8 Essential Nonprofit Tools to Get You off the Ground

So, you’re starting a nonprofit, that’s great! The world needs people like you. Your next step is choosing specific software tools that can help you get it off the ground.

But here’s the problem, how do you know which ones are right for you when they all seem to be offering similar services? Good news, I have some of the answers. Let’s look at eight amazing tools designed to help your nonprofit be a success.

1. Make it easy for your donors with donation software

Complicated check-out processes lead to cart abandonment and 67.91% of shoppers bounce at this point due to frustration; donors are no different!

Avoid this by using software that provides a simple and secure donation process — enabling you to raise funds from anywhere while collecting your donor’s information and increasing your online presence.

Donorbox can help you. It’s fast to set up and easy to use.

Some helpful features are:

• Plugins – Serving platforms like Wix, WordPress, Weebly, and Squarespace.
• Optional integrations – MailChimp, Salesforce, Zapier, and Employer Gift Matching.
• Payment options – Google and Apple Pay and in numerous currencies.
• Attractive and clean donation forms.
• Donor management systems.
• Recurring donation optimization.

2. Designing web and social graphics? Canva can help you

We relate to images far more than written content; it’s why Instagram’s so successful, and if you’re going to succeed online, you must use high-quality visual content in all your marketing campaigns.

The good news is you don’t have to be a designer to do it; you just need Canva.

And as a nonprofit, you’re eligible for a free upgrade!

Giving you access to:

• Millions of free icons and images
• Templates for creating social media graphics, blog header images, posters, and letterheads.
• Automatic resizing to suit multiple platforms
• Brand creation kits, increasing audience awareness.
• A built-in color picker

3. Want to be recognized by your target audience?

Great, your email and social media marketing’s in the bag, but what about brand awareness?  How will your audience know who’s contacting them?

By creating an eye-catching, industry-related, professional logo, of course!

You can design one with the Tailor Brands AI logo making tool, it’s free to use, and you only pay when you’re happy with your design.

Some features are:

• Versatile logos – (Great for avatars, email subject lines, business profiles listings, and website headers)
• Available in multiple file formats
• Instantly downloadable

Brand awareness creates trust, and you can gain your audiences by using your logo on everything you do.

4. Stay in touch with email software tools

Have you heard that email marketing no longer works?

Don’t believe it, emails are as powerful as ever, and you’re going to need them to build brand awareness, acquire leads, retain customers, and convert prospects.

One tool that can help you do this is MailChimp.

It offers the following services:

• Customizable and branded emails
• Free templates
• Fully automated – emails, donation follow-ups, Q&A’s, etc.
• Informative analytics

With MailChimp, you can also carry out A/B testing, target donors, create versatile landing pages, and integrate with numerous apps.

5. Automate your social media management and scheduling

If your nonprofit isn’t on social media, you’ll find it hard to get it off the ground.

But managing social media is a full-time job. Do you have the time?

Probably not, right!

Buffer is a tool that can help you with all your social media needs, and as you’re a nonprofit, they offer a 50% discount on their upgrade.

Here’s what you can do with it:

• Run it on multiple social media accounts.
• Schedule hundreds of posts in advance
• Set the date and time of your posts for when your audience is most active
• Access detailed analytical data, so you know what’s working.
• Browser extensions, enabling you to add content as you browse

All of this helps you connect with your audience, donors, and volunteers with minimal time and effort; happy days!

6. Know your traffic and gain an advantage

Want to be sure your marketing strategies are working, and you’re not wasting time and money?

Then track your web traffic using Google Analytics.

Here’s just some of the data it provides:

• Precise audience demographics
• Live traffic overviews
• Up to date information on referral traffic
• Website page popularity data

Google Analytics provides data on almost everything you need to know for fine-tuning your marketing strategies and getting the highest ROI.

7. Stay in control with Trello

As your nonprofit grows, so will the tasks at hand. One way of staying in control is to use task and project management tools.

I’m choosing Trello due to its ease of use and because they offer a 75% discount to certain nonprofits on their premium package.

Trello interface enables you to manage content and plan events, using a board, list, and card system, making it ideal for multiple team project management.

Some other features are:

• It’s versatile; you can use it on any device.
• Individual team boards so you can separate projects and assign project members.
• Add related files and due dates, so nothing is missed.

 8. CRM your way to success

Hubspot’s CRM (customer relationship management) tool enables you to manage your contacts, donors, and volunteers, all of which help you stay in touch and increase those essential donations. What’s more, it’s free!

Here’s what their CRM can do for you:

• Valuable contact identification – Know who’s donating the most.
• Personalized communications – So you can connect with donors.
• Interaction tracking – Enabling you to manage interactions with team members, volunteers, and donors.
• Social media and blogging monitoring – Providing helpful analytics regarding your website and other platforms.

 

All the tools you need for getting your nonprofit off the ground are out there, some are free, and others offer substantial discounts.

Start by checking out the eight I’ve suggested; they’re all highly rated and proven to help people just like you.

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