My 13 Favorite (Mostly Free) Online Tools

This week I would like to cover My 13 Favorite (Mostly Free) Online Tools that I use to help manage people, time, and programs. For those of you who know more personally you know this is a favorite topic of mine. I think that technology is the best thing that has happened in animal welfare!

My 13 Favorite (Mostly Free) Online Tools

When I first started managing an organization from home as a volunteer, I remember spending hours on the phone tethered to the wall in my kitchen. My toddler was jumping in her bouncing seat hooked up in the doorway, too! I didn’t have a mute button and my daughter would be crying, singing, just making lots of noise in the background and I’d just go with it. The person on the other end of the phone must have really been wondering what I was doing with my kid! So you will understand why I love certain tools that we take advantage of today!

1. Email

Yes, I know we all have email and have had it for years! But I mention it here to make sure that we are really using it! It’s a simple tool to easily communicate with people about upcoming items. We certainly need to manage our time and how we use email, though. We can spend all day on email and social media if we want to, but if used effectively, email is the best way to communicate with others.

Two items of caution: Don’t use email to avoid a hard conversation that is best done in person. It’s the place to fire a volunteer or tell someone that the kitty you trapped passed away! Those are personal! A second caution: Write all emails as if they are going to be printed on the front page of your local paper.  We all rush and make mistakes, but I can’t tell you how many times I have received emails meant for other people sent by accident. Be careful about what you write!

2. Google Docs

Google Docs is an essential tool for any organization that I have worked in. This is a place where you can store lots of information in the “cloud”. Many documents that you and a group of others can work on together are now easy to find. You can upload excel spreadsheets, written documents and even photos. I am a huge fan and seeing what others can do with these documents is pretty amazing.

Most important, it can be used as a project management tool. There are lots of project management software packages out there but I hesitate to move to a Trello or Assana because google docs is serving my business quite well when working with my team!

3. Petfinder

Petfinder.org was the first online listing available for animals for adoption. This has and continues to be the premier organization for listing pets. There are lots of other options out there like Adopt A Pet. I would say these are the two “go-to” websites for posting cats and kittens available for adoption.

4. FreeConferenceCall.Com

I love, love, love Free Conference Call! I think this is a great option to meeting in person when you have a small group (3-5 people) that need to collaborate. When scheduling “in person” meetings, think about the time involved getting into the car, driving to the location, having meeting chit chat, the meeting and then the return home. Now that I work with groups and individuals all around the country, I really need Free Conference Call. For larger groups, the calls need to be more facilitated with some ground rules established (questions submitted ahead of time, mute your phone when not talking, etc.) I use Free Conference Call at least 2-3 times a week!

5. Facebook / Instagram

Social Media… dare I say more! Facebook has become part of our daily lives and I really think that is the platform that most of us cat people tend to hang out in!  It is important to control Facebook and use it to your advantage, though.

I think Instagram is important because it is such a visual site and we are so full of stories! Every day that I worked at the adoption center there was a story about a cat/kitten that we rescued/trapped. Instagram is just the place to do and it is so easy to do now that we just can snap pictures and post to Instagram straight from the phone.

6. Yahoo Groups

I have to mention yahoo groups and give them the credit that they are due. Yahoo groups were around before Facebook and they were really the first tool that let us communicate as a group effectively. Back in the late 90’s, early 2000’s, I worked with folks to create the Trapper’s Network in Massachusetts. This would be a place where all trappers could connect and be able to work together more efficiently. In 2004 we merged it into a yahoo group call Masscats. This yahoo group has over 600 members and has been a huge benefit to the cat organizations in the state. We modeled the group after Free Cycle. We had the ultimate goal of standardizing posts that can be streamlined in such a way so that requests for assistance will be easily referred to and resolved.

7. Co-schedule (not free)

This is a new tool that has been introduced to me and it is just amazing for really taming the social media “tiger”! Social media can take over our lives, but the more planning you put behind social media the better off we are. Check out Co-schedule that let’s you schedule posting for multiple platforms and so you don’t have to worry about physically posting everyday!

8. Bidding for Good (not free)

This is a game changer for anyone running an auction! Many groups reach out to me saying that their attendance is down at their events. Many of us are too busy to attend these worthy fundraisers. But as volunteers, we get frustrated when we have worked so hard to get people to come to the party and no one shows up. I have been at some events that I have run and though, we could have all met at Starbucks and had coffee and put money in a jar and raised the same amount without any work! It is very frustrating.

Bidding for Good removes that worry from my mind. It brings a whole new online community to our auction. In some cases, you don’t even need to have an “in person” event to raise good money. We are such a digital society that going digital with your fundraising is necessary. When I started using BFG, we doubled our revenue for the event that year. That meant going from $20,000 to $40,000, which was a big difference and was totally worth the extra work.

9. FirstGiving (not free)

If you have a walk or even a fundraising campaign, Firstgiving has been a game changer. This tool also doubled our revenue stream the first year we used it for the Strut for Strays walk that the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society has. This program allows people to sign up as a walker and create teams to crowd fund donations to their page.

10. You Caring (freeish)

You Caring has become one of the main pages that groups use to raise money for a cat that needs specific help. GoFundMe is another page that is used. These pages are great for those stories that will help bring in immediate donations to the group. I would say this is great to use up to 2-4 times a year, depending on how large your reach is with your group. These pages work great on social media, where people can share the stories with friends.

11. Evernote

I am using Evernote right now to write this blog post! My Virtual Assistant, Jamie, got me going on Evernote and I really enjoy using it for writing and keeping files together in one place. A lot of the same stuff can be done in google docs, but I seem to like working in Evernote, too. There is a mobile app, too, and so like Google Docs you are syncing between computer, phone and iPad.

12. QuickBooks (not free)

Every organization should be using accounting software for their programs. Quickbooks is what I am most familiar with and is structured for non-profits. We want all of our businesses to be transparent and finances are the most important part of that transparency. You might want to check out TechSoup. They offer discounts on software for non-profits and they most likely will have accounting software.

13. Doodle.com (free)

And lastly… Phew! We’re here! I’d like to chat about my Doodle. Doodle is the perfect tool to use when you are trying to find a time that works for everyone for a meeting or conference call. It is so handy and easy to use. Just click, insert proposed dates and time and email the link to the group. It is incredibly easy to use and will be your best friend on your path to eliminating back and forth emails!

Wow, we are done! I hope these tools will help you be more productive with your work helping Community Cats! Also, we continue to build our ambassador program at Community Cats Podcast and we have new additions of New Mexico, Utah, and Wisconsin. Welcome! If you are interested in becoming an ambassador please email stacy@communitycatspodcast.com for details.