There are several steps for non-profits to qualify for Azure hosting from Microsoft. They will provide you $3500 in credits each year - probably more than enough for our purposes but check with your orgnizer or team lead for your project. You need to re-register for this each year so be sure to put an annual reminder in your calender to be sure you don't forget. You need to back up your account with a credit card and if you forget to reregister your card will be charged.
The first step you need to do is register with Tech Soup. They are a company that will verify your non-profit status and that you are a non-profit that is operating and functional and that you do what you say you do.
- Register here
- Wait to get verification from tech soup that you are approved before you do any of the further steps.