5 Great (Free) Perks for Non-Profits

The recession may be technically over, but it’s still not exactly high times for non-profits. Budget-strapped donors continue to be reluctant to part with their pennies, but if you’re a scrappy start-up non-profit doing great work with limited funds, there are ways to work around your financial constraints. Chief among them is the generosity of tech companies.

From some of the tech world’s largest firms to agile and big-hearted (but not big) start-ups, many companies are willing to hand out some of their services free to a good cause. Here are five companies putting their money where their mouth is and helping non-profits get the word out about their work for next to nothing:

Google: AdWords and More

Google is legendary for its generosity towards employees, but the search giant isn’t exactly stingy when it comes to helping non-profits either. Apply and get approved by the company and your organization could receive up to $10,000 a month in advertising on AdWords, free or discounted Google Apps and premium features for YouTube and Google Maps.

SalesForce: Seat Licenses

Salesforce isn’t just for, well, salespeople. The CRM software can benefit non-profits as well, especially considering that eligible organizations can get ten enterprise edition licenses free from the company (a value of $125 a month).

Vertical Response: Email Marketing

Looking to get your message out through email but think even a shoestring might be beyond your budget? Email marketing service Vertical Response can help with 10,000 free emails a month (and a 15% discount if you need to send more than that) for non-profits that are accepted into their program. That’ll save you around $120 a month.

UnBounce: Landing Pages

If you need a no-hassle way to build and test a landing page for your organization’s latest campaign, Vancouver-based Unbounce can help. The company offers a simple service that even the IT-challenged can handle, and the best part is they offer it free or at a discount to worthy causes. If you go for their standard service and get a free ride, that’s an extra $50 a month to spend on good works.

Mobify: Mobile Site Design

Just look around these days and you’ll see half the world with their heads buried in their smartphones, a phenomenon non-profits can take advantage of with the help of Mobify. The company provides nonprofit organizations free basic mobile versions of your site or discounts on premium services.

Total up the numbers and that’s nearly $125,000 a year in savings on the latest digital messaging tools. What could your non-profit achieve with the extra cash?

(Image courtesy of Flickr user SparkFunElectronics, CC 2.0)

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