channel for Nonprofits in November 2025. Alongside donated and specially discounted products from IT companies, it offers funding and hands-on support for putting technology to work, and seminars run by those companies.

The products listed are refurbished PCs, the task management tool Backlog, the accounting package Kaikei-O, the payroll package Kyuryo-O, Cybozu's kintone, rented servers and card payment systems. Google and Adobe do not appear among them. Prices vary, but the Q&A on the same page says products commonly come at 10% to 50% off list price.

Ten legal forms qualify: NPO corporations, general incorporated associations (fully non-profit type), general incorporated foundations (fully non-profit type), social welfare corporations, social welfare cooperation promotion corporations, public interest incorporated associations, public interest incorporated foundations, workers' cooperatives, offenders rehabilitation corporations and social medical corporations. Two of them — fully non-profit general incorporated foundations and workers' cooperatives — are outside TechSoup Japan's list. Registration and annual fees are nil, and the Japan NPO Center says registration data for organisations already enrolled with TechSoup Japan has been carried over automatically.

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Work through the routes in this order.

1. Confirm the legal form. All four routes we checked are open only to incorporated bodies; we found none that an unincorporated group can use as it stands. The first decision is therefore whether to incorporate (the steps are in the complete guide to founding a non-profit type general incorporated association（このサイトの記事）). A general incorporated association also needs articles that meet the fully non-profit type requirements.
2. List the tools you use now and the ones you want. Email and document sharing on Google point to Goodstack; Adobe Creative Cloud points to TechSoup Japan; Microsoft 365, Acrobat Pro and Adobe Express point to the vendors themselves.
3. Check, route by route, whether your organisation is already registered. TechSoup Japan cannot delete duplicate registration data, so ask before you create a second one.

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Tech programmes for nonprofits in Japan run through four routes: Goodstack, TechSoup Japan, direct applications to each vendor, and the Japan NPO Center's Digital Channel for Nonprofits. TechSoup Japan has been run directly by TechSoup Global since November 2025; registration is free, product applications carry a fee, and among general incorporated associations only the fully non-profit type qualify.

Google for Nonprofits is verified by Goodstack, so a TechSoup registration does not carry over — it is a separate application. If you want to know what the review asks for, the application guide（このサイトの記事） sets out the documents and the plan.

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References

TechSoup: thank you for 16 years — Japan NPO Center (2025). Japan NPO Center

How to register your organisation with TechSoup — TechSoup Global (2022). TechSoup Japan (checked 14 September 2026)

Eligibility criteria for recipient organisations — TechSoup Global (2020). TechSoup Japan (checked 14 September 2026)

Get verified by Goodstack — Google LLC (2026). Google for Nonprofits Help

Nonprofit definitions — Goodstack (2026). Goodstack

Eligibility for nonprofit donations and discounts — Microsoft (2026). Microsoft

Technology and software donations and discounts for nonprofits — Microsoft (2026). Microsoft

Adobe products for nonprofits — Adobe (2026). Adobe

Canva Nonprofits eligibility guidelines — Canva (2026). Canva

Subscribing to Zoom as a nonprofit organization — Zoom Communications (2026). Zoom Support

Digital Channel for Nonprofits — Japan NPO Center (2025). Digital Channel for Nonprofits

Launching Digital Channel for Nonprofits, a new IT support programme — Japan NPO Center (2025). Japan NPO Center