As we become more mobile and less bound by a desk and office, utilising the little computer in our pocket we call a phone for more of our daily tasks becomes essential, and very much the norm. As a non profit, both time and money are very much finite, so clever use of mobile apps has the potential of giving you more time, and saving you more money – in some cases, making money as well. Here are a few apps that should be considered as part of your mobile toolkit:
Buffer
Being able to communicate with your donors, clients, and community is critical to your success and growth. After all, how can you get volunteers signing up their time, or donors parting with their money if they do not know you exist? And how do you keep these volunteers and donors, and keep the public awareness up? Social media is a primary way of reaching out and achieving this. But which platform should we be posting to? With Buffer, you can post to five of the major players all at the same time – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Linkedin. A massive time saver, and available in your pocket on Android and iOS.
DOWNLOAD BUFFER: GooglePlay or AppStore
WhatsApp or Telegram
Talking about communications – what about two-way communication between your staff, volunteers, and yes, even your donors, clients, and communities? There are two great options for this: WhatsApp & Telegram, both of which are free for iOS and Android. Both provide similar features, allowing you to message people and groups in a quick and effective way. WhatsApp is the more widely used of the two, but some opt for Telegram as it is respected as a potentially more private and safer option. Ultimately, try both and see which you prefer.
DOWNLOAD WHATSAPP: GooglePlay or AppStore
DOWNLOAD TELEGRAM: GooglePlay or AppStore
To Do or Todoist
Need to organise your schedule or manage your staff and volunteers? Both of these task managers have a simple and clean interface allowing you to create lists and tasks for person use, or share with a group of people. Don’t let there be any questions up in the air about whether something critical has been done. Use Microsoft ToDo or Todoist, and have confidence that no more tasks get missed. And it is great for the shopping list too! Another free option (with premium features available), just search for your preferred app in your Android/iOS App Store.
DOWNLOAD TO DO: GooglePlay or AppStore
DOWNLOAD TODOIST: GooglePlay or AppStore
Canva
Canva gives you the ability to create stunning graphics, ads, infograms, and more like a pro, all from the comfort of your mobile device. They have done an excellent job of making the app very simple to pick up and just start using, allowing you to get fantastic images out very quickly. Used in conjunction with Buffer, you will be able to leave a visual impact more often with the people you care about.
DOWNLOAD CANVA: GooglePlay or AppStore
infoodle
To manage your contacts and donors, email campaigns, donations, events & more, you need a good CRM, and infoodle gives you all this. They now have a companion app that is free for their clients that allows you to instantly have an app for your organisation. Among other features, this gives you a platform to share your upcoming events, make donations, digitally fill out forms such as signing up for workshops or newsletters. You can even embed your own website or social media accounts straight into the app itself! This is an easy and cost effective way of deploying your ‘own app’ without paying massive development costs.
DOWNLOAD INFOODLE: Google Play Store or AppStore
