Resources For Social Impact and Nonprofit Orgs

When I ran a nonprofit, I was hungry for information, tips and tools to help me do my job better. Whether you’re just starting in the nonprofit world or looking for ways to develop your professional skills, you may find these resources to be helpful.

I don't promote anything that I haven't personally found to be useful, and I don't promote things for a quick buck.

Have a suggestion for something to add here? A good experience to share? Drop me a note and let me know.

Nonprofit Publications

The Chronicle of Philanthropy is a subscription-based national magazine that covers the news events of the nonprofit world. The publication provides insights on philanthropy trends, large gifts, and policies that affect philanthropy. You can sign up via email without charge for daily headline summaries. Paid subscriptions include access to GrantStation.com, a searchable database of funding opportunities.

Inside Philanthropy provides more in-depth analyses of philanthropists and donor trends. They offer a free daily newsletter but their full article access is by subscription only.

Education Publications

Education Week is a subscription-based national newspaper that covers K-12 education news, events, policies, politics and controversies. You can sign up without charge for e-newsletters with daily or weekly news highlights.

Inside HigherEd is a free, digital, daily newsletter that covers the range of higher education trends and developments in admissions, programs, leadership changes and the latest news.

Grant Resources

Grants Information Collection (GIC) at the UW-Madison Memorial Library. The GIC is a Funding Information Network partner of the Foundation Center, which means it has a tremendous array of searchable databases and funding research tools for you to use on-site. The GIC is open to the public and provides instructions on their website for gaining remote access.

GrantStation is a comprehensive grants database with a relatively inexpensive annual membership fee. Every fall, they run a significant discount on the annual fee that’s worth watching for. Their weekly newsletter provides a small list (5-6 items) of currently open grant opportunities.

Instrumentl is a newcomer to the grants database websites, started in 2016 with women founders who were themselves former nonprofit grantseekers. Instrumentl is not cheap but the user interface and search features make it an investment worth considering.

Building Capacity in Your Organization

The Foundation Center is the "leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide." This includes information about funding sources but also about nonprofit management, fundraising, and capacity building.

501Commons offers a wide array of resources for nonprofits to build their capacity, review their strategies, and assess their strengths. They are based out of Seattle and offer local workshops and nonprofit professional development there. The website resources can help nonprofits located anywhere, however.

Digital Tools

Network for Good provides fundraising software and services for small nonprofit organizations, including donor management, donation pages and peer-to-peer fundraising tools. This national organization is headquartered in Washington DC with offices in Baltimore, Chicago, Indianapolis and San Francisco.

Content Marketing Institute (CMI) is not focused on the nonprofit sector but has a comprehensive array of learning tools and tips for those beginning to understand content marketing and for those who are experienced professionals in the field. If you want to understand why the content on your website and digital communications is so important in building attention and interest in your cause, CMI is a good place to start.

Capterra provides comprehensive reviews of software for businesses, including nonprofits. You can find detailed descriptions and extensive lists of software options for nonprofit organization tasks like grant management, fundraising, membership management, and more.

Techsoup has been around since the time when software came on floppy disks and the Internet was the landscape of programmers, but they remain an extensive resource for considerable discounts on software and digital technology. Microsoft, Adobe and many, many more offers at great discounts for the nonprofit community.

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