Giving away product to nonprofits for free?

I can’t remember where I saw this, but one company gave away their product for free to non-profits in return for a backlink from their website. This helped their domain authority and SERP rankings.

I haven't done it yet, but what about the possibility of 'donating' the product to the non-profit if you can, and take write it off your taxes?

Although I have not tried it with my product, ruttl.com, I know for a fact that it is pretty common tactic in the initial stages of growth.

You can check out designed.org for an example. They are an American based non profit organization but they have got tons of free accounts from the current leading players.

I don't have experience with this exactly, but if your product helps the non-profit a ton they may be able to carve out some of their budget/grants (some grants need to be used 100% every year) to pay for your product at a reduced price which can open the door to their network of non-profits to get in on the reduced rate creating opportunity for more conversions. Just food for thought.

I'm considering doing the same thing with my product. Going to present it the the American Heart Association this week. I'll be interested to hear feedback to your question.

We tried that at tefter.io and there were a few nonprofits that created teams on our platform. It appears to be a known growth hacking tactic, but it's also a change to give back, especially to open-source communities.

Really interesting idea. Could defintiely be valuable for case studies.