If your organisation is a registered charity then you should be entitled to nearly FREE SOFTWARE.  Have you checked or taken advantage of this?

Charity Technology Exchange (CTX) distributes software to UK charities, and the only charge is a ‘contribution’.  And this is proper software – Microsoft products (Windows 7, Office 2010 for example), anti-virus and lots more.

All that is required is that you register with CTX, get approved, and you can then start purchasing your software.

There are rules of course – you have order products in batches, up to a limit and only a certain amout year on year.  So you can’t just go shopping when you need your next bit of software – you’ll have to plan this into a strategy, know what you need now and in the future and order accordingly.

But if you do, you’ll save a fortune.  VANEL is investing in upgrading all of our PCs to Windows 7.  The cost? £10 per licence!  And Office 2010 Professional costs us £22 per PC.

Software costs can be a barrier for many voluntary and community organisations.  But if you’re a registered charity then they need not be, CTX may be the answer.

Helping you with CTX

The IT Supporters Network is here to help you to understand and take advantage of the CTX programme.  During 2011 we ran CTX Masterclasses and also worked one-to-one with many charities to get them started.  For 2012 we’ve stopped the Masterclasses but there will be lots more information here soon about the CTX scheme and we include a briefing about it in each of our Networking meetings.

If you have any questions about the CTX scheme please just get in touch.

Further Information

Read a few articles related to CTX Masterclasses and the CTX programme in the blog here.

Watch this space for information about CTX.

Contact Karl if you want support with CTX.