As a general guide, managed IT support for a charity can typically cost around £25–£50 per user, per month, although more comprehensive services can cost more. The exact answer depends on the size of your organisation, number of users and devices, the level of support you require and whether you choose an in-house, outsourced or co-managed approach.
For charities and non-profit organisations, choosing the right IT support is about more than simply fixing problems when something stops working. Your IT needs to help employees and volunteers work effectively, protect sensitive information and support your organisation’s wider objectives – all while working within a limited budget.
What affects the cost of charity IT support?
There is no standard price for IT support because every charity has different requirements. A small organisation with ten employees using Microsoft 365 will have very different needs from a national charity with hundreds of users, multiple locations and complex applications.
Some of the main factors affecting cost include:
Number of users
Many IT providers charge per user (and they should differentiate between full-time, part-time and volunteers), making this one of the biggest factors in determining your monthly cost. A charity with 25 users paying £25 per user, per month, for example, would pay £625 per month or £7,500 per year. Larger organisations may be able to negotiate different pricing structures depending on their requirements.
Number of devices
The number of laptops, desktops, servers, mobile devices and other technology your organisation operates can also affect the level of support required. A charity with 30 employees but 80 managed devices may need more monitoring and management than the number of users alone would suggest.
Level of support
Basic IT support may provide helpdesk assistance when something goes wrong. More comprehensive managed IT support can include proactive monitoring, security, backups, device management and strategic IT planning.
Naturally, a more comprehensive service will generally cost more, but it can also reduce the risk of downtime and other disruption associated with IT problems.
Cyber security requirements
Cyber security is increasingly important for charities. Organisations often hold sensitive information about donors, beneficiaries, staff, trustees and volunteers, making them an attractive target for cyber criminals.
Protecting data from cyber attacks, as well as strict regulatory requirements (including GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018) mean that cyber security is often a top priority.
Services such as managed endpoint protection, multi-factor authentication, security monitoring, staff training and Cyber Essentials support may form part of your IT package or be charged separately.
What should managed IT support include?
When comparing providers, it’s important to look beyond the basic monthly cost as different providers can charge similar amounts but offer vastly different services.
- A comprehensive managed IT support package might include:
- Unlimited Service Desk support for technical issues
- Proactive remote monitoring and maintenance
- Microsoft 365 administration and licence management
- Managed anti-virus and anti-malware protection
- Device management and software updates
- Backup and disaster recovery
- Strategic IT planning
- Hardware procurement
- User onboarding and offboarding
- GDPR and Charity Commission compliance support
- Advice on fundraising platforms and CRM systems
Some providers, as we do at Primary Technology, will also include a dedicated Technical Account Manager who can help your charity plan its technology rather than simply responding to individual support tickets. This proactive approach can be particularly valuable for charities without an internal IT team.
In-house IT vs outsourced IT support
One of the biggest decisions a charity needs to make is whether to employ an internal IT specialist, outsource IT support to a managed service provider, or adopt a co-managed approach.
An in-house IT employee can provide a dedicated resource and become highly familiar with your organisation. However, employing an IT professional involves more than paying a salary. You also need to consider recruitment, pension contributions, holiday cover, training, equipment, software and the fact that one person cannot necessarily provide specialist expertise across every area of IT.
Outsourced or co-managed IT support can provide access to a wider team of specialists for a predictable monthly cost. For example, a managed IT provider may have expertise across Microsoft 365, cyber security, networking, cloud services, hardware and business continuity within the same team. For smaller charities in particular, outsourcing can therefore provide access to a much broader range of expertise without the cost of building an entire internal IT department.
How can non-profits reduce IT costs?
Having a limited budget doesn’t mean your charity has to compromise on technology.
There are several ways organisations can reduce unnecessary IT expenditure.
Review your licences
Microsoft 365 and other cloud subscriptions can quickly become a significant ongoing cost. Reviewing your licences regularly can identify users who have left the organisation, duplicate subscriptions or people paying for features they don’t need.
Charities often qualify for special non-profit licensing, grants or discounts, so it is worth checking whether you are taking advantage of the offers available to your organisation.
As an example, Microsoft offers substantial discounts through its Microsoft 365 Nonprofit programme. Eligible charities can receive up to 300 Microsoft 365 Business Basic licences free of charge, with Microsoft 365 Business Premium and E1 licenses available at significantly reduced pricing, with discounts of up to 75% compared to commercial licences.
Extend hardware lifecycles
Replacing every device on a fixed schedule isn’t always necessary. With appropriate maintenance, security updates and lifecycle planning, some hardware can remain usable for longer.
However, keeping devices for too long can create security, reliability and productivity issues. The goal should be to find the right balance between extending useful life and replacing equipment before it becomes a problem. A managed service provider should help you to find this balance and take a lead with lifecycle planning.
Refurbished equipment can also be an option where appropriate, particularly for less demanding users or projects.
Move away from reactive IT
Reactive IT support can sometimes appear cheaper because you only pay when something goes wrong. However, a major outage, ransomware attack or hardware failure can create significant costs through downtime and lost productivity. Proactive monitoring, patching, security management and preventative maintenance can help identify issues before they become serious problems.
Plan technology investments
Unexpected IT expenditure can be particularly difficult for charities to manage. A technology roadmap can help you plan upcoming replacements, software changes, security improvements and infrastructure projects over several years. Instead of suddenly discovering that 40 laptops need replacing, for example, you can budget for phased replacement.
The hidden costs of poor IT
When comparing IT support providers, it is easy to focus on the monthly price. However, poor IT can cost your organisation far more than your support contract.
Consider the potential impact of:
- Staff being unable to work because systems are unavailable
- Lost or corrupted data
- Cyber security incidents
- Failed backups
- Outdated hardware
- Poorly managed Microsoft 365 licences
- Unplanned technology purchases
- Staff time spent troubleshooting IT problems
- Poorly implemented projects
- Lack of disaster recovery planning
For a charity, these costs can have a direct impact on the organisation’s ability to deliver its services. Reliable and effective IT support should therefore be viewed as an investment in productivity, security and business continuity rather than simply another overhead.
What should you ask an IT support provider?
Before choosing a provider, ask exactly what is included in the price.
Questions worth asking include:
Is support unlimited?
Check whether there are limits on support tickets, telephone calls or remote assistance.
Is proactive monitoring included?
A good provider should be looking for potential problems rather than waiting for users to report them.
What cyber security services are included?
Understand whether antivirus, endpoint protection, MFA, security monitoring and other services are included or charged separately.
How are backups managed?
Ask how they are monitored, where they are stored and how quickly data could be restored.
Do they provide strategic advice?
IT should support your charity’s future plans. Find out whether your provider will help with budgeting, roadmaps and technology decisions.
Can they support your existing systems?
Charities often rely on specialist CRMs, fundraising, Gift Aid processing, finance and case-management applications. Make sure your provider understands the systems your organisation depends on as supporting these systems requires experience beyond standard business IT.
Can they provide customer references or case studies?
Managed service providers that already work with charities, will have more experience in the systems you use, as well as being familiar with discounts and grants available to you.
Can they help achieve Cyber Essentials certification?
An experienced IT provider should be able to assess your current security posture, remediate any issues, implement the required controls, and help guide you through the IASME certification process. Achieving Cyber Essentials not only improves security but also demonstrates to donors, trustees, and funding bodies that cyber security is taken seriously.
How much should your charity budget for IT support?
As a broad guide, £25–£50 per user, per month is a reasonable starting point when considering managed IT support for a charity. For a charity with 25 users, that could mean £625 – £1,250 per month, or £7,500 – £15,000 per year.
However, this should only be used as an initial budgeting guide. Your actual requirements could mean that you need a lower-cost support package or a more comprehensive service.
You should also budget separately for areas such as hardware replacement, major IT projects, specialist software, internet connectivity and additional cyber security services where these aren’t included within your managed IT agreement.
Final thoughts
For charities, controlling costs is important, but choosing the cheapest provider isn’t necessarily the best way to save money. The right IT partner should help you make better use of the technology you already have, identify unnecessary expenditure, reduce risk and plan future investment. A good provider should also take the time to understand your charity, its objectives, its users and the people it supports.
At Primary Technology, we provide bespoke IT support for charities and non-profit organisations, including Microsoft 365 support, cloud services, cyber security, IT projects, business continuity and staff training. We can work alongside existing IT teams or provide a fully managed service, depending on what your organisation needs.
If you’re reviewing your charity’s IT support, we’d be happy to discuss your requirements and help you understand where you could improve your IT, security and value for money. Contact us to discuss your charity’s IT support requirements.