Press Release

Charity Technology Trust Provides Networking Equipment Donations to UK Charity Sector. Pilot project with US-based Cisco Systems and TechSoup.org launched - 14th February 2005

Charity Technology Trust (CTT), a UK -based nonprofit that provides technology help to the charity sector, announced today that it has partnered with the San Francisco-based nonprofit technology website TechSoup.org (www.techsoup.org) to provide basic Cisco Systems™ networking equipment to non-profit organizations across the UK.

Through this pilot program, Cisco Systems will provide equipment valued at up to $100,000 to qualifying organizations. The products, including 24 port 10/100 switches, provide basic local area network connectivity and access to the Internet, enhancing the charity’s internal and external communications capabilities. Nonprofits are required to pay a small administrative fee to cover the costs of the pilot program. It amounts to approximately 6% of the list price.

CTT will market the program in the UK, assess applications on behalf of TechSoup.org and Cisco Systems and handle order processing and follow up with charity beneficiaries.

Ciscos’s entire product donations to nonprofits are administered by the nonprofit website TechSoup.org, which gives other comminity-based organizations access to technology information and resources tailored specifically to their needs. Part of the website is the product donation service TechSoup Stock (www.techsoup.org/stock), which has provided more than 1000 US nonprofits with Cisco products for a shipping and handling fee.

In November 2004, Cisco and TechSoup Stock began the EMEA pilot project to provide nonprofits outside the United States with Cisco donations. More details on the CTT pilot project, including product information and criteria, can be found at: www.ctt.org/techsoup

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Notes to Editors

About CTT
Charity Technology Trust (www.ctt.org) is a registered UK charity (number 1073954) formed in 2001. It is the only UK registered charity devoted to improving charity efficiency using new technology. In addition to stimulating thinking on the use of new media, CTT has built a broad portfolio of e-communications and payments services used by around 90 charity clients.  One of CTT’s key achievements is that it has demonstrated an effective approach to technology partnering with a wide range of private sector organizations in order to tailor and re-package services that meet the needs of the charity sector. 

CTT has also embarked upon the provision of ICT consultancy, providing trusted and valued advice to a broad range of charities including six of the top fifty in the UK. The range of consulting assignments has varied from assistance with business strategy to ICT strategy development, supplier selection and project management.
 
About TechSoup.org
TechSoup.org (www.techsoup.org) is the technology Web site for nonprofits created by CompuMentor (www.compumentor.org). Each month, TechSoup.org receives almost 200,000 visits from people who are looking for nonprofit tech know-how to achieve their missions.

TechSoup.org features more than 380 how-to articles on 16 technology topics, 15 community discussion forums, a technology news section, and the TechFinder service provider directory. Nonprofits also have access to TechSoup.org’s technology product philanthropy service, TechSoup Stock (formerly DiscounTech). TechSoup Stock provides access to donated and discounted technology products from over 25 leading providers such as Cisco, Intuit and Microsoft for a small administrative fee. Since its inception in January 2002, the service has distributed more than 866,000 products to 27,000 nonprofit organizations and freed up over $245 million for other uses.

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