A guide to Microsoft Copilot

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to transform the way we work. In the charity sector, AI is expected to revolutionise our operations, determine how we reach out to donors, identify the best times to send out emails, discover where their services are most needed, and much more.  

It is important to note that AI is a broad field, encompassing lots of different technologies and tools, each with different capabilities. There is even an AI aggregator that pulls together different AI tools and what they are used for – ChatGPT can generate text and images; Vizly can analyse data to predict the future.  

AI assistants are one of the most commonly talked about iterations of AI, as well as the most commonly used. Examples of AI assistants include Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and, more recently, Microsoft Copilot. Each assistant allows the user to streamline processes, providing quick solutions to tedious or complex tasks alike. With AI assistants, charities can quickly find answers to their most pressing questions, arrange meetings, summarise emails, create drafts, and much more.  

In 2024, it feels like we‘re on the cusp of mainstream AI adoption. With the promise of enhancing productivity and reducing the time spent on administrative tasks, AI is an opportunity charities can’t really ignore when balancing limited time and resource with rising demand for services.  

The 2023 Charity Digital Skills report showed that more than half (53%) of charities are either using or planning to use AI in the future, while 78% of charities believe AI is relevant to their charity and has the potential to transform it. 

Similarly, a report from IT services providers Wanstor found that nearly 90% of respondents to its AI survey believe that the use of digital assistants such as Copilot will positively impact employee productivity and efficiency. Less than 2% expect the technology to have a negative impact. 

According to Microsoft, seven in ten people using Copilot said they were more productive, while people using it to catch up on missed meetings were able to do so four times faster. And charities are not likely to miss out on such benefits. 

Wanstor’s research found that more than nine in ten charities were considering investing in Copilot specifically, with almost 90% agreeing it will have a positive impact on employee productivity and efficiency. Seven in ten non-profits say they are likely to implement Copilot across, management, team leadership, and administrative functions. 

Microsoft Copilot is particularly helpful to charities in that it is built into a lot of the more familiar Microsoft products we already use. Charities using Microsoft 365 can use Copilot in conjunction with other Microsoft 365 products, such as Excel, Word, and OneNote. Likewise, charities using Microsoft’s Bing search engine or its Edge browser can use Copilot to assist them, using it to helpfully summarise search results.  

In this article, we explore more about how each version of Copilot works, the AI technology that underpins the service, and how charities can use it to their advantage in future.  

Skip to: What is Microsoft Copilot? 

Skip to: Exploring versions of Microsoft Copilot 

Skip to: Microsoft Copilot’s conversation styles 

Skip to: Challenges when using Microsoft Copilot 

What is Microsoft Copilot? 

Microsoft Copilot launched in 2023 and is designed to assist users across a variety of Microsoft products, including Microsoft 365, Bing, and Edge, with the aim of simplifying tasks and enhancing productivity. 

Microsoft Copilot, in essence, works by combining the natural language processing technology behind ChatGPT with the data from your own Microsoft usage – including your calendar, emails, Teams chats, meetings, and more. By connecting to existing Microsoft products, it can offer more bespoke benefits, with more insight into your work and what you need.   

Microsoft Copilot is particularly helpful to charities in that it is built into a lot of the more familiar Microsoft products we already use. Charities using Microsoft 365 can use Copilot in conjunction with other Microsoft 365 apps, such as Excel, Word, and OneNote. Likewise, charities using Microsoft’s Bing search engine or its Edge browser can use Copilot to assist them, using it to helpfully summarise search results.   

Since 2023, various iterations of Copilot have been launched to achieve different goals. For example, when used with Microsoft Teams, Copilot can recap meetings, summarise action points, and even translate languages. With Copilot for 365, users can use Copilot with Word, PowerPoint, or Outlook, generating content for emails or presentations. 

The most commonly understood version of Copilot is probably Copilot for Bing, which used to be known as Bing Chat, and works alongside Microsoft’s search engine Bing. However, all of Microsoft AI assistant tools are now called Copilot, with the name of the app they work with usually included in the title – e.g. Copilot for Word or Copilot for Windows.  

Copilot for Bing and Edge is free to users with a free Microsoft Account, as is Copilot for Windows, which is available in a preview mode meaning it’s still being tested. Pricing for other applications varies – Copilot for 365 costs around $30 per user per month and you need to have certain licenses to be able to add it on (which we’ll explain more about later). 

There’s also Copilot Pro, which works like Copilot for Bing and Edge, but for $20 a month, users have the added ability to unlock the Copilot assistant inside Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, and Outlook – without Copilot for 365 – and you can create more images too.  

The main difference between Copilot Pro and Copilot for 365 is that Copilot Pro is aimed more at individual users of Microsoft, whereas Copilot for 365 is aimed at enhancing the productivity of organisations as a whole. Copilot for 365 is more grounded in an organisation’s work, rather than the web.  

To use Copilot for Microsoft 365, you need one of the following licenses: 

• Microsoft 365 Business Standard

• Microsoft 365 Business Premium

• Microsoft 365 E3

• Microsoft 365 E5

• Office 365 E3

• Office 365 E5 

Charities can access Microsoft 365 licenses at a discount through the Charity Digital Exchange. There isn’t a nonprofit discount currently available for Copilot itself. 

Below, we explore more about the different versions of Copilot and how charities can use them. 

Copilot for Bing and Edge 

Copilot for Bing and Edge is a separate feature and it’s completely free to anyone with a free Microsoft account. It assists users during web searches and browsing by providing context-aware suggestions and responses.  

For example, if you search "What is Charity Digital?", Microsoft’s AI technology will provide you with a short summary, complete with links to its sources.  

Indeed, Copilot for Bing and Edge is very helpful in that it can connect to the Internet, unlike ChatGPT, giving it the ability to access more up-to-date information than other models which are trained on past data only. It is also very easy to find is easy to find – look for the Copilot logo.

For example, when highlighting text in certain tabs on Edge – like when you’re adding text to presentations on Canva – you can also get the option to “Rewrite with Copilot”. Users can also summon this by pressing Alt + I. 

Copilot for Windows 

Copilot in Windows is an AI assistant in Windows that can help you with a variety of tasks, both relating to your PC’s settings and to generative assistance. Basically, it can help you with anything from answering questions as in Bing and Edge, launching apps, writing text, organising your windows, creating images, and more.  

Replacing Cortana as the default assistant in Windows 11, Copilot appears in the task bar in preview form, which means it is still being tested. You can also summon it by pressing the Windows button on your keyboard + C. 

Copilot’s conversation styles 

It’s also worth noting that Copilot for Windows has an option to switch up conversation styles. 

There are three: 

1. Creative 

2. Balanced 

3. Precise 

Creative – with the Creative style, you’ll get longer, more detailed responses, including jokes, poems, or images.  

With the balance mode, you’ll get informative yet friendly responses – this is the standard conversation style 

With precise, you’ll get concise, straightforward answers to your prompts – it’s direct and prioritises clarity 

Also, a note on the limit of responses – you might see a “one out of thirty responses” when you interact with Copilot, but this is just in relation to each interaction. So each question can use 30 responses. To start again, simply start a new conversation or refresh.