Software for non-profit organisations

Purchasing software can be a costly exercise for any organisation but it can be especially difficult for small charities or non-profit companies. Several software companies offer their products to non-profit organisations for free or at a big discount. The two I am aware of are Microsoft and Adobe.

The application process for Adobe products is outlined here https://adobeprograms.giftsinkind.org/

and the Microsoft one here http://www.donortec.com.au

Most of the software only costs a small administration fee instead of hundreds of dollars. Yay for corporate responsibility!

There’s also many open-source and free software programs that are also useful to know. These include:

• Open Office, for an alternative to Microsoft Office. If your using a Mac try NeoOffice
• Skype (people often forget that you can call landlines with this! Great for long interstate phone calls)
• doPDF, a free tool for creating PDF files on Windows. Allows you to print any file as a PDF.
• PDFTK Builder. Another PDF tool for Windows which lets you join, split and stitch PDF files. Great for compiling those grant applications

These are some of the tools that we use at CuriousWorks, if you’ve got any other gems you can share with the world write them in the comments below!