1. Canva For Nonprofits
If you aren't using Canva for yournonprofit organization you aremissing out! Canva is a design toolthat allows anyone, and I do meanANYONE, to design high-impactsocial media graphics andmarketing materials. With over420,000 templates, 75 million+images,
and 3,000+ fonts, Canva isour go-to for creating social mediaposts, presentations, infographics,websites, reports, posters, and flyers.Best of all, tax-exempt organizationscan apply to
have access to Canva Premium 100% free.
2. Office 365
How many of us graduated andcancelled that Microsoft officesubscription immediately?! Withfree tools such as Google Docs,many don't see a need for Office 365(especially with its hefty annual pricetag!). However, in the business world, it is imperative to be able to access, view, and edit any document that was created in Microsoft. Fortunately, tax-exempt organizations can score Office 365
for as low as $1/mo. Even better, the365 cloud offers ongoing updates, so you don't have to keep paying for updated software.
3.GrantStation
Did you know that most Foundations do not post their grant opportunities online? That's probably why you couldn't find any for your NPO! In fact, mostgrantseekers use a paid database tofind grants. We recommend GrantStation because it's easy to use and with NFN's connections, you can access it at only $95 for the entire year.
4. $10K Google Ad Grant
Attract donors, raise awareness for your organization, and recruit volunteers within-kind advertising on Google Search.
Ad Grants provides access to $10,000 US of in-kind advertising every month for text ads.
5. Professional GMAIL
A professional email address goes a long way inconvincing donors that you are serious about yourorganization. Fortunately Google offers free
Gmail accounts to tax-
exempt organizations.
6. iPostal1
& Northwest Registered Agent
When you file your aticles ofincorporation, everything that you list iseasily searched on your secretary ofstate's website. This means that if you use your home address, anyone can find it online. Although you can't use a PO Box on you paperwork, there are still other ways to protect your privacy. To avoid sharing your home address with the public, first you want to purchase a virtual office address. We love iPostal1 because they have
over 2,000 mailbox locations across the U.S.and abroad, starting at only $9.99/mo.
Then, you will want to hire Northwest tobe your registered agent, which means you'll never miss a legal notice. If you were to be your own registered agent, your information would also be public.We love Northwest because they offer annual compliance filings as well.
7. DonorBox
In order to encourage your potential donors to take the next step and donate to your organization, a professional web presence is a must. We love donor box for its onetime and recurring donation options, option to add pictures on the donation page, and the option to describe the amount of impact each donation makes.Best of all, there are no monthly fees and donors can choose to pay the transaction fee on behalf of the organization.
8. FloDesk
This is a new one for us! We have used many emailbuilders over the years, from MailChimp to ConvertKit,and have spent 1,000s of dollars sending out emails toour subscribers.
When I heard about Flodesk, I wasweary. For $20/mo, I thought it was too good to betrue. But no sooner did we switch to Flodesk, oursubscribers started to respond telling us how muchthey LOVE our emails. The content hadn't changed, but the layout and design made all the difference. For nonprofits, it is much easier to retain a current donor than to find new ones, so we highly recommend you launch your website and get your email campaign started right away.
9. Honeybook
If you offer any type of program that requires case
management (mentoring, workplace development, financial literacy, life skills training, etc.) and you are still managing your participants with notebooks, folders, and spreadsheets ,it might be time to switch to Honeybook. We loveHoneyBook because at $9/mo (for small organizations) you can create a profile for your client, send your client forms to complete, and send emails, contracts, and invoices all in one place.Then, you can invite others staff members or partner organizations to view your client's profile and monitor their progress.
10. Quickbooks for NPOs
If you're not a math and accounting wiz (or just don't have the time) Quickbooksis a great software for automatically tracking revenue
and categorizing expenses, helping you maintain the
great banking records that are so vital to running an ethically-sound organization.
We also love that you can give your board members access to financials without having to share banking information.Nonprofits can snag Quickbooks for $75/year with a free Techsoup membership.