The extraordinary circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have set new standards, habits and conditions. In the previous period, we’ve had to adjust and start following new patterns in life and work.
The unexpected, accelerated digitization in the non-profit sector has made us think of the tools that can help us not only get used to the different ways of work, but also fulfill our mission in an easier and more efficient way. We’ve been using some for years, while others have only recently come to our attention, and now, after we’ve tested and used them, we would like to share with you 10 tools and services that Catalyst Balkans has adopted, in hopes that they can also help your organization in terms of marketing, fundraising, finance, IT, communication and team organization.
Don’t worry, we won’t just give you a list of software and leave you to google how to use them. Instead, we’ve prepared 10 video tutorials tailored to non-profit organizations, where you can learn how to use:
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Giving Balkans to strategically target corporate donors
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Donacije.rs and e-payment to get to online donations
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Neprofitne.rs to show the transparency of your organization
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TechSoup Balkans to get licensed software at a discount
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Deflect.ca to protect your website from attacks
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QuickBooks to make the life of finance managers easier
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Microsoft Planner to improve team organization
How to strategically target corporate donors
In 2017, Catalyst Balkans launched the application Giving Balkans where you can find detailed information about donors and giving in all Western Balkan countries since 2015.
Our video will help you learn how to use this application to find donors that are close to your organization’s mission and that can become your supporters, as well as many other features.
How to get to online donations for your non-profit organization
Around the globe, online fundraising is becoming a common and ever more popular way of getting donations, while, in the Western Balkans, it is still in its infancy.
Watch our video to see how the available options work and which ones would be best for you based on your organization’s goals and activities, and learn about the examples of good practice from the region.
How to show that your non-profit organization is transparent
Transparency is what can make your organization and its work stand out. If your work is transparent, it will be easier for you to gain, maintain and keep the trust of your donors and to connect with your community and potential supporters.
One of the ways for your organization to show transparency and present its work, employees, activities, programs, projects, mission and everything important to you is the platform Neprofitne.rs.
How to improve communication with your supporters via email
In our workshops, we always try to make organizations aware of the importance of regular communication via email and the benefits of sending newsletters.
We ourselves use newsletters in practice because it has proven to be a very useful tool for communication with various target groups and is more precise for targeting than social media.
Watch our video to learn how to create and send a newsletter, what a good newsletter should contain and other useful tips that will help your organization improve its email marketing.
How to get a software discount for you non-profit organization
TechSoup Balkans is part of the global TechSoup initiative, which provides donations to non-profit organizations in the form of licensed software, hardware and IT services, to support the improvement of their work.
Through TechSoup, you can get access to certain tools at a discount for non-profit organizations. For example, you can get the premium version of Zoom, whose use has significantly increased during the pandemic, at a 50% discount.
Watch our video to learn how to join the TechSoup community and get all the benefits it offers.
How to protect your non-profit organization’s website from attacks for free
Unfortunately, non-profit organizations’ websites are not immune to hacker attacks. If your team doesn’t include programmers or people in charge of internet security, our video will help you learn how to protect you website from hacker attacks for free.
How to organize webinars more efficiently
In the past year, live events have been replaced by online meetings, webinars and virtual workshops.
We’ve already mentioned the ways to successfully organize webinars and online workshops, as well as tools that can help you with that and with online work, in general.
In order to help you make your organization’s webinars look better and follow your participants more efficiently, we’ve prepared a video where you can learn how to integrate your Zoom and CRM account to check which participants attended your events and which didn’t.
How to organize interactive webinars and keep your participants focused
Since we all participate in a number of webinars daily, when you organize yours, it is important to make it interesting and useful and keep your participants focused through interaction.
AhaSlides helps you make interactive presentations where you can include surveys, allow participants to ask and answer questions or react to your presentation.
Everyone who’s attended our workshops has had a chance to see how AhaSlides works. Watch our video to learn how to use it in practice.
How to make the life of finance managers in nonprofit organizations easier
Finance and administration are an important but often complicated part of work in non-profit organizations, which requires handling a lot of data, multiple databases and various Excel tables.
To make the life of financial managers easier, we’ve prepared a video where your organization can learn how to keep all its data online, in one place.
How to improve team organization within your non-profit organization
Internal communication and planning are vital segments of any organization’s work. For large organizations and organizations that work on multiple projects simultaneously, this segment can be a bit challenging, especially in the conditions of online work.
One of the tools that can help your team organize its plans and projects without too much trouble is Microsoft Planner. Watch our video to learn how Microsoft Planner works and how it can help you make the teamwork within various projects easier.
We hope that these tutorials will help you discover new possibilities for improving the work of your organization in the digital environment and learn how to implement them. We’ve tried to cover different areas and segments, and we believe we’ve managed to share new and expand existing knowledge on these topics.
Follow our social media for educational content intended for non-profit organizations and news from the non-profit sector. If you would like us to cover a particular topic, please send us your ideas.
These videos are made possible owing to the support of the Balkan Trust for Democracy and the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The content of the videos is the sole responsibility of Catalyst Balkans and does not necessarily represent the views of the Balkan Trust for Democracy, German Marshall Fund, USAID and the US Government.
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