Microsoft deletes nonprofit customers' M365 data — and says it can't get it back
Nonprofit organizations using the Microsoft 365 Business Premium Grant found their data had been deleted early after Microsoft advised they move to a different licensing plan
Microsoft has confirmed that licensed nonprofit organizations' cloud-based data in Microsoft 365 has been inadvertently deleted due to a licensing error. The company retired its 365 Business Premium Grant license, urging nonprofits to transition to the free Microsoft 365 Business Basic. Despite offering a retention and export window, Microsoft somehow lost the data rather than preserving it.
The affected nonprofits, lacking their own backups, are now left with no option but to accept the irreversible loss. Microsoft has offered a complimentary "concierge service" to assist these organizations in setting up a new Microsoft 365 Business Basic license, provided they haven't shifted to Google Workspace. The incident raises questions about the adequacy of Microsoft's data handling practices and the potential risks for nonprofits operating on limited resources.
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