We all have our preferences but one thing I pride myself on as a provider for NPO’s is helping you find cost effective (*cough*) FREE options where you can that make your life easier. You should be organized, streamlined, automated and as stress-free as possible in the tech sense so YOU can get back to changing the world.

One of my favorite task management tools is ASANA. And this week, I cant wait to show you how a charity can set this up to get your nonprofit grooving like a Trevor Hall jam.

Get a look BEHIND THE SCENES at my branding guidelines. This is the roadmap and guide on how to keep your branding identity aligned after I provide all of the beautiful logo variations that I sent over after a branding project. REMEMBER THIS BLOG WHERE WE WENT OVER ALL THAT I PROVIDE?

These guidelines have been refined year after year, with over a decade of revisions to truly communicate exactly what others need to know to beautifully execute your brand… from this moment forward. I LOATHE as a designer to get a LOTR-sized stack of branding guidelines that I will never read. They are redundant and often times contradict themselves. My version is concise and lets other designers, printers and creators know what they need to stay on brand.

Yeah, its never easy to compile the items needed for a website, even a redesign. MANY clients underestimate the work and time it takes to compile everything. So why do I make you gather all the things below?

Because I am not you. You are the expert and angel who is making the world a better place through your cause.

YES, COULD I SPEND HUNDREDS OF HOURS LEARNING EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR CHARITY AND THEN PULL THIS ALL MYSELF, SURE… BUT THE COST WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR EVERYONE. So to pass on savings to you, I have streamlined the process to make it as painless as possible.

Now that you got a snazzy new logo for your nonprofit, either from my FREEBIE, or from myself or another rockstar designer…

Where should you put it? What now? Which file version should you use? What the actual frick is a EPS? If you don’t use that new logo, you are not using your $money$ or time wisely. Consistency = Stability

So consistently use that logo in ALL of the following places to level up your stability score + see those donations roll in!

It’s that time of year, wether you live in Ireland, tout an Irish sir-name, have an 23&Me to prove your heritage or just love a Guinness - we ALL get to be a bit Irish!

So today, I wanted to take the time to tell you some of my favorite and proven ways to get your donors to give YOUR Nonprofit more of their Pot-O-Gold!

So as I discussed last week, one of my biggest of PET-PEEVES of new trend in donor processors and management systems is the ALL-IN-ONE solutions. I honestly do not see ANY benefit of allowing a donor management to also control your website. Put Simply… They have no business in web design. Sure, logging into one place for everything sounds dreamy but what are you sacrificing for it? Let’s chat about that today!

Jack of All Trades…. fill in the blank. We all know the saying but what happens when you have worked tirelessly for your funding through countless revsions of a grant application or lovingly hounding a loaded donor until they finally helped? Having the responsibility of not only morally caring for your cause (cough and changing the world) but ethically managing the funds is DAUNTING. So I get why hiring a specialist would seem like a luxury expense… but let me explain why its not.

Get a look BEHIND THE SCENES at my exclusive branding homework and questions that get to the root of your charity. This questionnaire is usually only available to my client but this week I wanted to share with you the kind of service you get when you work with me. So Let’s Jump In!

Ah! The dreaded 404 page. How to you keep those hard won visitors on your site and capture their hearts? Here are my 4 MUST HAVES every 404 page needs that will ensure your visitors stay on your site and get to where they ‘wanted’ to go.

Hear me out… you need to rest too! Too often the givers, the doers, the people who constantly serve are overlooked in others serving them AND they are AWFUL in serving themselves. If you are like most charities, the holidays are a BLUR of actives, duties, madness and community support. But by this time, you probably feel like a stuffed raisin. Full of joy but depleted in self. So, here, my friend, is some ways to serve yourself because you need to!

Ok, yes, I love me some Squarespace. But did you know there are countless LEGIT reasons for a charity to be on Squarespace? Check out my TOP 5 reasons your charity should be on Squarespace.

Black Friday. Small Business Saturday. Cyber Monday and finally #GIVINGTUESDAY, the start of the non-profit holiday giving season. If you are JUST NOW thinking and looking at your website, wondering if its ready and captivating enough to collect that extra $$ mulah $$ then this post is for you!

We totally get it. As a non-profit employee or volunteer, you wear lots of hats and have probably been asked to learn on the fly some task you had no idea (or business) doing. But you do it. For your cause and because you are the salt of the earth. Because you are the best of humans. DIY and on-the-fly only cuts it for so long before you are not only wasting more time but actually doing a disservice to your cause. Read about my standards of practice that create a respectful design communication atmosphere. every. time.

Web design can be a tricky and strange world. Who do you trust? I try to be as transparent as possible (and its why I advocate for you to do the same so your donors see YOUR honesty). This blog breaks down how a website or branding package works with The Charity Design Co.

What are your donors looking out for when they visit your site? Our halloween themed blog of the top 6 things that scare donors away from your website. Run, Hide! You will want to make these changed immediately.

We all know that charities need to be mindful of their spending. Rightfully so! You need every penny to go to your good cause and changing the world. Below are some of my favorite free locations on the web to get free assets for my charity clients. I have seriously used these for years and for many of them, not spent a penny on image assets. Check out my trusty image toolkit for charities.