5 free tools for not-for-profits
We are very honoured to support many charities with our business support services, and know that spending money wisely is top of the considerations for every charity we work with.
To help with that, we’ve been doing some research to find out what tools and systems there are available free or via grants, which can help you run/systemise your charity’s business operations. We hope you find this useful.
1. Google Ad Grants
This program gives charities and nonprofits the chance to advertise on Google Ads for free. It provides qualified organisations with up to £7000 free advertising spend per month. By taking advantage of this program, a charity can reach new users, donors, volunteers and campaigners.
To be eligible an organisation must hold current and valid charity status, agree to Google’s required certifications regarding non-discrimination and donation receipt and use, and have a live website with substantial content.
You will either need to implement the ads yourself, or we can put you in touch with people who can help do this for you.
2. Microsoft 365 grant
Microsoft 365 Business Premium grant is available for free for up to 10 users and discounted pricing for additional users. It works best for small and mid-sized nonprofits that need email, Office desktop applications, cloud file-storage and sharing, web conferencing with IM, audio and HD video, and simple device management and advanced security features.
To be eligible the organisation must be a registered charity. While Microsoft evaluates applications, organisations can do the “Nonprofit Digital Skills Training”, once approved they will have access to the Nonprofit Hub.
3. Canva for Nonprofits
Canva Nonprofits has everything needed to create powerful marketing campaigns. From creating social media posts, to presentations, infographics, and so much more.
This program offers:
- 420,000+ templates
- 75 million+ images
- 3.5 million+ graphic elements
- 3000+ fonts
- Unlimited folders and 100GB storage for designs
To be eligible for Canva’s Nonprofit program an organisation must be a registered nonprofit, be a social impact organisation with a mission consistent with a public or community benefit, be a public health organisation, or be a government entity assisting with public health.
4. Donation manager
Donation manager is a suite consisting of various systems and tools, that is currently used by over 13,000 charities in the UK.
It includes:
- TotalGiving: the first platform where money goes directly from the donor to the charity, cutting out the middleman.
- NowDonate: enables charities to take payments from debit and credit cards, direct debits, and PayPal.
- NowGoOnline: provides charities with the ability to have an unlimited number of websites. These are one-page websites designed to provide the most effective presence. You can set up an unlimited number of websites, for example one for each project.
- RedCloud: CRM system to easily connect, collaborate and engage with supporters.
- ChapionHeroes: a community of over 1000 donors and supporters.
It’s available to all UK registered charities.
5. Benchmark
Benchmark’s software packages are completely free to all registered charities, churches, clubs and non-profit organisations (NPOs) as part of their Free Software For Charities project. The products available include accounting software, payroll and auto enrolment, stock management software, CRM, website design, and more.
We hope this list was helpful – if there’s anything we might have missed from the list, do let us know and we’ll keep this blog updated.
And as always, don’t hesitate to contact us if you need any help.