Top Tools and Sites for Non Profits

Non profits need to look at the Web as their best friend. Without the Web, there are many non profits that would literally cease to exist. Where else can you alert thousands of people about your cause with a simple click of a button? We all get the snail mail asking for donations, but those envelopes end up in your trash faster than your email client uses its junk mail filter.

The bottom line is that there are many tools and sites that enable non profits, big or small, to reach out to the masses, manage their constituents and collect the almighty dollar to support their cause.

Here are some of our favorite tools and sites non profits are utilizing in the digital medium:

NFG offers small to mid-size non profits the tool set to create an online donation system without having to build it or maintain it. All you need to do is put a DONATE button on your site and start watching the money come in.

Drupal is an open source Content Management Solution that many non profits are adopting. One of the most attractive features is that it is a free solution that is supported by a massive and passionate programming community. New features are being introduced on a weekly basis.

Time and time again we meet with non profits who have no system for managing their donors, email lists, event data, etc. They have no CRM knowledge; and if they do, they think it is way out of their budget range. What they also do not know is that Democracy In Action can come to the rescue. As they clearly state on their site:

We're a progressive non profit whose core activity is providing e-advocacy tools to other progressive non profits for pennies on the dollar relative to the fees demanded by the private sector.

The bottom line is that DIA offers both hosted and installed toolsets that allow non profits to manage and USE all of their data to better serve their constituents and their cause.

In a nutshell, NTEN is where geekiness and saving the world meet. NTEN is a network of thousands of people who use technology to better serve the non profit world. Once you become a member you can join affinity groups that allow you to read and participate in many discussions that deal with cutting edge technologies as well as issues that many non profits deal with both on and offline.