How to correctly activate and create subscription for Azure $2000 non profit grants for non profit organization

Hassan Kabulu 0 Reputation points
2026-10-19T02:57:05.0533333+00:00

After getting my organization's grant approved, and approval email is sent. The steps detailed that Activation should be carried out before addition of subscription to start using non profit azure grant.

Once this is done, We keep getting "You're not eligible for an Azure free account" on the Azure credit balance to view the non profit balance.

This is frustrating!

Cost Management
Cost Management

A Microsoft offering that enables tracking of cloud usage and expenditures for Azure and other cloud providers.

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  1. AI answer

    2026-10-19T02:58:05.0233333+00:00

    The nonprofit grant must be activated and managed as an Azure Sponsorship under the grant’s billing profile, not through the Azure Free Account page that produces the “You’re not eligible” message.

    Verify the grant and subscription

    Since activation has already been completed, do not attempt another Free Account registration.

    1. Sign in to the Nonprofit Hub using the validated account that received the grant approval email.
    2. Open Offers and locate Azure $2,000 Sponsorship.
    3. Verify that its status is activated rather than showing another activation prompt.
    4. Sign in to the Azure portal using the administrator account associated with that grant.
    5. Search for Subscriptions and check whether the subscription created during activation appears.
    6. Open Cost Management + Billing.
    7. Select Billing → Payment methods → Azure credits. The credit tab can take some time to load.

    Microsoft documents this as the current location for the nonprofit grant balance. The grant is attached to the billing profile selected during activation and is shared by subscriptions under that profile.^1^

    The Azure Free Account is a separate offer. Its eligibility error does not establish that the already-approved nonprofit organization is ineligible for its sponsorship grant. Free-trial eligibility is restricted to users who are new to Azure.^2^

    Select the correct billing scope

    If Azure credits is missing or has no balance:

    1. In the Azure portal, open Cost Management + Billing.
    2. Select Switch scope or Billing scopes.
    3. Examine each available scope and select the one associated with the nonprofit grant.
    4. Check its Billing account type:
      • Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA): open the relevant billing profile, then go to Payment methods → Azure credits.
      • Microsoft Online Services Program (MOSP): this may be a legacy sponsorship. Check the balance in the Azure Sponsorships portal using the account-owner credentials used during grant setup.

    Azure can expose multiple billing accounts to the same user, so the active scope determines which billing information and credits are displayed.^3^

    If both MOSP and MCA scopes appear

    If Billing scopes shows both a legacy MOSP account and a newer MCA account, and the sponsorship remains attached to MOSP:

    1. In the Azure portal, search for Help + support.
    2. Select Create a support request.
    3. Choose a billing/subscription-management issue.
    4. State that:
      • the nonprofit $2,000 grant is approved and activated;
      • both MOSP and MCA billing accounts appear;
      • the sponsorship subscription or credit is not available under the MCA billing profile;
      • assistance is required to migrate or correctly associate the nonprofit sponsorship from MOSP to MCA.
    5. Include the affected subscription ID and billing-scope names, but do not post those identifiers publicly.

    A matching nonprofit sponsorship case was resolved by Azure Support moving the subscription from MOSP to MCA; that migration was not available as a self-service operation.^4^

    Other conditional recovery paths

    • No subscription was created during activation: return to the Nonprofit Hub’s activated offer and complete the guided setup using the grant’s billing profile—not the Free Account offer.^1^
    • The grant was attached to the wrong billing profile in the same tenant: use a product transfer request to move billing ownership to the eligible profile. Do not delete the existing subscription; deletion does not transfer the grant.
    • The offer is activated but neither the subscription nor credit appears in any scope: submit the Microsoft for Nonprofits Contact Us form, providing the approval email date, activation account, tenant, and screenshots of the offer status and billing scopes.
    • Activation occurred more than 90 days after issuance: support must confirm whether the offer expired, because Microsoft requires activation within 90 days.^1^

    References

    1. Activate your Azure grant
    2. Troubleshoot issues when you sign up for a new account in the Azure portal
    3. Billing accounts and scopes in the Azure portal
    4. Renew Non-profit azure grant. We have been re-accepted and I re-activated it, still it doesn't work - Microsoft Q&A
    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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