Software Resources for Parishes

Both Microsoft and Google provide productivity software to nonprofits for free.  Both companies provide professional email services that can be used with your parish's website domain (name@myparishwebsite.org). 
We recommend that all parishes take advantage of one of these free* services. 

For more information on choosing a solution that's best for your parishes situation and for any assistance getting set up, please contact the IT department.

Microsoft 365 for Nonprofits

Microsoft 365, formerly known as Office 365, provides users with Microsoft's Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), OneDrive and Outlook email, along with many other resources. 

Microsoft offers several different tiers of M365, but you most likely will decide from these options:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic is provided to up to 300 users at no cost.  This level provides cloud-based access to Office applications along with 1TB of cloud storage for each user.  This level is most suitable if your parish has no need of desktop-installed applications and doesn't use a domain controller for user account management. 
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard at $3/user/mo.  This level provides Office desktop applications to users.  This level is most suitable if your parish needs desktop Office applications but doesn't use a domain controller for user account management. 
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium is provided to up to 10 users at no cost; $5/user/mo. for additional licenses.  This level provides Office desktop applications to users, enhanced security features, and Azure active directory tools.  This level is most suitable if your parish needs Windows and Office desktop applications and uses a domain controller for user account management. 

We highly recommend the Microsoft 365 Business Premium license option for all Archdiocese of Oklahoma City parishes.

G Suite for Nonprofits

G Suite is Google's solution to productivity software, providing Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, Google Drive and Gmail.  

Google offers 3 tiers of G Suite:

• G Suite for Nonprofits to unlimited users at no cost. This level provides the basic G Suite to users along with 30GB of cloud storage for each user.
• G Suite Business for Nonprofits at $4/user/mo., compared to the normal cost of $12/user/mo. This level provides increased cloud storage capacity (1TB/each) along with increased security, andministrative, and search abilities.
• G Suite Enterprise for Nonprofits at $8/user/mo., compared to the normal cost of $25/user/mo. This level provides email encryption, cloud identity tools, and live streaming functionality.

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City has a partnership with TechSoup, a company that provides discounted and free technology resources to nonprofit organizations, including Catholic parishes and schools.  This partnership streamlines the approval process to enable you to receive these resources with very little hassle.  

Sign Up for TechSoup

There are several options for video conferencing, each with their own costs, advantages and disadvantages.  We provide several popular options below and recommend that you choose one that best fits your needs.  All of these provide free versions.

Zoom

Ring Central

Microsoft Teams/Google Hangouts

Both of the productivity software solutions listed in the section above include video conferencing tools: Microsoft offers Teams while Google offers Hangouts.  Both of these offer robust capabilities that could meet any videoconferencing needs that you might have.

FreeConferenceCall.com

Cisco WebEx Meetings