These days, there are a ton of online resources to help nonprofits with a variety of tasks. But it can be tricky to find the best, most reputable options for your organization. Don't worry – we've done the work for you! Read on to discover eight of the best websites to find resources for your organization.
Donors want to support nonprofits that spend their funds wisely, and many refuse to support organizations that spend too much on administrative needs. That leaves nonprofits in a tight spot and always looking for free resources. Luckily, several companies offer nonprofits free learning materials, courses, templates, and access to detailed lists.
This article discusses eight websites that provide useful and free resources for nonprofits.
Donorbox is an affordable, all-in-one fundraising solution for nonprofits and is widely known for the extensive fundraising and nonprofit management support they provide to nonprofits of all sizes. It has an array of resources and dedicated website pages to offer nonprofit organizations all that they may need to excel at fundraising. Let’s have a look at them one by one.
To start with, Donorbox Nonprofit Blog publishes weekly articles on the following topics –
and more. You’ll also get industry-specific resources on church fundraising, school fundraising, journalism fundraising, political fundraising, animal rescue fundraising, museum fundraising, etc.
Donorbox also offers free downloadable checklists, templates, examples, samples, etc. to help nonprofits write letters, create flyers, create an event plan, and more.
At Donorbox Academy you’ll get free as well as affordable paid courses to improve your fundraising through newer trends and tactics. Currently there’s a free peer-to-peer fundraising course available for nonprofits. It helps you reduce your fundraising costs and attract new supporters. Enroll in it for free.
There’s also a masterclass series available for organizations to help create a successful year-end campaign. Our expert fundraising coach Cara Augspurger will guide you from start to finish and ensure your fundraising is top-notch this year!
If you’re about to start fundraising with Donorbox (or already have!) and want to learn how to make the most of its features, Donorbox’s YouTube channel is the place for you! It’s also loaded with guides, tips, and best practices to get you all set for more donations and better donor relationships.
Donorbox has a dedicated Webinar page for you to get tips and knowledge from nonprofit experts. You can check past webinars as well as find upcoming ones over there.
The Nonprofit Podcast by Donorbox is an essential hub of inspiring stories from thought-leaders, founders, and directors from impactful nonprofits. You also get fundraising tips and best practices from nonprofit experts and coaches. The podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Buzzsprout, and Google Podcasts.
If you have specific fundraising questions or concerns, you can join the Donorbox Knowledge Community and share your experience and learn from other nonprofits. You can also network with other fundraisers and organizations there.
Donorbox lets you subscribe to receive its best resources for the month in your inbox. It’s a handpicked list of our best articles, podcasts, webinars, and product updates to help you boost your fundraising and donor management efforts.
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Volunteers are another resource nonprofits can’t live without, and Taproot Foundation is an excellent option for nonprofits looking for skilled volunteers.
Most nonprofits work with volunteers for fundraising events or program needs, but marketing, HR, law, technology, and financial professionals all provide pro bono services to nonprofits. Taproot is one of the best places to find these experts.
Taproot is an online platform that enables nonprofits to connect directly with professionals and schedule a one-hour consultation from anywhere.
Nonprofits and volunteers can also sign up for the Taproot Community and receive links to articles and webinars to help you form a volunteer program and best use volunteers within your organization.
NonprofitReady provides online training for everything from fundraising to nonprofit leadership and starting a nonprofit. This website has over 500 free learning resources, including courses, videos, downloadable guides, and more. It’s also easy to use.
NonprofitReady’s courses focus on the following:
The information on this website is extensive and easy to follow, but we’ve chosen it because of the free certificates and badges they provide to fundraising professionals. Individuals who wish to start or further develop a career in the nonprofit sector can earn a certificate in:
Moreover, each certificate course is applicable for continuing education points in the CFRE program.
Simply put, Lawyers Alliance connects lawyers, nonprofits, and communities. Their priority areas include community arts, housing and human services, urban health, education, and economic opportunity.
Nonprofits can apply for legal assistance as well as look up volunteer institutions working with Lawyers Alliance.
Lawyers Alliance’s service model has the 4 following stages to help connect nonprofits and lawyers –
Nonprofits require legal advice and services when starting the organization, filling out IRS forms, creating contracts, filing tax returns, and more. If they can find volunteer attorneys for free, there’s nothing quite like it!
Grants are an excellent fundraising option for nonprofits, but there is significant competition and several hoops to jump through before you actually gain funding. GrantAdvisor lets nonprofits find funder profiles and read reviews before applying for a grant.
If you’ve already received a few grants on your own, you can also write reviews to help other nonprofits find funding. No nonprofit wants to waste time applying for grants that don’t match their promise.
Reviews on how long it takes to apply, how responsive the organization is, and whether they give more than money are priceless. GrantAdvisor reviews also include information on each foundation’s leadership and their level of cultural sensitivity. These details help steer you away from foundations that don’t fit your organization’s mission or vision.
The website’s news and resources page also includes several articles for funders and nonprofits to answer some of your deeper concerns regarding grant funding.
Are you a board member of a nonprofit? Or maybe an Executive Director or Development Manager running into difficulties with your current board? Nonprofit boards are an organization’s leadership team responsible for organizational planning, oversight, fundraising, and the nonprofit’s financial and legal obligations.
BoardSource provides free templates, guides, tools, and infographics that help nonprofits with board training and governance. A few of the helpful topics discussed on this website include the following:
Each free resource available on this website can help your nonprofit find and develop a well-functioning board and create training and evaluation materials to stay on the right track. Moreover, they also provide a set of Recommended Governance Practices to keep your board and staff on the same page.
Marketing is essential for every nonprofit, and what better than free marketing resources? Canva is a handy option for nonprofits that can’t afford to pay a designer, buy images or videos, and sign up for paid software.
Nonprofits can upload their own unique images or use stock photos provided by Canva to design banners, logos, flyers, newsletters, social media posts, videos, and infographics.
Canva includes the following free options for eligible nonprofits:
Canva also has free video courses on how nonprofits can design and present videos and marketing material. If your organization depends on volunteers to create fundraising and marketing material, Canva can be a lifesaver.
If you’re a teacher or school administrator, Canva also provides free educational resources to use in the classroom.
Data and technology – the 2 most important factors driving the world these days! Nonprofits aren’t left behind either. Every nonprofit has turned to online fundraising, ticket selling, virtual events, and more to keep up with changes.
However, before you adopt a new technology or start using a specific tool, you need to know what other nonprofits are doing in the area and how effective they are.
Nonprofit Tech for Good helps make that possible with their Open Data Project. They publish several data points on a global NGO technology survey in real-time by region and country.
The data points can help your nonprofit with the following –
…and more.
You can also subscribe to receive any updates and new resources related to the global survey from this website.
Nonprofits are constantly on the hunt for more resources to learn and grow and get the job done. Free options like the ones on this list give organizations the chance to catch up with the competition. Thanks to technology, more websites are offering free resources for nonprofits than ever before.
If your organization is looking for more free online tools and marketing tools, we’ve written several articles on the subject. Visit the Donorbox Nonprofit Blog to explore other insightful and free resources to boost your fundraising and nonprofit management efforts.
Donorbox remains one of the simplest and most powerful one-stop-shop fundraising tools for nonprofits. 80,000+ organizations in 96 countries are using our effective features to raise funds, manage donors, sell tickets online, run their membership programs, and more. We also have a success package designed to help nonprofits willing to take their fundraising to the next level – Donorbox Premium!
Our fundraising platform is free to start, has no monthly contracts, no documentation needs, and gets you started in about 15 minutes! Sign up now!
Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor