Pro Tools Your Nonprofit Should Start Using for Greater Impact

There are a lot of tools out there that can help your nonprofit achieve its goals. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the best pro tools that your nonprofit should start using! These tools include everything from social media management for nonprofits to cloud management software. Using these tools will help you streamline your operations and hopefully achieve greater impact.

The Essential Tools Every Nonprofit Needs

Cloud document management tools help you to easily host and share documents, CRM tools help you to organize your member database, communication solution tools boosts your nonprofit visuals and messages and social media tools gets your message out there.

There are a few essential tools that every nonprofit should be using. The ability to communicate effectively ranks highly on any nonprofit organization’s list. So, consider some of these tools to get started with effective organizing and communications as a start:

Project Management OS: Work Effectively

Project management operating system can be an extremely valuable tool for nonprofit organizations. It can help you to track all of the different projects that you are working on, as well as assign tasks to different team members and track their progress. By using project management software, you can ensure that your projects are running smoothly and that your team is working effectively.

monday.com

What is monday.com best known for: Running projects and workflows

This online tool is great for visual project management. It lets you see all of your tasks and projects in one place, as well as the progress that’s been made on them. You can also assign tasks to others and set deadlines. In terms of communication, monday.com offers a great way to keep everyone updated on the project’s progress in one central location. You can easily send and receive messages, and all of the messages are archived and searchable.

Cloud Document Management: Easily Host and Share Documents

Cloud document management is a great way to store and share documents. There are a lot of different options out there, but let’s take a look at three top ranking choices in this comparison table below.

Google Drive

What is Google Drive best known for: Create and share work

With Google Drive, you can easily create and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. You can also access your files from any computer or mobile device. Plus, Google Drive offers great collaboration features – you can invite others to work on documents with you, and everyone can make changes at the same time. Learn more about what Google for Nonprofits offers, including how to sign up, configure your account, and use the various tools available.

Dropbox

What is Dropbox best known for: Backup and sync files

Dropbox is another top option for cloud document management. It offers a lot of the same features as Google Drive, but it’s also great for sharing files with people who don’t have a Google account.

OneDrive

What is OneDrive best known for: Files storage and sharing

Microsoft’s OneDrive is another great option for cloud document management. It offers a lot of the same features as Google Drive and Dropbox, but it also integrates well with other Microsoft Office products.

CRM Tools: How to Organize Your Member Database

A CRM, or customer relationship management, tool is a great way to organize your member database. It can help you keep track of everything from contact information to past interactions. As your nonprofit grows, it becomes more important to have tools in place to help you manage your member database and stay organized. CRM tools are a great way to do this, and there are a lot of different options available. Here are a few top CRM tools to use as a nonprofit organization:

Salesforce

Salesforce is a popular CRM tool that offers a lot of features, including lead tracking, customer profiles, and email marketing. If you’re a nonprofit, you can use Salesforce’s Nonprofit Success Pack, which offers even more features specifically for nonprofits.

What is Salesforce best known for: Integrated platform

Price: starting at $25/month

Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a popular CRM tool that offers a lot of features, including lead tracking, customer profiles, and email marketing. Nonprofits often use Microsoft Dynamics to manage their member databases.

What is Microsoft Dynamics best known for: Social capabilities

Price: starting at $65/user/month

monday.com CRM

monday.com CRM is a great option if you’re looking for a CRM tool that’s free. It offers features like contact management, lead tracking, and sales forecasting. If you need more features, there are paid plans available.

What is monday.com CRM best known for: Flexible CRM platform

Price: starting at $25/user/month

Graphic Design: Boost Your Nonprofit’s Visuals

In the nonprofit world, attracting potential donors with attractive visuals is critical. Create beautiful designs with your team with this tool:

Canva

Canva is a great way to create visuals for your website and social media. You can easily create designs for flyers, posters, and social media posts. Plus, there are a lot of templates to choose from, so you can create a design in minutes. Furthermore, for nonprofits, Canva offers a free membership which gives you access to even more templates and tools. Use Canva to give your nonprofit a visual facelift with email banners, website landing pages, YouTube thumbnails and more!

What is Canva best known for: state of the art designs and templates

Price: Free

Premium Price: $12.95/month or $119.40/year for individuals; custom pricing for teams

Solutions for Communications

Digital marketing, surveys and well-targeted e-mail communication may significantly improve your success rate with supporters. Here are some tools that can help you make the most of these elements.

Google Workspace

What is Google Workspace best known for: Business apps & collaboration tools

Google Workspace is a brilliant way to create online spaces for collaboration. Nonprofits can use it to easily create and share documents, calendars, and chat logs. It’s also great for brainstorming sessions – everyone can easily add their ideas to the document in real time.

Microsoft Teams

What is Microsoft Teams best known for: Online meetings and ‏instant messaging

Microsoft Teams is a streamlined tool to have online meetings. You can easily schedule meetings, and participants can join via computer or phone. During the meeting, everyone can see the same thing – no one is stuck on a conference call with just their PowerPoint slides. You can also easily record meetings, which is great for later reference.

MailChimp

MailChimp is a great way to send out e-mail newsletters. You can easily create newsletters, track who opened them and clicked through to your website, and even schedule them to be sent out automatically. This is important for any nonprofit as e-mail communication with supporters is key.

What is MailChimp best known for: Email newsletters

Price: Free up to 2000 subscribers; thereafter, plans start at $14.99/month

SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey is a great way to gather feedback from your supporters. You can create surveys, track responses, and analyze the data to see what’s working and what’s not. This is a great tool for any nonprofit as you always want to be improving your work.

What is SurveyMonkey best known for: Surveys and Polls

Price: Free for the basic plan; thereafter, plans start at $25/month

Social Media Tools: Connect with Your Supporters

Social media is a great way for nonprofits to connect with their supporters. Here are some tools that can help you make the most of social media:

Twitter

Twitter is a great way to share your nonprofit’s story and connect with supporters. You can tweet about your work, retweet news and articles about your cause, and run Twitter contests. For nonprofits, Twitter offers a free account which gives you access to more features, including Twitter Analytics.

What is Twitter best known for: Hashtags and real-time news

Price: Free

Premium Price: $99/month for businesses

Facebook

What is Facebook best known for: Connecting with friends and family

Facebook is a great way to share your nonprofit’s story and connect with supporters. You can post updates about your work, run Facebook contests, and create Facebook ads. For nonprofits, Facebook offers a free account which gives you access to more features, including Facebook Insights.

Price: Free

Premium Price: Custom pricing for Facebook advertising (Daily minimum budget of at least $5 a day)

Instagram

Instagram is a great way to share photos of your work and connect with supporters. You can post photos of events, staff and volunteers, and your work in the community.

What is Instagram best known for: Sharing photos and stories

Premium Price: $0.99/day for businesses

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great way to connect with potential donors and volunteers. You can post updates about your work, run LinkedIn ads, and connect with potential supporters on LinkedIn groups. LinkedIn offers a free account which gives you access to more features, including LinkedIn InMail.

What is LinkedIn best known for: Connecting with professionals

Price: Free

Premium Price: $59.99/month for businesses

YouTube

YouTube is a great way to share your nonprofit’s story. You can create videos about your work, interviews with staff and volunteers, and fundraising appeals. You can also easily share your videos among staff, donors and volunteers.

What is YouTube best known for: Sharing videos

Price: Free

Premium Price: $11.99/month

TikTok

If a nonprofit wants to reach people they must go where they are, which is TikTok. TikTok allows your nonprofit to get intimate with your followers because it offers a look into your organization. To be effective on TikTok, nonprofits need to invest time in a content strategy and creation.

What is TikTok best known for: Trending videos

Price: Free

Premium Price: TikTok requires a $500 minimum ad spend, with a minimum campaign level daily budget of $50

Buffer

Buffer is a great way to schedule your social media posts. You can create a queue of tweets and Facebook posts, and Buffer will automatically post them at the right time. This is important for nonprofits as you want to make sure your social media posts are reaching the most people possible.

What is Buffer best known for: Scheduling social media posts

Price: Free up to 100 queued posts; thereafter, plans start at $15/month

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a great way to track your social media analytics. You can see how many people are following you, how many people are talking about your brand, and which posts are getting the most engagement. With Hootsuite, you can make sure your social media efforts are effective.

What is Hootsuite best known for: Tracking social media analytics

Price: Free for up to 30 social media accounts; thereafter, plans start at $19/month

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a great way to track your social media analytics. You can see how many people are following you, how many people are talking about your brand, and which posts are getting the most engagement. You can also track your Twitter and Facebook followers over time.

What is Sprout Social best known for: Tracking social media analytics

Price: Plans start at $59/month for up to five social media accounts

Here are some additional tips:

• Make sure that you have a clear goal in mind before using any pro tool. What do you want to achieve? Once you know this, you can choose the right tool for the job.
• Don’t try to use every single pro tool out there. This will just clutter up your process and make things more complicated than they need to be. Pick a few key tools that will really help you reach your goals and stick with those.
• Make sure that you train your team members on how to use the pro tools that you are using. They won’t be able to help you reach your goals if they don’t know how to use the tools properly!

Further tools for nonprofits

Donor management software

Donor management software is for keeping track of your donors. It can tell you how much they have donated, and when. You can also use it to cultivate relationships. This is important because you want to keep your donors happy, and thanking them is a good way to do that.

Event management software

Events software for nonprofits (link to article) can help you plan and execute events flawlessly. From sending out invitations to tracking RSVPs, event management software will make sure that your event goes off without a hitch.

All of these pro tools can be extremely helpful for nonprofit organizations. However, it’s important to use them effectively in order to maximize your impact.

Finance software

This type of software can help you track your nonprofit’s finances, including income and expenses. It can also help you generate financial reports.

This is important because you need to know where your money is going. You also need to be able to show potential donors where their money will be going.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are a wide variety of different tools you can use to help your nonprofit grow. Some may have a more limited feature set while others offer advanced features that allow you to do things like track social media analytics and create ads with custom pricing. You need to explore which ones work best for the needs of your organization before selecting one or two to use on a regular basis.