Transition from Microsoft 365 Business Premium to another nonprofit account

Question

Transition from Microsoft 365 Business Premium to another nonprofit account

Colleen 5

Hello,

I received an email that my business Microsoft 365 Business Premium grant will expire and needs to be transitioned to a different Microsoft 365 offers to nonprofits, such as Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Microsoft 365 Business Standard.

I've tried to follow the instructions in an automated email, but they do not align with what I see on my screen. I need a support person to help me with this process but calling does not get me anywhere.

Thanks,

PII Removed

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Answer 1

Anonymous

Hi Colleen,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum! Have a nice day and I hope you are well!

I completely understand your frustration. It is very common for the automated email instructions to be outdated compared to the actual interface, especially with the recent updates to the Microsoft billing platform. It can be very confusing when the steps don't match what you see on your screen.

Based on my research, the most direct way to resolve this issue is to manually acquire a new subscription through the public Nonprofit portal.

Please follow these steps:

I. Acquire the New Subscription

Go to this link: Microsoft 365 Nonprofit Plans and Pricing and select the plan you wish to transition to.

When you reach the page (as shown in your screenshot), you will see two options:

User's image

Sign in to your Nonprofit Hub: Since your organization already has an expiring grant, you are already approved. Please click "Sign in" and log in with your existing admin account ([@onmicrosoft.com]).
Note: The "Apply" button is only for organizations that have not yet been validated as a nonprofit.

Once signed in, complete the "purchase" process for the new plan.

II. Verify the New Licenses

After the checkout is complete, go to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Billing > Licenses.
Confirm that the new nonprofit licenses you just acquired are listed there.

III. Assign New Licenses to Users

Buying the new plan does not automatically switch your users over. You must manually swap the licenses, or they will lose access when the old grant expires.

Go to Admin Center > Users > Active users.
Click on a user’s name.
Select the Licenses and apps tab.
Check the box for the new plan (e.g., Microsoft 365 Business Premium - Nonprofit).
Uncheck the box for the old expiring plan (e.g., Microsoft 365 Business Premium – Donation/Grant).
Click Save Changes.

Repeat this for all users.

IV. Cancel the Old Subscription: Once you are sure every user has been moved to the new license:

Go to Admin Center > Billing > Your products.
Find the old Microsoft 365 Business Premium (Donation/Grant) subscription.
Select Cancel subscription.

This will cleanly end the old grant and prevent any service interruptions.

If you need a support person to help you with this process directly, you can raise a support ticket to get assistance from a specialist. They can even set up a remote session to guide you through the screens if you get stuck.

You can find instructions on how to open a ticket here: Get support for Microsoft 365 for business

I hope this is partially helpful and helps you avoid confusion. If you have any concerns or if I misunderstood anything, feel free to reach out anytime.

Best regards.

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Anonymous

2026-01-23T03:22:49.39+00:00

Hi Colleen,

I hope you're doing well. Just reaching out to see if you've had a chance to review the responses shared earlier.

I wanted to check in and see if the information above was partially helpful to you.

If you have any updates or further questions, please feel free to share anytime.
Chris Martin 0 Reputation points

2026-02-09T20:31:43.52+00:00
Hey Matthew,

I'm facing a similar issue here- let me see if I can help provide some visibility for you- since you were asking for confirmation and I'm in the same boat as them. :)

Donated & discounted licenses are pooled together for us in our non-profit admin centers.

We aren't able to follow-through with your instructions, since our user profiles only show us whether a user is assigned a 'Business Premium' license at all, essentially.

Donated & discounted licenses don't show up for us at the per user assignment level.

We can see the different products and licenses from a purchasing lens, but once the licenses enter our environment from either path, that distinction ceases to exist & is stripped away.

We can't assign new licenses to the specific users we know have donated licenses, expiring.

I'm thinking we need to use group-based licensing assignments for all of our 'new' discounted licenses, ensuring we have enough for everyone, before cancelling all of our donated ones?

Reading through group-based licensing, it seems like conflicting service plans can lead to errors, but it also seems like the reconciliation process there may be able to help us here?

Please let me know if you'd like any additional context, and thank you!

Best,
Chris
Jean Louw 25 Reputation points

2026-04-16T06:30:38.0033333+00:00

Hi,

I am having the same issue. I have just purchased the new non-profit discounted licenses, but it seems they have been added to the donated licenses in the Users tab. I cannot allocate the new license as they already have Business Premium ticked.

Should I assume that this will transition smoothly between the old and new license when the old expires?

The docs above show that the licenses are titled differently, but they are not in reality.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jean
Chris Martin 0 Reputation points

2026-04-16T09:59:22.8+00:00

@Jean Louw it worked for me! We purchased enough discounted to cover everyone, assigned them through group licensing assignment, and did not remove the donated. :)
Jean Louw 25 Reputation points

2026-04-16T11:49:24.4133333+00:00

Thanks for the response, Chris. I am new to this so will look into the group licensing assignment - although it is only for 2 members. The others we are putting onto Business Basic which was easy because they are different.
Chris Martin 0 Reputation points

2026-04-16T12:44:46.0533333+00:00

Happy to help! You can go to products and licensing in the M365 admin center, then go to group licensing from in there, instead of creating a security group yourself from scratch by the way. Good luck!! :)

Answer 2

To transition from Microsoft 365 Business Premium to another nonprofit offer, you can follow these steps:

Select a New Offer: Log in to the Microsoft 365 admin center and select either the Microsoft 365 Business Basic grant or another Microsoft 365 offer for nonprofits.
Confirm Licenses: Ensure that the new licenses are present in your tenant.
Replace Licenses: Replace the licenses for all users currently using Microsoft 365 Business Premium with the new offer.
Cancel the Old Subscription: Once the licenses have been replaced, select your Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription and choose to cancel it.

If you are having trouble with the automated instructions, it may be beneficial to work with your current Microsoft partner or engage a new partner for support in planning and executing this transition. Additionally, if you have more than 300 active users, you may consider submitting an inquiry to connect with a Microsoft representative for further assistance.

References:

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Transition from Microsoft 365 Business Premium to another nonprofit account

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