29+ Free Organizational Tools for Managing Your Ensemble

Performing arts organizations typically have exceptionally tight budgets, so getting the most “bang for your buck” is especially important. Here’s a sampling of tools that will make your life easier – for free!

Note: For a product to make it onto this list, it must have a permanently free plan for nonprofits (not just a free trial).

Business Tools

Both Google and Microsoft offer free versions of their popular suites of business tools to nonprofits.

• Google Apps for Nonprofits
• Microsoft Office 365 for Nonprofits

Scheduling Tools

Scheduling committee meetings is a huge pain that’s guaranteed to flood your email inbox. These tools will change your life.

• Doodle
• NeedToMeet
• Calendly

File Sharing/Cloud Storage

Board meeting minutes, MIDI files, attendance spreadsheets, membership policies. Cloud storage means no more hunting through emails for attachments, no more asking around to find something you need, and no more worrying about whether you’re looking at an outdated copy.

• Dropbox
• Google Drive

Surveys

Need to collect information? Forget about paper forms; try using one of these tools!

• Survey Monkey
• Google Forms
• Wufoo
• Free Online Surveys

Online Fundraising

Your ensemble members are among the most powerful fundraisers available to you. These tools make it easy to run a killer membership fundraising drive. Check out this blog post for inspiration!

• Classy
• CrowdRise
• FirstGiving
• Fundly
• FundRazr
• GiveForward
• GoFundMe
• MyEvent
• Razoo
• Supporter Wall
• YouCaring

Patron/Donor Management

Keeping track of ticket buyers and donors is a vital part of building, maintaining, and growing your organization.

• CiviCRM
• Artful.ly
• Salesforce (Nonprofit Starter Pack)

Advertising

Google offers nonprofits $10,000 in free advertising every month. Sweet deal! Definitely worth exploring this as an additional way to get the word out about concerts, fundraisers, and auditions.

Google Adword grants

Email Marketing

Whether you’re sending messages to your fans or your ensemble, email marketing tools can help make your messages more professional and provide analytics to better understand how people interact with them.

• Mailchimp
• Vertical Response
• Emma (Emma 25 program)

Social Media Management

Social media channels provide a way to connect with both your audience and potential auditionees. These tools can help you manage your various profiles quickly and efficiently.

• Hootsuite
• Buffer

Comment below if we missed any of your favorite tools!

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