Top 10 Apps Your Nonprofit Needs

Many of the top nonprofits I’ve worked with have one thing in common: they regularly use tech tools to help them in every department.

In today’s mobile-driven world, that means it’s time to start using apps. But there are literally thousands of apps out there. Which ones will actually save you time in the long run?

To find the answer, I did a lot of research in addition to asking nonprofit professionals which apps they use most often.

(And sorry — Candy Crush didn’t make the cut.)

1. Buffer

• Use it to: Schedule social media posts in advance.
• Available: iOs and Android.

Given that 55% of people who engage with nonprofits on social media take some sort of action afterward, maintaining a social media presence is a huge asset for your nonprofit. However, it can be difficult when there are 500 other things demanding your attention. That’s where a social media management app such as Buffer can help. Buffer allows you to connect your social media accounts and create a queue of posts that it can auto-schedule or that you can send out at specific times — saving you from having to be constantly online.

2. Canva

• Use it to: Easily design beautiful graphics.
• Available: iOs and Android.

Wondering how other organizations are able to consistently create great social media imagery? If you don’t have the budget to hire a full-time designer, or just want everyone on your team to have the ability to create simple graphics, Canva is a great option. Their app works the same as the online version, allowing you to create images for any platform using their pre-configured sizes, templates, and graphics. It’ll help you spruce up your communications in no time!

Read More:10 Inexpensive (or Free) Nonprofit Marketing Tools That Create Stunning Visuals

3. Daily Feats

• Use it to: Motivate yourself to complete self-care tasks.
• Available: Android.

A common theme we hear from nonprofit professionals is that it can be tiring and difficult to manage both the work at your organization and take care of yourself. That’s where self-care apps like Daily Feats can come in handy. By sharing reminders to complete simple tasks, it provides a little boost of motivation to accomplish anything from getting out of bed in the morning to working out. (After all, helping other people starts with helping yourself.)

4. DialMyCalls

• Use it for: Donor and supporter outreach.
• Available: iOS and Android

When you have thousands of donors or supporters in your database, contacting each of them with info about your latest event or campaign update quickly becomes an onerous task — especially when you rely on phone calls and SMS messages as a big part of your outreach strategy. However, the DialMyCalls app automates this tedious process for you. Use the app to notify your support en masse and within seconds. You can also create customized voice messages and/or texts with fundraising details or event specifics, and DialMyCalls will deploy your info to up to 3,000 numbers per minute.

5. Grammarly

• Use it to: Check grammar and spelling on the fly.
• Available: iOS and Android

If you’ve ever sent off an important email and then cringed a minute later because there was a glaring typo in the subject line… Grammarly might be for you. Their app is a simple keyboard that you can toggle on or off to make sure your spelling and grammar are perfect whether you’re composing a Facebook status or an email to your entire board.

6. Google One Today

• Use it to: Broaden your reach by tapping the expansive Google user base.
• Available: iOS and Android

Every day, Google One Today features a new nonprofit or cause. Why put in the time to use this app? Getting featured can broaden awareness for your cause (part of the app’s mission is to expose users to nonprofits they’ve never heard of), which can add donors to your supporter base you never would’ve otherwise reached.

7. Humanity

• Use it to: Create schedules for your nonprofit staff members and volunteers and process payroll.
• Available: iOS and Android

When juggling the availability of employees and volunteers, it’s almost impossible to create the perfect staff schedule. Issues like double-booking employees and understaffing for particular periods crop up often, causing the task to be a major time suck. However, using a scheduling app like Humanity can take the pain out of staff schedules. You can view employee and volunteer availability, schedule them for shifts, manage vacation requests, and process payroll — all in one platform.

8. Slack

• Use it to: Communicate with your team and volunteers, wherever they are.
• Available: iOs and Android.

Managing employees and keeping track of volunteers gets a lot easier when you have one central spot for communications — why not use an app to do it? That’s where Slack comes in. With this popular messaging app, you can create channels for different groups of people or topics, host 1:1 video calls, and message people individually.

9. Toggl

• Use it to: Track your time so you know how much time you’re spending per task.
• Available: iOs and Android.

Wondering where your nonprofit should be allocating more resources? Some of the most efficient nonprofits we’ve worked with track how much time they’re spending per project (or per department) with Toggl. This app is a free time tracker, which can help you figure out which projects are worth spending time on, and which are just a time suck and not worth it for your team.

10. VolunteerMatch

• Use it to: Managing volunteers and event coordination.
• Available: Cloud-based software accessible from any device

If you need more volunteers to take up your cause, then VolunteerMatch is an excellent tool to find new recruits. With around 1.3 million visitors, the platform helps connect stretched-thin nonprofits with eager volunteers. Share the details of your volunteer opportunities on the platform, and VolunteerMatch ensures the info is searchable by geography, interest, and skill type to help you find the right fit.