May we help you?Or maybe you can help us!
Wouldn't it be great if all nonprofits shared the things they've learned to benefit other nonprofits? That's what this page is about and it may also contain some resources that will be of help to individuals, small groups, and businesses. We invite you to share what you know with us using the simple form. It's all about making the most happen with the money we have. A good tip can easily save hundreds of dollars a year. These are some of our best tips. |
Accounting |
Wouldn't you think low cost accounting resources for nonprofits would be easy to find. No such luck even though there are plenty of options. After literally months of searching, this is what we've learned. If you are a 501(c)3, you can get a break on Quicken for Nonprofits. While many use this software, the last time we looked it wasn't highly rated. The best option we found maybe for most nonprofits is Aplos. They charge a reasonable monthly fee and their software does almost anything you might ever want. They have things set up so small nonprofits can get started at a low cost and add in features as they become needed. It's a lot of bang for the buck because they have exceptional support and amazing videos that actually teach the basics of nonprofit accounting. If you need fund accounting, this may be your best option. We've used it and we love it. If you just need basic, non-fund accounting like a regular small business might use, take a look at WAVE. It's basic version is free. It has a modern and intuitive interface and gets high ratings from many of nonprofits, small businesses, etc. We spent months on this and had an accountant helping us. The bottom line of all we learned is above.
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Graphic design |
Find a good graphic designer to make you look good. Also have one or more of your volunteers learn some of the basics. The try some of these DIY online resources to save money. Not every project will need a graphic designer.
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Websites |
GoDaddy is a reasonable way to get started on the cheap. Anyone can make a decent website including domain for under $20 with their special offers that always seem to be there. But watch for hidden costs. Recently they started charging almost $50 extra to have your website look close to right on a mobile device which is the way most will view it. Their customer service just plain stinks in our experience and if you contact them by phone about an issue, expect a high pressure sales pitch that could be very stressful. We're in the process of switching to Weebly. It has a much better platform and not only will your website look better, you can do more including things like setting up an online store that costs big bucks over at the Daddy. Here's the most fascinating thing. You can set up your site for free and almost every important feature is still unlimited. You don't loose much with a free site except for your own domain. When you want that, the entry price right now is $8 a month. But here's something to keep in mind. When we started, that price was under $4 and would probably be about that much now if we had been smart. Get Weebly as soon as you can if that is what you want. They are constantly upgrading features and you'll get them as soon as they are added. It's just a different model than the Daddy and after a year. Weebly is a much better deal price-wise. The main competition for Weebly right now is Wix. We went with Weebly but there's a lot to like about Wix.
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Volunteers |
We were setting up a volunteer program and the software situation is very similar to accounting. If you have a bunch of cash laying around, there are some amazing options. The situation was so bad that we had so sign up with some free trials of things we might be able to afford and then pay close attention. While it wasn't possible to duplicate anything that was truly good, we were able to set up a database that worked pretty well for what we were doing. So we got to experience what was out there that we could possible afford one day and then create something that was free that would get us by until we outgrew what we had. There are some free online databases. Watch out though. Some sound really good and then you find that you can't do something really basic unless you pay. At this point, the best option might be to look to google first. They have many cloud-based online tools that will always be free. You get what you get without the option to pay through the nose for more. If a google resource works for you, you're set. Another thing that's great about Weebly btw is it has forms that create a database. You can take the data you get, download it into a spreadsheet, and work with that. It would be possible to set up a pretty good volunteer system using Weebly and a cloud based google spreadsheet. Someone with basic clerical skills could keep it up to date and functional without much effort,
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Phone |
Don't buy a phone right away. We did and got a pretty good deal on a burner cell phone., but we could have done much better for free. Check out Google Voice. It gives you a free local phone number that is tied to your gmail account. When you miss a call, you'll get an email with a link to the message and a speech to text copy of the message that's pretty good. But it gets better. Not only can you route calls to your personal phone in a way that doesn't reveal your personal number, you can route it to a bunch of phones if you like. There are so many features to this service that it will blow your mind. No need to pay to upgrade either. It's just free. One piece of advice would be to sign up for this service even if you don't think you will need it. That way you'll have your free account if google should ever decide to charge. For example, maybe you're having an event and you want one number people can call if they need some help. This is perfect. Route the number to four or five phones and the caller will almost certainly reach someone available to help. There are many ways you might use this free service.
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Events |
Here are some online services that can really help you:
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Findraising |
We prefer YouCaring over GoFundMe. It's cheaper and does more. One big plus is if you get a donation by check you can add it to your total. Same for money raised at garage sale or online auction. That doesn't cost anything and it's great for potential donors to see the total amount being raised. The downside is your donors get a suggested YouCaring fee attached to their donation. It's 5 percent of the total and can be change up or down. It can also be changed it to zero, but that takes some maneuvering. This is a pain because it gets in the way. If someone is donating $200, you don't want them seeing $210 come up. It's confusing and they probably think twice. We solve this with a landing page that tells them not to pay the suggested fee. We then make a donation to the company. But we would make a bigger donation if they just let us pay to get rid of this feature. Donating money shouldn't be complicated. But GoFundMe has problems too and you pay for them. Overall, we give the nod to YouCaring.
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Phone apps |
This is one we'd like to hear from you on. So many apps, so little time. Here are a couple we like and use:
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Tools |
Here are some useful online tools.
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