Visiting Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said Friday that nonprofit organizations will be able to better communicate with donors and the public if they use software from Microsoft, which launched a campaign in Japan to offer free technology lessons for NPOs.
Microsoft sponsored an event Friday in Tokyo to lecture NPO staff on ways to better use its software for presentation and other purposes.
"Software can be a key element in helping these organizations, helping them fulfill their mission, whether it is connecting to donors or letting people know about their services, or using the advantage of software to the people of the elderly or handicapped," Gates said in a news conference in Tokyo.
Gates plans to visit Osaka and Fukuoka to speak on the topic.
Microsoft said in a statement that it will cooperate with NPOs to develop software to better meet their needs.
NPOs will be able to get the software for free, according to Microsoft, which has donated 80 million yen to 31 NPOs in Japan since 2002.
Gates is also in Japan to promote Microsoft's next generation software Windows Vista, expected to go on sale in January.