I know a few non-profits who get tens of thousands of dollars worth of Microsoft software and Cisco hardware for mere pennies on the dollar. Every year.
What would they be using if these large companies weren't so "generous"? Probably lower-cost alternatives, free, and open source options. And then they'd tell their non-profit friends about it. Not a good idea for Microsoft's bottom line I bet.
For companies like 37s and BingoCardCreator, on the other hand, a non-profit discount probably doesn't make a lot of sense.
I work for a non-profit as an IT manager (35 paid employees, ~50 unpaid employees) for an organization that tries to reduce poverty in the world. I've worked as an IT manager at "for-profits" for a while now, and this job is by far the most challenging.
This isn't true for all non-profits, but here there is nearly no budget. Our pay-scale is fixed, and we use interns in a big way. We rely heavily on 'sponsorship' from organizations who support our cause for nearly everything we do.
Of course I take advantage of blanket donation programs (from Microsoft and Cisco, for example) and "non-profit discounts", but that's not what I really want. I don't want to pick SharePoint because it's free for us, I want to pick it because it is a good solution and fits our needs. Sadly (and by-design, surely) that price point affects my proposals to management, and I have to say "Microsoft gives it to us for free, 37signals offers no discounts". :(
But these blanket discounts aren't what I push for with vendors. I want to build a special relationship with our sponsors. I want you to donate your software or services to us because you believe in our cause, just as I believe in our cause and have taken a serious pay cut to support it. I want that relationship to be sustainable: I don't want you to feel that the burden of supporting us is greater than the reward.
And there can be a lot of rewards. We have an extensive for-profit network, and we work very close with them. We have a ton of young, highly-educated staff who come through our organization. We have a very large base of supporters who engage us, and who we engage, online (twitter, facebook, etc). The list goes on and on, it only requires a bit of creative thinking to replace dollar signs.
So I'd re-phrase the question: What are you doing to leverage a group of people who need and are passionate about using your product for an important cause which you support, but don't have the resources to pay full price?
I run a non-profit organization; we aren't yet in position to need much in the way of software, but when we get there, it's gonna be open-source all the way unless it's clear that doing otherwise is in the best interest of the organization.
Non-profit pricing is nice, but my general approach is that if I'm not willing to pay full price, I'm probably also not willing to pay the non-profit price.
Conversely, if I'm willing to pay the non-profit price, then I'm also usually willing to pay the full price. If not, I make do with free alternatives.
What would they be using if these large companies weren't so "generous"? Probably lower-cost alternatives, free, and open source options. And then they'd tell their non-profit friends about it. Not a good idea for Microsoft's bottom line I bet.
For companies like 37s and BingoCardCreator, on the other hand, a non-profit discount probably doesn't make a lot of sense.