Resources for Non-profit Organizations

Non-profits, exspeically small ones, need to get the best value and quality for their money in order to provide the best services they can to their communities. I've complied a list of cheap and free resources that any non-profit could benifit from.

A website is a very important thing for non-profits to have these days. You gain exposure, membership, donations and volunteers from your site. There are tons of resources available for non-profits in this area.

There are many things to consider when you make a website. What is your buget and time constraints like? What do you want to do with the site? Online donation, e-news letter, event registration, member registration, forums, document sharing, and video posting are just a few possibilities. Once you know what you want to do online, you can narrow down which companies and software solutions to use.

I would HIGHLY recomend the website content managment solutions drupal/joomla combined with civicrm a donation and event management service. I go into more detail about these services in another hubpage, but if there is something you want to do with your site in a userfriendly maner, this is the way to go.

Here is a listing of some great resources for site developement and hosting:

Charity Advantage $34 a month

Avenue Web Media free site design

http://www.convio.com/

Dream Host free hosting

Think Host free hosting

Wild Apricot 25 - 50 a month, limits on member database size

These are just a few of the options that stood out to me. Many web site developement companies and hosting companies will give non-profit organizations free/cheap service if you ask, so there's no harm in doing so!

Make sure you get a professional organization to help you out. You may be tempted to let a volunteer help, but you will get better customer support and long term service from a company who does this for a living.

Here is a list of resources for online fundraising. Along with these services you could also use paypal and google check-out links on your site.

http://www.fundable.com/

http://www.firstgiving.com/

http://www.groundspring.org/index_gs.cfm

http://www.chipin.com/

http://www.loyaltymatch.com/LoyaltyMatch/goHome.action convert unused frequent flier miles and credit card rewards into cash for a non-profit

Online campaigning for activist causes:

http://www.citizenspeak.org/

Find Volunteers and items up for donation:

http://www.volunteermatch.org/

http://www.idealist.org/

Cheap/Free software and electronics for Nonprofits:

http://www.techsoup.org/

Free e-mail, calender, document sharing and advertising for events and fundraisers:

http://www.google.com/nonprofits/

Social Networking Sites(there are fund raising applications for many of these sites):

facebook - college and highschool networks

myspace - largest online network

linked in - bussiness network

change.org - social site for activist groups and non-profits