Why Amazon Web Services

Executive Summary for Nonprofit Leadership

The Strategic Case for Virtual Desktops

Your nonprofit faces a common challenge: providing technology access to staff and volunteers without the massive upfront costs and ongoing management burden of traditional IT equipment. Virtual desktops through Amazon Web Services (AWS) offer a transformative solution that aligns perfectly with your mission-focused priorities.

Why Virtual Desktops Make Financial and Operational Sense:

Instead of purchasing laptops for each team member ($800-2000 each), you provide access to powerful virtual computers in the cloud. Staff and volunteers connect from their personal devices - whether it's their gaming laptop, family computer, or tablet - to a secure, professionally configured work environment. When someone leaves, you simply deactivate their access rather than retrieving equipment.

The Business Case:

• Cost Reduction: Replace $50,000 in laptop purchases with $10,000-15,000 annual cloud costs for a 25-person team

• Security Enhancement: Sensitive donor data never touches personal devices; everything stays in secure AWS data centers

• Operational Efficiency: Deploy a new team member in 15 minutes instead of days waiting for equipment procurement

• Scalability: Add 100 volunteers for a campaign launch, then scale back down seamlessly

• Global Access: Team members work effectively from anywhere with internet access

Risk Mitigation: Virtual desktops eliminate common nonprofit IT risks: stolen laptops with donor data, inconsistent software versions, and the "my computer crashed and I lost everything" scenarios that disrupt operations.

Investment and Timeline

Initial Setup: 2-4 weeks for IT staff to configure the infrastructure Monthly Costs: $30-80 per active user (significantly less than laptop depreciation, insurance, and support) ROI Timeline: Most nonprofits see positive returns within 6 months through reduced support costs and increased productivity

The virtual desktop approach positions your nonprofit as a forward-thinking organization that prioritizes both security and efficiency, allowing more resources to flow directly to your mission.