Atlassian believes in supporting teams who are doing great things around the world. Over the past 13 years we’ve donated 30,000 community licenses to non-profit organizations, a total value of $58 million. And we want to give more.

We know that communication is key to high-powered teams. To make sure all non-profits have the best tools for success, we offer Hipchat Plus for free, with enhanced features like group chat, video chat, and integrations with other services you use. This way, no matter how distributed or active your team, you’ll always be connected.

More robust than Skype or Google Chat, Hipchat provides non-profits with enhanced messaging that’s designed specifically for your work day. Check out the positive impact Hipchat has on non-profits like code.org:

Why use Hipchat for your non-profit? Let’s listicle it.

1. Free is good. Quick is great. Easy is awesome.

Hipchat Plus is and always will be free for non-profits. It’s also quick to set up and easy to use (yes, really!). We love the work you do, and we want to make it as simple as possible for you to keep it up.

To get your team started on Hipchat for free, head over to hipchat.com/signup and choose “create a new team.”

Hipchat free for nonprofits

You’ll immediately get a free 30-day trial of Hipchat Plus, so no need to do anything just yet. Before your trial expires, contact us to let us know why you qualify as a non-profit. Make sure to include a scanned copy of your income tax exemption letter or other proof of your non-profit status. Check here to see if you meet the community license criteria.

If you’re in a sector with increased security and privacy needs or regulations or a country with strict privacy laws, host Hipchat yourself with Hipchat server.

2. Your team will dig it.

Hipchat is an easy and useful tool for everyone in your organization. Even the least tech-savvy of the bunch will be chatting away within minutes.

When you first sign up, add teammates’ email addresses so they can join the party. If you want to get fancy and invite users programmatically, go here.

Hipchat free software tool for nonprofits

It’s also easy to add teammates on the fly:

If you’re using the web app (using Hipchat in your browser), just click “Invite your team” at the top. If you’re on the Mac, Windows, or Linux desktop app, click “New chat” at the top, then “Invite a teammate.”

Don’t want to add the whole company at once? Try starting out with your immediate team, become Hipchat ninjas, and then spread the love when you’re ready to expand.

Note: Any user can invite teammates unless an admin has turned this function off.

Hipchat free software tool for nonprofits

3. Always stay connected, worldwide.

Communication is the key to a successful team. Hipchat enables open and easy communication with all teams across your organization. Whether your team is in an office or distributed globally, Hipchat keeps everyone connected.

Multiple projects, teams, initiatives, and meetings can be a lot to organize. Hipchat rooms bring order to that chaos and make even the most distributed teams feel closer together.

Hipchat free software tool for nonprofits

Invite unlimited teammates to rooms to chat in real-time, share files and images, and integrate with other services you use. You can also search chat history by room or globally.

Hipchat rooms are awesome, let us count the ways (Listicle within a listicle?! Yes, we went there.)

  1. Rooms can be as permanent or as expendable as you want. They’re super easy to create, delete, rename, and search.
  2. When a one-on-one convo turns into a group discussion, you can create a room and start collaborating on the fly.
  3. You can “@ mention” anyone to pull them into a conversation: ad hoc virtual team meetings for the win!
  4. Everyone has the opportunity to join in a team discussion, regardless of physical location.
  5. Persistent chat means when you’re at lunch (or sleeping in an opposite time zone), you can pop in a room, scroll up, and catch up on the conversation you missed.
  6. Rooms are the ultimate solution for those pesky reply-all email chains you find yourself lost in. Be gone, email chains!

Try starting out by creating the following rooms:

  • Watercooler (for the whole company)
  • Team (for specific teams, i.e. marketing team or executive team)
  • Project (for specific projects, i.e. volunteer planning or fundraising)
  • Lunch (for all the nom noms)

4. Chat with all your teams and organizations

Most of us have teammates outside of our main organization (think donors, volunteers, and board members).

Don’t leave ’em out; create multiple accounts.

Hipchat free software tool for nonprofits

Hipchat lets you create and log in to as many accounts as you want and chat with all of them at the same time. Simply sign up for each account with a unique email address. Learn more here.

5. Connect to other services your non-profit uses

If you’re an admin for a Hipchat room, you can easily install any integration you want. (What is an integration, you ask? An integration means that you can connect other services and apps you use to Hipchat. This way, you can receive notifications and alerts right in your Hipchat rooms and quickly discuss with teammates. Voilà!)

Try out some of our non-profit customers’ favorite integrations: 

  • Google Drive + Hipchat: Create Google docs, spreadsheets, and presentations inside any Hipchat room; copy and paste google drive links for rich file previews.
  • Twitter + Hipchat: Send tweets from handles, hashtags, or searches to your Hipchat rooms; Great for in-context discussions with your team.
  • Facebook + Hipchat: Follow activity of the Facebook pages you manage, and public pages, in Hipchat rooms.
  • Wunderlist + Hipchat: Create and manage tasks in Hipchat with Wunderlist.
  • MailChimp + Hipchat: Stay up to date with your MailChimp list notifications.

Wunderlist integration in action:

Hipchat free software tool for nonprofits

6. Have some fun with it

We all know what happens with all work and no play (let’s just say it doesn’t end well). Luckily, fun extras in Hipchat like emoticons and bots allow you to work hard and play hard. Make your chat stay true to your tone and personality with these companions.

With Hipchat shrink-ray it’s easy to take any image and turn it into an emoticon. Emotify your company logo, your CEO’s head, a sleeping puppy… the possibilities are endless!

Some of our team’s personal favorites:

Hipchat free software tool for nonprofits

HipBots allow you to do all sorts of neat stuff like give karma points to your teammate after he/she does something awesome or pull a specific group of people into a conversation by @mentioning a pre-set alias.

Hipchat free software tool for nonprofits

Just go to our Bot Lab to check out and install these bad boys.

We’re thrilled to be able to help non-profits do more good. We know your time, money, and resources are extremely valuable. With Hipchat Plus, you’ll expedite communication and bolster teamwork without breaking the bank. Enjoy Hipchat Plus for free, forever.

Try Hipchat for free

If you’re a non-profit already using Hipchat, we’d love to hear your story! Please reach out to us at customerstories@atlassian.com.

Do more good: 6 reasons Hipchat is a great tool for non-profits