Here are some great inexpensive and free tools that can help any nonprofit on a budget. Some of these are great for managing communications, others for fundraising, and others for office productivity.

Gmail – Did you know that Google allows your nonprofit to create email addresses using your own domain name for free?  Instead of using an email address like absoupkitchen@gmail.com, you can have email addresses like fred@absoupkitchen.com. You’ll need to have your own domain name (web address) and access to your domain registrar (the company you bought it from). We have a tutorial on how to purchase a domain name using Hover.com.  If you have under 10 email addresses that you want to use, you can get 10 free email accounts with Google Apps. We’ve got a blog post to show you how to set up your nonprofit’s Google Apps and Gmail account.

Skype – Skype lets you make calls on your computer (and your smartphone) for free to other Skype users.  You can also do video chats as well as screen sharing so that others can see what you’re doing on your computer and vice-versa.  If you want to call cell phones or landlines (both international and domestic), Skype has really inexpensive rates for that too.    

HootSuite – Hootsuite lets you manage all of your social media accounts in one place.  So, you can update and check on multiple Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other accounts without having to switch back and forth or logging in and logging out.  You can also set up analytics to track the activity on your different accounts and schedule and queue posts.  With the free version of HootSuite, you can add up to five different social network accounts.

Evernote – Evernote lets you save your notes, photos, articles and pretty much anything else on multiple devices (like your computer, iPhone, iPad, etc.).  Everything automatically syncs too.  We’ve written a blog post about how nonprofits can use Evernote for paperless bookkeeping.  Evernote also has a great search function.  Let’s say that you take a picture of a flyer from another nonprofit’s fundraising event because it gave you some ideas on how to design your flyer.  Evernote automatically dates every note, so you can search by date.  It can also automatically pull the location of where the note was taken.  So, if you remember where you were, you can search that way.  Also, Evernote uses optical character recognition to search for words within images, notes, webpages, etc. (even handwritten notes).  When you search, it’ll find notes with the words you’re searching for and highlight them for you.  Evernote includes 60 megabytes of uploads every month in their free plan. 

Square – Square is a small little device that fits into the headphone jack of your iPhone, iPad, or Android and lets you accept credit cards.  Square charges a flat 2.7% on transactions and the device itself is free.  You don’t need to have a merchant or gateway account – they do everything for you.  You can start accepting physical credit cards in minutes.  So, if you’ve got an event where you’re going to see people in person and you want to sell Tshirts, event tickets, or accept donations, Square can do all of that for you no sweat.  The Square card reader device is free.

Bellstrike, duh! – If you’re here you probably already know about us.  If not, you should know that we let nonprofits set up good-looking, donation-enabled websites in about 1-2 minutes.  They’re easily updateable and have a ton of cool stuff baked in.  

Our main focus at Bellstrike is helping charities and non-profits convey their passions and increase their outreach. Oregon’s The Kumari Project shines as an example of one woman’s passion to better the world, beginning with her own personal origins. 

Adopted as an infant from an orphanage in Nepal, Arun Storrs of Eugene, Oreg., never lost touch with her cultural roots. Growing up, the 25-year old Yale graduate frequently visited her native country, encouraged by her mother, who wanted to ensure she had a thorough understanding of her cultural heritage. 

In college, Storrs won a fellowship that enabled her to work with Tibetan refugees in Nepal. In her free time, she was able to visit the orphanage from which she was adopted. Eventually, she began leading student volunteer trips to the orphanage.

On her work with the Bal Mandir orphanage, or Children’s Temple, Storrs says, “I just realized how much need there was in the community. During the monsoon season, there would often be 23 babies and four caretakers in just one room.” 

“Basically, there weren’t enough caretakers,” she says. “The children had bruises from sitting in their cribs and bad diaper rash from wearing cloth diapers. Because of the monsoons, the orphanage couldn’t even adequately wash and dry diapers.”

Upon graduation, Storrs decided to influence “a larger, more systemic change in the country,” and incorporated The Kumari Project in 2010. Believing that education is key, she serves as the executive director and is fundraising to address education-related needs, such as paying for tuition, creating internships for young women, and bolstering extracurricular opportunities. 

Buoyed by donations and also proceeds from an eco-fashion, sustainable clothing line, the group is well on its way to achieving its goals. In the future, she hopes to focus on fighting the sex-traffic trade, into which many young Nepalese girls are drawn. 

Soon after Kumari’s inception, Storrs found that the lack of a website was hindering the organization’s  launch and promotion. Without any knowledge of web programming, she was led by a designer friend to Bellstrike. 

On the Bellstrike platform, Storrs says, “It’s a beautiful, clearly-designed system. And the fact that they keep adding features such as Google Analytics is really helpful. Bellstrike is very attuned to their community, and they’re really responsive to our unique needs.”

“The best features are the tutorials — they’re really clear and well-written,” she continues. “The blog is an excellent tool for non-profits and truly goes above and beyond. Plus, the $5,000 grant contest is a great way to further support the organizations they serve.” 

Using Bellstrike’s unique features, such as social media tie-ins, has really driven fundraising, Storrs has found. She remarks that by utilizing these tools, she can easily drive traffic to the donate page. 

“Using WePay is great. Visitors stay on the Kumari page instead of being driven elsewhere, and all of our Facebook, Twitter and other web tools link to the site and include the donate button. Choosing Bellstrike truly made things incredibly easy.” 

At Bellstrike, we love helping people like Arun reach their goals with their nonprofits. To become involved with The Kumari Project, visit http://www.thekumariproject.org. 

When tragedy strikes, it’s often hard to move forward. Healing can be difficult, but can hopefully serve a fulfilling purpose, not only for those immediately affected, but for an entire community. Inspired by the passing of their young son, one family is using Bellstrike as a catalyst for positive change, keeping his name and memory alive in the process through the Leo Israel Memorial Fund. 

When four-year-old Leo Israel of Larchmont, N.Y. fell ill with leukemia, it came as a shock, not only to his parents Caitlin and David, but to an entire community. Leo was the sort of kid others found a “joy to be around” — a happy, healthy and energetic four-year old. Leo was was suddenly diagnosed with the disease one week prior to the 2010 school year. After a courageous ten months, five-year-old Leo passed away the following July. 

Immediately, the tight-knit community rallied to support the family. “Everybody wanted to donate money to do something in his name,” Caitlin Israel said. “We came up with the idea of building a playground at our temple’s nursery school.” They soon set up the Leo Israel Memorial Fund to make those ideas a reality.

Though the idea of updating the school’s playground had been talked-about, Leo’s memory kick-started the process. But considering the innate grieving process and the inherent challenges of uniting the community, building a website and gathering donations proved to be tough.

The couple learned of Bellstrike through Swiss Miss, a popular Internet design blog. While both David and Caitlin are professional graphic designers with some web development experience, they decided that it was actually an easier and better route to go with Bellstrike. “The updating tools and management system that are connected to WePay were so simple. When something like this happens, the last thing you have is time. And Bellstrike made it happen in a few hours,” says David. “You guys had thought of things in the non-profit world that we were unaware existed and you provided a great-looking, easy way to make it happen quickly.”

“We’re particular about how things look,” says Caitlin. “We wanted to design a website, but it was overwhelming, especially at the time. For being a template-based system, Bellstrike was really visually appealing.”

“Bellstrike has been great, and they answer our e-mails within moments,” she continues. “It’s been so easy and we had it up so quickly! It’s amazing how real-time everything is — you can make a change and see it live.” 

“They basically thought it all through for us. Since our last blog entry, we’ve received at least $5,000 in donations. Plus, by linking to Facebook, our message has really spread. We get donations from people I haven’t seen since high school!” 

As of January 2012, the couple has raised the money needed to build the playground, has selected the contractors and even involved their daughter Hannah in the design process. Additional donations will go to further improvements for the playground, which is slated to be completed by July 2012, marking the one-year anniversary of Leo’s passing. 

“Leo was an incredible kid. People who didn’t get a chance to know him have seen his spirit through the website and want to meet him. I think he’d be so proud of this, as a five-year-old to see his name in lights — it’s just going to be amazing,” Caitlin says. 

“After coming out of something so awful, it’s proven to be a very positive experience. It’s been great to have our family and community help us with this, and especially Bellstrike.”

Learn more about the Leo Israel Memorial Fund at http://leoisraelmemorialfund.bellstrike.com 

At Bellstrike, we serve many nonprofits that have specific missions — combating hunger or preserving historic monuments, for example. Sage Girl, of Stockton, N.J. doesn’t aim at just one goal, but instead uses Bellstrike to address a variety of issues that girls of the “Millenial Generation” face by helping empower, enhance, and celebrate their inherent wisdom and strength. 

Begun in 2006 as The Girls’ Institute For Empowerment, Executive Director Emily Bent came on board in 2011 to revamp the organization and lend the newly-named Sage Girl a fresh perspective. Being a Ph.D candidate in women’s studies and having experience with the United Nations, Bent brought a fresh take on the state of modern young womanhood. 

“Rather than the traditional approach, which is that girls need something — self-esteem, better body image — in order to understand what the media is telling them,” Bent explains, “My approach is that they already have inner strength and wisdom, but need assistance in finding better tools. We help them develop their voice, and build from a position of positivity.” 

Sage Girl delivers a variety of girl-positive programs, including Girls for a Change, which invites young women to design, lead, fund, and implement social change projects in their own neighborhoods. Its involvement with Girls On The Run educates and prepares preteen girls for a lifetime of self respect and healthy living. 

Unique programs include media awareness projects, a one-of-a-kind self-defense and personal preparedness series, and facilitating internships for young women in fields of interest. They even held a girls’ question-and-answer panel with legendary feminist Gloria Steinem. Fitting, indeed, for an organization whose name flips the notion on its head that only wise older men can be “sage.” 

When searching for ways to supplement Sage Girls’ mission online, Bent turned to her brother, a graphic designer, who recommended Bellstrike.

“Many non-profit websites are awful,” Bent laughs. “They just don’t have the money to spend on website development. The best thing about Bellstrike is that it’s clean and professional looking, but also young and fresh, because our material needs to look interesting to girls. We wanted a website that was accessible but not overly cluttered.”

“I love that I can change things around and easily update photos and information without having any background in web development or design at all,” she continues. “The support tools are great; they’re such an easy way for non-profits to develop online giving.”  

The simplicity of using our services has made Bent’s professional life easier. “Every organization needs to have a website. Bellstrike has made it easier to gain legitimacy within our region. We can point people to our site, which is constantly updated. We even brought in an intern who will take over duties for me. It’s a great PR tool and it looks beautiful.

“I absolutely could not be more thrilled, because it feels as if you have a web designer, even if you don’t. It’s been so easy and comfortable the entire time. I’d recommend them to anyone.” 

To learn more about Sage Girl, visit www.SageGirl.org. 

When we think of fences, we think of enclosure — boundaries, limits, confines. But for certain dogs, having a fenced-in area in which to play can mean a new-found freedom. In Anderson County, South Carolina, one non-profit organization is freeing dogs from chains by building fences for them, and Bellstrike is there to help.

Freedom Fences was started in 2011 by professor Dr. Patrice Shearin. Instead of rescuing dogs and separating them from their owners, Freedom Fences builds fenced-in environments for chained dogs. This gives Shearin the opportunity to educate owners on canine care. Now, instead of knocking on doors and circulating information via Facebook, Shearin is using Bellstrike’s services to build a strong donor base and get the word out.

While Freedom Fences builds enclosures, its ultimate goal is also to lower euthanasia rates in Anderson County. Freedom Fences pays for not only the spaying or neutering procedure, but also for required shots and vaccinations. According to Shearin, “We want to educate owners on the dangers of chaining. But through our actions, we really hope to reach individuals and educate them to become responsible owners”. Having a donor-enabled site with Bellstrike has made this mission much easier, says Shearin. After all, Freedom Fences builds 20x30 foot enclosures at no cost to the recipient.

“Most owners are truly grateful. But financially, they’re in a tough position.” Shearin remarks. “When we free the dog from its chain and watch it run for the first time in the newly fenced-in yard, it’s exciting for everybody. It can bring tears to your eyes.”

As for site setup, it couldn’t be easier. “I’m not stupid, but I’m not a web designer,” she laughs. “The ease was incredible. I had everything up and running in under an hour.” With the support of Bellstrike, Freedom Fences has refined its look, and Shearin has even been able to turn over web duties to a volunteer, who can promptly post the latest news at her leisure, connect to social media, post new photos and more.

But it all starts with fundraising and messaging. Thanks to Bellstrike, securing donations has never been easier. “Some donors aren’t on Facebook, so it helped bring in more donations, especially from people who don’t use PayPal. Using WePay was a simple solution, because donors can easily use credit cards,” says Shearin.

“We try to use our Facebook as a teaser,” she says. “Then we take advantage of the Bellstrike setup to lead visitors to the donation page.”

The group has more in store for 2012, but Shearin notes that she couldn’t do it all herself, “We’re fortunate to have some incredible volunteers. It really is a team effort. And the Bellstrike guys are great and truly have a heart for non-profits. They made it easy for us. They really did.”

To get involved with Freedom Fences, visit their website at www.FreedomFences.org.