Morgan Stanley Tech Change Makers Program 2026: Pro Bono Technology Support for Registered Nonprofits

The Morgan Stanley Tech Change Makers Program is a pro bono technology and operational enablement initiative designed to help nonprofit organizations strengthen their technical capabilities, improve their operations, and address technology challenges through expert volunteer support.

The program is particularly suited to nonprofits that have a clear technology or operational challenge, sufficient internal capacity to participate meaningfully, but do not have the technical expertise needed to address the challenge independently.

Rather than functioning as an outsourced technology service or providing short-term implementation support, the program focuses on knowledge transfer, capability building, partnership, and sustainable organizational strengthening.

About the Morgan Stanley Tech Change Makers Program

Morgan Stanley’s Tech Change Makers is described as the firm’s signature pro bono program for supporting nonprofits on their technology and operational enablement journey.

The program recognizes that many nonprofit organizations understand where their technology systems or operational processes need improvement but may not have access to the specialized expertise required to identify appropriate solutions, assess options, or strengthen their internal capabilities.

Through this initiative, Morgan Stanley seeks to work alongside eligible nonprofit organizations to help them develop the knowledge and capabilities needed to address their technology challenges more effectively.

The program is therefore not simply about completing a technology project for a nonprofit. Instead, the emphasis is on creating a collaborative engagement in which the nonprofit has meaningful internal ownership and can benefit from the expertise and knowledge transfer provided through the volunteer partnership.

What Is the Main Purpose of Tech Change Makers?

The central purpose of the program is to help nonprofit organizations strengthen their technology and operational capabilities.

The program is designed for organizations that fall into an important gap:

• They have sufficient organizational capacity to participate in a structured engagement.
• They have a genuine and clearly defined technology or operational challenge.
• They recognize that they need specialized expertise to address that challenge.
• They have internal ownership and staff who can participate in the engagement.
• However, they do not currently have sufficient technical expertise to solve the challenge on their own.

This makes the program particularly relevant to nonprofits that are ready to learn, collaborate, and build internal capacity rather than simply looking for an external organization to complete a technology project on their behalf.

Who Is the Program Designed For?

The ideal applicant is a nonprofit organization with a clear technology or operational challenge and the internal commitment necessary to participate in a volunteer consulting and knowledge-transfer engagement.

Organizations should ideally have:

1. A clearly identified technical challenge

   Applicants should understand the technology or operational problem they are trying to address. The challenge should be sufficiently defined to allow Morgan Stanley’s team to assess whether the program can provide meaningful support.

2. Internal organizational ownership

   The nonprofit should have people within the organization who can take responsibility for the engagement, participate in discussions, provide relevant organizational information, and apply the knowledge gained.

3. Sufficient capacity to engage

   Organizations need to have the time, personnel, and organizational readiness to participate in the process.

4. Realistic expectations

   Applicants should understand that Tech Change Makers is a pro bono capability-building program rather than a replacement for a technology vendor or an outsourced implementation team.

5. An interest in knowledge transfer

   Organizations should be interested in developing their own capabilities and learning from the volunteer engagement.

6. An opportunity to strengthen technical and operational capabilities

   The proposed challenge should provide a meaningful opportunity for the organization to improve its systems, processes, knowledge, or technology-related decision-making.

What Types of Organizations Are Eligible?

The application information states that applications are open to all organizations with registered charity status.

This is an important eligibility requirement. Organizations considering applying should therefore ensure that they have the appropriate registered charity status before beginning the application.

The program does not state that eligibility is restricted to a particular country or continent.

In fact, the application information specifically indicates that eligibility is not determined by location.

However, geographic location can influence prioritization during the assessment process.

Morgan Stanley indicates that it prioritizes proposals from organizations operating in regions where its employees are based.

Therefore, organizations outside those priority regions may still be eligible to apply, but applicants should understand that geographic considerations can play a role in proposal prioritization.

What Kind of Projects Does Tech Change Makers Support?

The program is intended for organizations seeking technology expertise and capability building.

Potential applicants should think about challenges where expert guidance, structured problem-solving, technology knowledge, and knowledge transfer could help strengthen their organization.

The application specifically distinguishes the program from engagements that primarily seek:

• Outsourced technology delivery
• Rapid implementation
• Additional embedded full-time staff
• A team to simply execute a project on behalf of the nonprofit

Instead, the program is designed around expertise, collaboration, partnership, and organizational learning.

This means applicants should focus their proposal on the underlying challenge and explain why additional technical expertise would help their organization develop a stronger and more sustainable solution.

What Makes an Organization a Strong Candidate?

A strong applicant is likely to be an organization that can clearly explain:

1. What the organization does

Applicants should be able to communicate their mission, organizational structure, and the communities or causes they serve.

2. What technology challenge they face

The organization should be able to identify the technical or operational problem that is limiting its effectiveness.

3. Why the challenge matters

Applicants should explain how addressing the challenge could strengthen their organization, improve operations, support their mission, or improve their ability to serve beneficiaries.

4. What expertise is missing

The organization should demonstrate why it cannot reasonably solve the challenge independently and what type of expertise would help.

5. Who inside the organization will participate

Internal ownership is an important part of the program model. The organization should be prepared to dedicate appropriate personnel to the engagement.

6. What it hopes to learn

Because Tech Change Makers emphasizes capability building, applicants should demonstrate an interest in acquiring knowledge and strengthening internal capabilities rather than simply receiving a completed technology solution.

What the Program Is Not

Understanding what the program does not provide is just as important as understanding what it does.

Tech Change Makers is not intended to function as:

• A conventional technology vendor.
• An outsourced IT department.
• A rapid software-development service.
• A source of full-time embedded employees.
• A replacement for the nonprofit’s own internal ownership.
• A mechanism for simply handing over a technology problem to external volunteers.

Instead, the organization needs to remain actively involved throughout the engagement.

The objective is to help nonprofits become better equipped to understand and address their technology and operational challenges.

Application Process

The initial application is designed to be relatively straightforward and is expected to take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Applicants will be asked to provide information about their organization and its technology challenges.

The application process includes information concerning:

• The organization’s mission.
• Organizational structure.
• Technology challenges.
• The organization’s capacity to participate.
• The type of expertise or capability the organization is seeking.

Applicants are encouraged to prepare this information before beginning the application.

Program Overview Webinar

Before starting the application, prospective applicants are instructed to watch the Program Overview webinar.

The webinar is intended to help organizations understand the program and, importantly, the types of projects that Morgan Stanley supports.

Applicants should therefore review the webinar before submitting an application. Doing so can help organizations determine whether their proposed technology challenge is aligned with the program’s model.

The application information also provides access to the webinar through Morgan Stanley’s video platform.

Assessment and Application Review

Morgan Stanley’s application process includes an assessment of organizations and their proposed technology challenges.

While the information provided does not give a detailed scoring system in the material supplied, it emphasizes several characteristics of an ideal organization:

• Sufficient organizational capacity.
• Internal ownership.
• Realistic expectations.
• A clearly defined technology challenge.
• An opportunity for technical and operational capability building.
• A willingness to participate in knowledge transfer.
• A need for expertise rather than outsourced delivery.

Location is not an eligibility requirement, although organizations operating in regions where Morgan Stanley employees are based may receive priority.

Applicants should therefore focus on demonstrating the quality and relevance of their proposed challenge rather than assuming that geographic location alone determines eligibility.

Why This Opportunity Could Be Valuable for Nonprofits

For eligible organizations, the Tech Change Makers Program can provide an opportunity to access specialized expertise that may otherwise be difficult for a nonprofit to obtain.

The value of the program can extend beyond solving an immediate technology challenge.

Strengthen internal technical capacity

The knowledge-transfer model can help nonprofit teams better understand technology-related challenges and potential solutions.

Improve operational capabilities

Technology and operational improvements can help organizations strengthen the way they manage internal processes and deliver their mission.

Gain expert guidance

Organizations can benefit from the expertise of Morgan Stanley employees participating in the pro bono engagement.

Build sustainable organizational knowledge

Because the program emphasizes capability building rather than outsourced delivery, participating organizations have the opportunity to retain knowledge internally.

Improve technology decision-making

Expert support can help organizations better understand their technology needs, assess potential approaches, and make more informed decisions.

Develop a collaborative partnership

The model encourages the nonprofit and volunteers to work together rather than treating the organization as a passive recipient of a technology solution.

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Important Considerations Before Applying

Before starting the application, nonprofit organizations should consider whether they can answer the following questions clearly:

1. What is our organization’s most important technology or operational challenge?
2. Why is this challenge difficult for us to solve internally?
3. What technical expertise do we need?
4. Who within our organization will own the engagement?
5. How much staff time can we dedicate to the process?
6. What do we realistically expect to achieve through the engagement?
7. What knowledge or capabilities do we want our team to develop?
8. How could solving the challenge strengthen our organization’s mission and operations?

Having clear answers to these questions can help an organization determine whether Tech Change Makers is an appropriate fit.

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Final Thoughts

The Morgan Stanley Tech Change Makers Program presents an opportunity for registered nonprofit organizations to access pro bono technical expertise while strengthening their own technology and operational capabilities.

The program is particularly relevant to nonprofits that are ready to engage but lack the specialized technical expertise required to address a significant challenge independently. Its emphasis on internal ownership, realistic expectations, knowledge transfer, and capability building distinguishes it from conventional outsourced technology support.

Organizations considering applying should first review the Program Overview webinar, clearly define their technology or operational challenge, identify the internal staff who will participate, and ensure that their expectations align with a collaborative learning and capability-building model.

For nonprofits that meet these conditions, Tech Change Makers could provide not only support for an immediate technical challenge but also an opportunity to build stronger internal knowledge and more sustainable organizational capabilities.

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