| No M365 account | Access to files and folders, no access to sites. Content access can expire; best for short-term access needs. | Enable External File Sharing via SharePoint admin center. Create the sharing links (AKA anonymous links). Provide users with the links via email or a webpage (for instance a Foundation WordPress page with protected pages for MG volunteers). | Easy, but manual. You have to create the link and get it to the recipients. Links are not human-readable (GUID). | $0 | Anonymous links can expire or become unusable for other reasons. Any passwords explicit expiration dates need to be monitored. | High. If you provide a link with completely anonymous access, anyone who gets hold of that link will be able to reach the content. |
| M365 guest account | Access to files, folders, and sites. Use of M365 online versions of software such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint. No ability to see who else has access to sites. No ability to Follow sites. No access to personal SharePoint start page. Access to SharePoint homepage. No access to Outlook email. Sign-in experience varies depending on the type of email account the user has. Access from a personal Microsoft account is not bad, access from non-Microsoft email is inconsistent and prone to failure. | Create the guest account, grant membership to SharePoint sites/groups. Provide users with links to content or provide users with a link to the SharePoint homepage and host the links there. | It’s easy to ceate the account and grant SharePoint access. Supporting users who don't remember the password on their own email accounts is a nightmare. A user's access challenges will reflect on your organization no matter what the real issue is. | $0 | Guests cannot navigate within M365, so they need to bookmark any files, folders or sites you give them access to. (Or you need to provide links on the SharePoint homepage or elsewhere.) Note that bookmarking works differently in different browser and that many users don't know what a browser is. | Medium. Links need to openly shared, which presents some security exposure. Authentication is by 3rd party, not their M365 account. However, you can bar by access by removing the account. |
| M365 work/school account (SharePoint account or M3565 User account) with no license | Access to files, folders, and sites. Use of M365 online versions of software such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Ability to see who else has access to sites. Ability to Follow sites. Access to personal SharePoint start page. Access to SharePoint homepage. No access to Outlook email. Some feature limitations. Unlicesed users cannot be given access to Shared Mailboxes, however an unlicensed user account CAN be used AS a Shared Mailbox. | Create the account, grant membership to SharePoint sites/groups, provide initial link to the site page(s) and instructions on how to navigate. | It’s easy to ceate the account and grant SharePoint access. After providing the initial link and navigation instructions, supporting user access is fairly easy. | $0 | Users and content owners can become self-sufficient after learning curve. | Very low assuming users don't share their M365 account passwords. |
| M365 work/school account (SharePoint account or M3565 User account) with Business Basic license | Access to files, folders, and sites. Use of M365 online versions of software such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint AND Outlook. Ability to see who else has access to sites. Ability to Follow sites. Access to personal SharePoint start page, Access to SharePoint homepage. Access to Outlook email. Can be given access to Shared Mailboxes. | Ditto above | Ditto above | $0, but # of licenses is limited to 300 per tenant | Ditto above | Very low assuming users don't share their M365 account passwords. |
| M365 work/school account (SharePoint account or M365 User account) with Standard or Premium license | All of the above plus access to M365 desktop versions of software. Premium has a couple additional advanced features. | Ditto above | Ditto above | CURRENT nonprofit pricing: $3.00/user/month for Standard or $5.50/user/month for Premium | Ditto above | Very low assuming users don't share their M365 account passwords. |
