Key takeaway: Microsoft permanently retires Fundraising and Engagement (F&E) on December 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT. No extensions. No further enhancements. If your nonprofit runs on F&E, you need a migration plan now, not next quarter.
If you are among the thousands of nonprofits that rely on Microsoft Fundraising and Engagement for donor management, gift processing, and campaign tracking, this guide is for you. We break down exactly what is happening, what your options are, how to evaluate alternatives, and how to execute a smooth migration before the deadline.
The window to act is narrowing. Organizations that start migration planning in Q1–Q2 2026 give themselves enough time to evaluate, implement, migrate data, and train staff without rushing. Those that wait until Q3 or Q4 risk a scrambled transition during year-end fundraising season, the worst possible timing for a systems change.
What Is Happening with Microsoft Fundraising and Engagement?
On July 15, 2024, Microsoft officially announced that its Fundraising and Engagement solution, the purpose-built nonprofit CRM module within Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, will be permanently retired on December 31, 2026.
Here is what that means in practical terms:
- No new features or enhancements since July 2024: the platform is frozen
- Security patches only will continue through December 2026
- All technical support ends after 11:59 PM PT on December 31, 2026
- No migration extension has been announced or is expected
- Dataverse and Dynamics 365 continue: only the F&E layer is being removed
This is not a soft deprecation. Microsoft is fully sunsetting the product, meaning any organization still running F&E on January 1, 2027 will be operating an unsupported system with no security updates, no bug fixes, and no recourse for issues.
Why Is Microsoft Retiring F&E?
Microsoft has not provided a single public reason, but the context is clear. Fundraising and Engagement was part of Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, an industry cloud initiative that Microsoft has strategically refocused. Rather than maintaining a first-party nonprofit CRM, Microsoft is leaning into its partner ecosystem, encouraging ISVs (independent software vendors) to build purpose-built nonprofit solutions on top of Dynamics 365 and Dataverse.
This is actually positive news for nonprofits who felt constrained by F&E’s limited feature set. Purpose-built partner solutions like StratusLIVE 365 offer dramatically deeper functionality because they are built by teams who work exclusively with nonprofits, rather than as a side project within a massive enterprise software company.
Critical Timeline: Key Dates You Cannot Miss
| Date | Event | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| July 15, 2024 | F&E feature freeze announced | No new capabilities; security patches only |
| Q1–Q2 2026 | Optimal migration planning window | Enough time for evaluation, implementation, and training |
| Q3 2026 | Last reasonable migration start | Compressed timeline; overlaps with year-end prep |
| Oct–Dec 2026 | Year-end fundraising season | Worst time for a system migration; avoid at all costs |
| Dec 31, 2026 | F&E permanently retired | All support ends at 11:59 PM PT |
| Jan 1, 2027+ | Unsupported system | No security patches, no bug fixes, no help |
If you start migration in February–March 2026, you have approximately 9–10 months to evaluate, implement, migrate data, train staff, and run parallel systems before cutoff. This is a comfortable but not leisurely timeline.
Your Migration Options: What Are the Realistic Paths Forward?
Microsoft has identified several paths for F&E customers. However, not all paths are equal. Let us examine each option honestly.
Option 1: Migrate to a Dynamics 365-Native Nonprofit CRM (Recommended)
This is the most natural migration path. Your organization already runs on Dynamics 365 and Dataverse. Your staff already knows the Microsoft ecosystem. Your data already lives in Dataverse. A Dynamics 365-native nonprofit CRM lets you keep everything that works and upgrade only the nonprofit layer.
Why this works best:
- Zero platform re-training: your team stays in the Microsoft environment they know
- Data stays in Dataverse: no risky cross-platform data migration
- Existing integrations survive: Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Power BI all continue working
- Licensing investments preserved: your Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 licenses still apply
- Familiar admin tools: Power Platform, Azure AD, and security roles remain the same
StratusLIVE 365 is the leading purpose-built nonprofit CRM on Microsoft Dynamics 365. It was designed from the ground up for nonprofits and runs natively on the same Dataverse platform as F&E, making it the most seamless migration path available.
Option 2: Move to a Completely Different CRM Platform
Some organizations will evaluate non-Microsoft CRM platforms like Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, Bloomerang, Virtuous, or Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT. This is a viable but significantly more complex path.
What this requires:
- Full data migration from Dataverse to an entirely different database architecture
- Re-integration of every connected system: accounting, email, website, events
- Complete staff re-training on a new platform, new interface, new workflows
- Loss of Microsoft ecosystem benefits: no native Outlook, Teams, or Power BI integration
- New licensing costs on top of or instead of your existing Microsoft investment
For organizations deeply embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem, this path doubles migration complexity and cost. It may make sense for organizations already considering a broader technology shift, but for most F&E customers, it is the harder and more expensive route.
Option 3: Build a Custom Solution on Raw Dynamics 365 Sales
Microsoft suggests customers can work with a partner to configure Dynamics 365 Sales for nonprofit use. While technically possible, this approach carries significant risk.
Challenges:
- No nonprofit-specific data model: you must build donation tracking, gift processing, campaign management, and constituent management from scratch
- Ongoing custom maintenance: every Dynamics 365 update may require re-testing your custom modules
- No nonprofit community or roadmap: you are alone with your custom build
- Higher long-term cost: custom development and maintenance typically exceeds packaged software
We recommend this option only for organizations with highly unique requirements that no packaged nonprofit CRM can address.
Why StratusLIVE 365 Is the Natural Upgrade Path from F&E
StratusLIVE 365 was purpose-built for nonprofits on the exact same platform as F&E: Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Dataverse. This is not a coincidence. It is by design. Here is why it matters:
| Capability | Microsoft F&E | StratusLIVE 365 |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Dynamics 365 / Dataverse | Dynamics 365 / Dataverse |
| Donor Management | Basic constituent records | 360° donor profiles with engagement scoring, duplicate detection, household management |
| Gift Processing | Basic donation entry | Full gift processing with batch entry, recurring gifts, pledges, matching gifts, planned giving |
| Campaign Management | Limited | Multi-channel campaigns with ROI analytics at every level |
| Online Giving | Not included | StratusLIVE Ignite: peer-to-peer, events, donation pages |
| Analytics | Basic reports | StratusLIVE IQ: predictive analytics, segmentation, data-driven marketing |
| Events Management | Not included | Full event setup, registration, volunteer assignments, reporting |
| Grants Management | Not included | End-to-end grants: discovery, application, program management, accounting |
| Corporate Giving / CSR | Not included | StratusLIVE Give at Work: workplace giving, matching gifts, volunteer tracking |
| Microsoft Integration | Native | Native + deeper: Outlook tracking, Teams collaboration, Power BI dashboards, SharePoint |
| AI Capabilities | None | AI-powered donor insights, next-best-action recommendations, predictive modeling |
| Ongoing Development | Frozen (no updates) | Active roadmap with regular releases and nonprofit-focused enhancements |
The bottom line: StratusLIVE 365 does everything F&E did, plus dramatically more, while keeping you on the same Microsoft platform your organization already uses and trusts.
Step-by-Step: How to Migrate from F&E to StratusLIVE 365
A well-planned migration typically takes 3–6 months depending on your organization’s size and complexity. Here is the proven process:
Phase 1: Discovery and Assessment (Weeks 1–3)
- Audit your current F&E environment: document custom fields, workflows, integrations, reports, and data volumes
- Identify data quality issues: duplicate records, incomplete fields, orphaned records
- Map your requirements: what does your team actually use vs. what was configured but never adopted?
- Engage stakeholders: fundraisers, data entry staff, finance, IT, and leadership all have migration input
Phase 2: Solution Design (Weeks 3–6)
- Configure StratusLIVE 365 to match your operational workflows
- Map F&E data fields to StratusLIVE 365 entities: constituent records, donations, campaigns, interactions
- Design integration architecture: accounting system (e.g., Great Plains, Sage), website, email marketing
- Plan report migration: identify which F&E reports to recreate and which to improve with Power BI
Phase 3: Data Migration (Weeks 6–10)
- Extract and cleanse data from Dataverse (your data stays in Dataverse, so this is a schema migration, not a platform migration)
- Run test migrations with a subset of records to validate mapping accuracy
- Validate donor histories: ensure giving history, interactions, and campaign associations transfer correctly
- Perform full migration with verification checkpoints
Phase 4: Testing and Training (Weeks 10–14)
- User acceptance testing (UAT) with key staff from each department
- Side-by-side validation: run both systems briefly to confirm data integrity
- Role-based training: fundraisers, data entry, finance, and administrators each need tailored sessions
- Create reference guides and quick-start documentation for your specific configuration
Phase 5: Go-Live and Optimization (Weeks 14–16+)
- Cutover to StratusLIVE 365 as your primary system
- Decommission F&E components (Dataverse and Dynamics 365 remain)
- Monitor adoption: track login rates, feature usage, and support ticket themes
- Optimize and iterate: use the first 30–60 days to refine workflows based on real usage
Because both F&E and StratusLIVE 365 run on Dataverse, data migration is a schema mapping exercise, not a risky cross-platform export/import. This is the single biggest advantage of staying in the Microsoft ecosystem.
How to Evaluate Any F&E Replacement: Your Checklist
Regardless of which solution you consider, use these criteria to evaluate any potential F&E replacement:
| Evaluation Criteria | Why It Matters | Questions to Ask |
|---|---|---|
| Platform compatibility | Minimizes migration risk and preserves investments | Does it run on Dynamics 365 / Dataverse natively? |
| Nonprofit-specific design | Generic CRMs require expensive customization | Was this built for nonprofits or adapted from a sales CRM? |
| Data migration support | Poor migration = lost donor history | What is the migration process? What tools and support are included? |
| Integration ecosystem | Nonprofits depend on connected systems | Does it integrate with our accounting, email, website, and payment processors? |
| Total cost of ownership | Sticker price is not total cost | What is the 3-year TCO including licenses, implementation, training, and support? |
| Vendor track record | Nonprofit CRM is a long-term partnership | How long has this vendor served nonprofits? How many clients? Reference calls? |
| Product roadmap | Your needs will evolve | What is on the 12-month roadmap? How often are updates released? |
| Analytics and intelligence | The future of fundraising is data-driven | What is included in the platform, and what costs extra? |
Addressing Common Concerns About Migration
“We don’t have the budget for a migration right now.”
Consider the cost of not migrating. After December 31, 2026, you will be running an unsupported system. Any security vulnerability, data issue, or system failure will be entirely on your team to resolve, with no help from Microsoft. The cost of an emergency migration or a data breach in 2027 far exceeds the cost of a planned migration today.
“Our team is already overwhelmed.”
This is exactly why the start date matters more than the end date. A deliberately paced migration asks your team for a few hours a week. A migration crammed against the retirement deadline asks for everything at once, during the busiest fundraising weeks of the year.
“What if we just keep running F&E after it’s retired?”
Technically, the software does not stop working on January 1, 2027. However, you will receive no security updates, no bug fixes, and no support. You will also fall behind on Dynamics 365 platform updates, creating increasing technical debt. Most critically, you will have no vendor support for donor data security, which is a serious liability for any organization handling PII and financial data.
“Our data is too messy to migrate.”
This is actually the best reason to migrate now rather than later. A well-managed migration includes a data cleansing phase that resolves duplicates, fills gaps, and standardizes records. You will emerge from migration with cleaner, more useful data than you have today. Delaying only makes the problem worse.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we continue using Dataverse and Dynamics 365 after F&E retires?
Yes. Microsoft is only retiring the Fundraising and Engagement application layer. Dataverse, Dynamics 365, and your Microsoft 365 licenses all continue. A Dynamics 365-native nonprofit CRM like StratusLIVE 365 installs on top of the same platform.
Will our existing data be lost?
No. Your data lives in Dataverse, which continues to operate. A migration to StratusLIVE 365 maps your existing data to the new application’s schema within Dataverse. Nothing is exported out of your environment.
How long does a typical migration take?
It depends on your user count, record volume, integration surface, and how clean your data is going in. Because F&E and StratusLIVE 365 share the Dataverse platform, the data work is a schema mapping exercise rather than a cross-platform export, which removes the single largest source of migration delay. Ask any vendor to scope your specific environment rather than quoting a generic timeline.
Does StratusLIVE offer migration support?
Yes. StratusLIVE provides dedicated migration specialists, data mapping tools, and a proven migration methodology specifically designed for F&E customers. Contact StratusLIVE for a free migration assessment.
What about our custom reports?
F&E reports built with SSRS or Power BI can be recreated and often improved. StratusLIVE 365 includes built-in dashboards and full Power BI integration for advanced analytics.
Ready to start? Request a free F&E migration assessment and get a personalized migration roadmap.