This document provides summaries and recommendations for 10 online tools that can help busy nonprofits with common tasks like scheduling meetings, hosting online meetings, getting feedback on documents, tracking tasks, managing social media, emailing large groups, creating visuals, and facilitating donations. For each task, it describes a typical problem nonprofits face and then recommends a free or low-cost tool to address that problem, like using Doodle to schedule meetings when coordinating calendars, Google Hangouts for online video meetings, and MailChimp for emailing large subscriber lists. It also includes alternative tool options for each task category.

1. 10 Online Tools for
Busy Nonprofits
Public Safety Canada
January 28th, 2015

2. Hi, we’re from TechSoup
Canada
Our mission is to help
nonprofits use tech

3. We make technology more affordable
through the Technology Donations
Program
Register your charity, nonprofit or library to see which
products you’re eligible for:
www.TechSoupCanada.ca/Getting_Started

4. We create and curate tech resources
facebook.com/techsoupcanada
techsoupcanada.ca/blog
meetup.com/toronto-net-tuesday
@techsoupcanada

5. We are part of a global network
60+ countries served worldwide
$3.9+ billion worth of technology donated
600K+ nonprofits reached

6. We’re a small nonprofit based in Toronto
and a program of the Centre for Social Innovation

7. Today’s speakers are
Tierney Smith
Program Manager at TechSoup
Canada
Keep in touch: @tierneys
Joyce Hsu
Communications Lead at
TechSoup Canada
Keep in touch: @fuuyin

8. ONLINE TOOLS
10

9. 1
2
3
4
Schedule meetings
Host online meetings
Get feedback on documents
Get input
Tools that make it easy to
work with others

10. Track ideas
Track tasks
Manage social media accounts
Tools that make it easy to
stay organized
5
6
7

11. Email large groups
Make quick visuals
Facilitate donations
Tools that make it easy to
engage your supporters
8
9
10

12. WORKING
WITH
OTHERS

13. scenario 1
SCHEDULING
MEETINGS

14. Finding a time
that works for
everyone
PROBLEM!

15. SOLUTION: Doodle1

16. Doodle1
It’s free, available online and mobile
friendly
OTHER IDEAS
WhenIsGood, Meetifyr, Zeeyoo, Minutes.io, Meetin.gs
Use Doodle to suggest meeting times and
find out when others are available, and let
others see your calendar and book
meetings with you.

17. scenario 2
HOST ONLINE
MEETINGS

18. You need to meet with people
who aren’t physically close by
PROBLEM!

19. SOLUTION: Google+ Hangouts Video Call2

20. Google+ Hangouts Video Call2
It’s free, works on multiple devices and
platforms
OTHER IDEAS
Skype (free, up to 10 people), GoToMeeting (discounted, up to
25 people), TeamViewer (free for personal use, up to 25
people)
Host online meetings for 10 people (unlimited
if you use Hangouts on Air). Invitees can join
via phone or computer headset.
You can share your screen and work in the
same documents.

21. scenario 3
GETTING
FEEDBACK ON
DOCUMENTS

22. Your one document turns into
multiple versions – each with its
own changes that you need to
incorporate
PROBLEM!

23. SOLUTION: Google
Documents
3

24. Google Documents3
You can have multiple editors at
the same time, have discussions
directly in the document (in
comments) and view previous
versions at any time.
It’s free (Google for Nonprofits),
available online & mobile friendly.
OTHER
IDEAS
OneDrive
+
Microsoft
Office
Office 365
Word App

25. scenario 4
GETTING
INPUT

26. Getting input can be a very
manual process
PROBLEM!

27. SOLUTION: Google Forms4

28. Google Forms4
It’s free (Google for
Nonprofits), works on
multiple platforms and
mobile friendly
OTHER IDEAS
Wufoo, SurveyMonkey, Polldaddy
Quickly create forms with different types of
questions. Submissions are automatically
added to a spreadsheet and you can embed
your form on a website.

29. STAYING
ORGANIZED

30. scenario 5
TRACKING
IDEAS

31. Your ideas are all over the place
and it’s hard to organize them
PROBLEM!

32. SOLUTION: Evernote5

33. Evernote5
It’s free (with options to
upgrade), available online
and mobile friendly
OTHER IDEAS
Mind mapping tools (e.g. Mindmup)
Easily capture pictures, audio notes and text.
You can also tag your notes and access them
anywhere.

34. scenario 6
TRACKING
TASKS

35. You have too many tasks to track
and too many people involved
PROBLEM!

36. SOLUTION: Trello6

37. Trello6
It’s free, available online and mobile
friendly
OTHER IDEAS
Asana, Central Desktop, Wunderlist
You can make cards for each task and drag &
drop them wherever you like, organize cards
into lists and create a group board to assign
tasks to multiple people

38. scenario 7
MANAGING
SOCIAL MEDIA

39. You need to stay on top of
social media but you have
too many accounts
PROBLEM!

40. SOLUTION: Hootsuite7

41. Hootsuite7
It’s free (up to 5 profiles, paid
plan starts at $9/month, 20%
discount for qualified charities)
available online and mobile
friendly
OTHER IDEAS
Tweetdeck, Postling, Buffer
View all social media accounts in one place,
schedule social media posts, track how many
people click on your links and basic analytics.

42. ENGAGE
YOUR
SUPPORTERS

43. scenario 8
EMAILING LARGE
GROUPS

44. You need to
email a large
group of people
but you may be
blacklisted as a
spammer
PROBLEM!

45. SOLUTION: MailChimp8

46. MailChimp8
It’s free for <2,000 subscribers
(above that, 15% off for
nonprofits), available online and
mobile friendly
OTHER IDEAS
VerticalResponse, Constant Contact, iContact
Easily create professional & responsive
emails, manage multiple subscription
preferences, find out how many people
opened & click your links

47. scenario 9
MAKE QUICK
VISUALS

48. You need professional graphics
but you don’t have the right
expertise (or time)
PROBLEM!

49. SOLUTION: Canva9

50. Canva9
It’s free (premium images are
available for $1 each), available online
and works on multiple platforms
OTHER IDEAS
PicMonkey, Pixlr, Ribbet, Fotor
PHOTO RESOURCES
Pexels
Create posters, pictures and more with
professional templates. Easily export them as
PNGs or PDFs.

51. scenario 10
FACILIATE
DONATIONS

52. Your donation
forms are too
convoluted or
lacking (e.g., can’t
accept certain
payment options)
PROBLEM!

53. SOLUTION: Chimp.net10

54. It’s free, allows
donors to view their
tax receipts online
and mobile friendly
OTHER IDEAS
CanadaHelps
Easily take donations on your website that
accept all major credit cards & automatically
creates tax receipts for your supporters.
SOLUTION: Chimp.net10

55. Constituent Relationship Management
Sumac, Salesforce, CiviCRM
Back office software
Google Apps, Office 365
File sharing
Google Drive, OneDrive Pro, Box.net, DropBox
(SiteDrop)
Project Management
Smartsheet, Basecamp, Asana, Trello
Other software
for you to consider

56. 1 Schedule meetings
Doodle
Host online meetings
Google+
Hangouts Video
Call
Get feedback on
documents
Google
Documents
Get input
Google Forms
5 Task ideas
Evernote
Track tasks
Trello
Social Media
Hootsuite
8 Email large groups
MailChimp
Make quick visuals
Canva
Facilitate Donations
Chimp
2
3
4
6
7
9
10
Questions?