I belong to multiple nonprofit Facebook groups and there are a few questions that I see posted weekly. Countless people inquire about low cost or free resources they can use to run their nonprofit on a small to barely existent budget. Having worked with nonprofits since 2004 (not sure how that is almost 20 years ago), I've learned about a few great resources. This list will be updated from time to time.
TechSoup.org - "TechSoup equips changemakers with transformative technology solutions and skills they need to improve lives globally and locally" (About Us, n.d.). TechSoup has a plethora of technology platforms at a deeply discounted rate for nonprofits, such as Zoom, Adobe, Norton, along with hardware and services. Check out their extensive list that you can search by the name or by category.
Canva - FREE marketing platform that is very easy to use. There are designs for social media, print flyers, websites, presentations, basically anything you can think of that you would need to design to get the word out about your amazing mission.
SmarterQueue - "SmarterQueue is the smartest all-in-one social media management tool for savvy marketers, influencers, entrepreneurs, and businesses" (SmarterQueue, n.d.). SmarterQueue is a great platform that includes a variety of features that some of the bigger social media management tools don't. The discount for nonprofits is 50% regular price.
Google For Nonprofits - "Help your nonprofit collaborate more effectively with smart, secure business apps like Gmail, Docs, Calendar, Drive, and Google Meet, so you can focus on what matters" (Google, n.d.). Included in the Google for Nonprofit accounts are Google Ad Grants that provide $10,000 of in-kind advertising each month for text ads.
Slack - "Slack makes access to your colleagues easy — message anyone inside or outside your organization and collaborate just like you would in person. People can work in dedicated spaces called channels that bring together the right people and information"(Slack, n.d.). They offer discounted rates for nonprofits.
SmartSheet - "Smartsheet offers a rich set of views, workflows, reports, and dashboards to capture and track your plans, resources, and schedules" (Smartsheet, n.d.). Smartsheet provides eligible nonprofit organizations with discounts on annual plans.
This is not a comprehensive list but enough to get any nonprofit started on their way to being organized and collaborating with staff, volunteers, and stakeholders. Many of these platforms offer templates which can be helpful when looking for a place to start with an annual report, infographic, or board report dashboard. I will be sure to add to this list and let me know if you think of any resources I should add.
References
About Us. (n.d.). TechSoup. Retrieved January 23, 2023, from
https://www.techsoup.org/about-us
Google. (n.d.). Google Workspace: Nonprofit Resource Center. Google. Retrieved
January 23, 2023, from
https://www.google.com/nonprofits/offerings/workspace/
Slack. (n.d.). What is Slack? Slack. Retrieved January 23, 2023, from
https://slack.com/help/articles/115004071768-What-is-Slack-
SmarterQueue. (n.d.). SmarterQueue - The Powerful All-In-One Social Media
Scheduling Tool. Retrieved January 23, 2023, from
https://smarterqueue.com/
Smartsheet. (n.d.). Smartsheet: Modern Project & Work Management Platform.
Retrieved January 23, 2023, from https://www.smartsheet.com/
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