Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides non-profit organisations with cloud infrastructure support through tiered promotional credits, competitive grants, and artificial intelligence programmes. These initiatives assist civil society entities in modernising IT operations, hosting web services, and deploying data workloads without requiring major upfront capital investments in physical hardware.
Cloud credits and funding streams
The AWS Nonprofit Credit Program, delivered globally in partnership with TechSoup, provides annual promotional credits scaled to an organisation's operating budget. Under the tiered structure introduced in April 2023, eligible smaller organisations can receive $1,000 USD annually, mid-sized organisations can receive $2,000 USD, and larger non-profits can obtain up to $5,000 USD per fiscal year (1 July to 30 June). Credits apply to on-demand services such as compute, storage, and databases. They do not cover domain name registration, third-party software purchases on AWS Marketplace, or upfront reservation fees.
For larger initiatives, the AWS Imagine Grant offers financial awards and cloud resources across defined award categories:
- Momentum to Modernize: provides up to $50,000 USD in unrestricted funding and up to $20,000 USD in AWS promotional credits for foundational IT and infrastructure upgrades.
- Go Further, Faster: provides unrestricted funding and credits for advanced, highly innovative cloud deployments.
- Pathfinder – Generative AI: awards up to $200,000 USD in financial support and up to $100,000 USD in AWS credits, plus technical implementation guidance from the AWS Generative AI Innovation Center for generative and agentic AI projects.
Eligibility criteria and regional reach
Geographic eligibility depends on the programme. The AWS Nonprofit Credit Program operates in more than 120 global locations for registered charities, public libraries, and equivalent non-profit institutions. Educational institutions, healthcare organisations, and government bodies are ineligible.
Direct applications for the AWS Imagine Grant are restricted to entities registered in six countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. However, charities registered in these countries that operate programmes or serve beneficiaries in developing nations remain eligible.
Application steps and cost considerations
To receive credits through the AWS Nonprofit Credit Program, organisations register with their local TechSoup partner, undergo legal verification, and request the grant code through the partner platform. Applications can be submitted throughout the year, with an allowance of one grant per fiscal year.
Imagine Grant applications follow an annual competitive cycle announced on the AWS public sector portal, with initial proposal windows typically closing in late May or early June. Although AWS provides credits and grant funds free of charge, TechSoup levies a mandatory administrative fee per credit transaction, and non-profits must pay standard AWS rates for any usage exceeding their credit allocation.
