This post was originally published here (The TechSoup Blog)
While focusing on your organization’s fiscal year-end planning, it might be a good time to revisit your fundraising strategy. We’ve put together a list of fundraising and also financial accounting resources and product donations. These will help to ensure that your organization is financially secure so that you can continue to do good work.
Fundraising Ideas
For an overview of effective fundraising tactics, visit Michael Stein’s column on our TechSoup blog. He has been a writer and digital strategist to progressive social causes for over two decades. He’s also the author of three books and numerous articles chronicling the rise of digital marketing, mobile, and online fundraising. Check out some of his popular fundraising articles:
- 4 Cornerstone Campaigns That Drive Fundraising Success
- 10 Ways to Improve Your Donation Page and Raise More Money
- Seize the Opportunity for Mobile Engagement
Accounting Tools
Fundraising and accounting are certainly hand-in-glove core applications for any nonprofit office. TechSoup’s accounting product donations are some of our most requested donations. Check these out:
- QuickBooks Online Plus, 1-Year Subscription is the latest edition of Intuit’s online accounting and financial management software for up to five users. It helps organizations manage essential financial tasks like creating invoices; producing reports; and tracking expenses, contributions, and payments. Eligible organizations can renew their subscription through TechSoup for subsequent years.
- QuickBooks Premier Editions 2017 from Intuit is arguably the most famous accounting and financial management software for charities. It helps organizations manage essential financial tasks like paying bills; creating invoices; producing reports; and tracking expenses, contributions, and payments. It can be installed as a general business edition or as one of five industry-specific editions, including a nonprofit edition.
- QuickBooks Made Easy for Nonprofits is for Windows and Mac users who want to learn to use QuickBooks. This discounted training package has a DVD-ROM and a printed follow-along handbook for learning basic and nonprofit-specific QuickBooks tasks.
- AccountEdge by Acclivity has both basic and pro versions. It is financial management software for small or medium-sized organizations. It manages payroll as well as essential financial accounting tasks like balance sheets, profit-and-loss statements, customer ledgers, and cash-flow analysis. This software has a mobile app for iPhone and iPad that lets users enter transactions when they’re away from the office and synchronize data with the desktop and network versions of the software.
Resources for Learning About Nonprofit Accounting
- A Few Good Accounting Packages provides an overview of a variety of accounting applications for nonprofits.
- QuickBooks (Desktop) for Existing Nonprofit Users is an online learning resource if you need to freshen up your accounting skills or learn some additional functionality in QuickBooks.
- QuickBooks (Desktop) for New Nonprofit Users offers hints on where to start if you’re a new QuickBooks user.
- If you need help learning QuickBooks Online, check out this webinar for newer users.
Whether you need to upgrade your fundraising capacity or accounting capacity — or both! — we hope TechSoup product donations can help.
Image: Mongkol Foto / Shutterstock