Trello for Nonprofits: Easy Campaign Management and Team Collaboration
Looking for an easier way to stay on top of your nonprofit tasks? Find out how Trello helps organizations stay organized and on track.
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Looking for an easier way to stay on top of your nonprofit tasks? Find out how Trello helps organizations stay organized and on track.
Join the fundraising movement! Join the fundraising movement!Nonprofit work often feels like juggling a million moving parts – fundraising campaigns, events, and follow-ups – all happening across different teams and platforms. It gets overwhelming fast.
That’s where tools like Trello come in handy. Trello is a simple yet highly effective tool for building your own customized timeline and moving tasks seamlessly from one phase to the next – among other capabilities.
And as someone who’s usually balancing a dozen things at once, I personally enjoy using it! There’s something so satisfying about dragging a task into the “done” column.
If you’re wondering whether Trello is the right fit for your nonprofit, I’ll take you through what it does and how it can support your team.
Trello is a project management tool that helps you keep track of tasks and organize your internal processes, whether you’re managing your own to-do list or collaborating with your nonprofit team.
It’s built around the Kanban method, where you drag and drop task cards across vertical columns that represent different stages of a project. It’s a simple, visual way to see what’s in progress, what’s done, and what still needs attention.
Here are some key elements that make up Trello:
Trello is especially helpful for team collaboration. Everyone can add, update, and move cards on the same board, so it’s easy to stay on the same page and see real-time progress.
You can even display your project boards during team meetings for easy reference and accountability.
The beauty of Trello is that you can use it to track pretty much anything. Plus, there are so many ways to set up a board that works for you and your team.
Here are a few popular ways nonprofits use Trello, plus some suggestions for how to format your board.
Trello and campaign planning really work well together. Start by creating a board for your campaign, such as “Year-End Campaign,” and set up vertical lists for the main stages, like Strategy, Content Creation, Outreach, Launch, and Follow-Up.
If you’re stuck on how to format your board, Trello’s marketing templates are a great place to start. Tweak them to fit your campaign instead of building everything from scratch.
Within each stage, create cards for specific tasks, like writing emails, designing social posts, scheduling content, or tracking donor responses. Assign each card to the team member responsible and add due dates, checklists, and attachments for any assets.
Here’s an example of a very basic setup, grouping tasks simply by when they need to be done:
Trello labels are handy here for sorting tasks by type or priority, and custom fields can help you track additional visual data like “budget” or “goals.”
Switching from the Kanban Board to the Timeline View, my personal favorite, lets your team see all deadlines at a glance.
Consistent donor communication is important for building strong relationships with your donors. With Trello, it’s easy to build a simple system specifically for donor follow-up so no donor falls through the cracks.
Start by creating a board just for donor communication. Then, organize your Lists by communication type (Email, Phone, Mailer etc.) or by status (To Send, In Progress, Sent, Completed).
Next, create individual cards for each follow-up touchpoint, such as thank-you emails, tax receipts, 30-day follow-up call, quarterly impact update, etc.
Make sure to include the donor’s name in the card title so you can search for a donor at a glance. Under each card, include a checklist with tasks like draft message, review, and send.
Use Trello’s label feature to organize your donors by type, such as Major Donor, Monthly Partner, First-Time Giver, etc.
Alternatively, you can create one card per donor and track all communication inside that card. Again, Trello is highly customizable.
Planning a fundraising event often means coordinating a lot of extra hands, and Trello’s Calendar feature makes it easy for every volunteer to see all tasks and deadlines in one place.
Start by creating a new board for your event, like “Summer Fun Run 2026,” and then set up lists to represent the major phases, such as Planning, Marketing, Set Up, and Follow-Up. Within each list, you can create cards for specific tasks, from designing event graphics and scheduling social media posts to confirming catering or preparing a volunteer check-in spreadsheet.
Here’s a basic example of what your event board might look like:
Trello offers four pricing tiers for nonprofits of all sizes:
Trello pricing for nonprofits includes a 75% discount for eligible organizations. All you have to do is apply through Atlassian’s Community License program to see if you qualify.
One of the best things about Trello is how easily it integrates with tools you’re already using, including Donorbox.
You can link Trello and Donorbox through Zapier, an easy automation platform that doesn’t require any complicated coding.
Once they’re connected, you can set up simple “when this happens, automatically do this” workflows to automate your routine tasks.
For example, you could create a trigger for when someone makes their first donation, which automatically adds a new card to your donor follow-up Trello Board. That way, your team can immediately start working through thank-you notes, calls, or other next steps.
Check out the table below for more examples of popular triggers and actions to see how powerful this integration can be.
Trello is a great fit for nonprofits seeking a simpler way to organize campaigns, volunteers, and donor follow-up. When everything is laid out clearly, it’s much easier to manage the many moving parts behind your mission.
If you want to connect that project management with your fundraising efforts, Donorbox is here to help. With our powerful fundraising tools and Trello integration through Zapier, it’s easier than ever to streamline workflows, reduce admin, and keep tasks moving forward.
Sign up for free today. Plus, check out the rest of the Nonprofit Blog for more insights and nonprofit know-how.
While Trello isn’t exclusively free for nonprofits, it does offer a free plan that anyone can use. The Free tier includes unlimited cards and up to 10 boards per workspace, which works well for small teams. Larger teams may need to upgrade for more advanced features.
Yes, Trello offers nonprofit discounts through Atlassian’s Community License program. Eligible organizations can receive 50%-100% off paid plans. You simply submit an application to see if you qualify.
Yes, you can connect Donorbox to Trello using Zapier. This allows you to automate tasks like creating Trello cards when a new donation comes in.
With a background in professional writing, Lydia brings over 10 years of experience in nonprofit communications under her belt, with a strong focus on fundraising and donor engagement. Her passion for supporting nonprofits was sparked during college internships with global mission organizations, where she gained hands-on experience with fundraising marketing strategies.
Lydia went on to serve for more than eight years as a Church Communications Director, overseeing both internal and external communications to clearly communicate the church’s mission, build trust with members, and encourage generosity through accessible tools like online and recurring giving. In this role, she partnered closely with church leadership to support giving campaigns and highlight the real-life impact of financial support through storytelling.
These experiences have continued to fuel her dedication to empowering nonprofits through her writing.
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