If you’re a charity of any size, you will probably find yourself needing to get some IT equipment and software to help you make a bigger difference in today’s digital world. Unfortunately, equipment and software can both come at a cost, which you may not have an allocation for in your budget. We are pleased to tell you it doesn’t all have to be expensive, so here are our best tips on ways charities can save money.
Knowing where to look for your software packages can feel like a minefield sometimes however there are companies out there who will offer their stuff at reduced cost for charities and non profit organisations. For example you can get the Microsoft 365 package at a heavy discount if you are charity, which will include features like their email solution for FREE.
There are other great places to look for these deals too. Charitydigital, for example can help find you lots of deals that are exclusive to charities. No only are there software packages from Microsoft, Windows, BOPP and even Adobe, you will also find some deals for big brands of hardware such as Dell. All these items are heavily reduced and can help you get the most from your budgets!
Another way for you to save some money is by using the free software that’s already available. G-Suite is a great example of this, as you can use Google docs and sheets for free to create any and all documents, just like you would on word or excel.
There are also other great apps on G-Suite like the Meet app, which is a video calling platform. This will be great for setting up meetings easily and without much commitment in cost.
You can also upgrade for a small fee a month, this will give you access to more features, upgraded apps and storage and security too!
As a charity you will also be able to apply for grants to help with advertising your charity. You may have seen the little ‘Ad’ links that sit at the top of a search engine results page. This is called Pay Per Click advertising.
What is pay per click (PPC) I hear you say? Put simply it’s a form of advertising that allows you to pay for your link to be at the top of search results for a specific keyword, without using SEO to organically reach that position. Everytime a user clicks through to your site using the PPC link, you pay a fee to the search engine provider. “But you’re meant to be saving us money not getting us to spend out on advertising?”
Ah yes, the saving money bit comes from the excellent Charity Ads Grant program. You can apply for up to $10,000 worth of pay per click advertising to use each month. Now that’s one heck of a saving!
Our last tip for charities looking to save some dosh is to head over to computersforcharities.org. On this wonderful website, you will find high spec, refurbished equipment at low prices. The specification of the machines are high and the quality refurbishment jobs mean you know you are getting great quality equipment. This will definitely help any charity or organisation whether they are just starting out or are in desperate need of an upgrade!
That’s our 5 top tips to save your charity or organisation some money. If you are looking for some help with your IT or just need some advice on what hardware you should be getting, book a call for a chat with one of our friendly team today!
