Running a successful chapter can be a daunting task and nothing makes it more so than the operational side of things. To help with this, we’ve compiled a list of available tools and resources that chapters can use to address many of these tasks. Keep in mind that there are a gazillion+ tools and new technologies coming online every day so this list is far from complete. That said, help us keep this fresh; send via email your favs so we can all stay as update as possible (is that possible?).
One additional note: sometimes when we use lots of different tech tools, its tough to manage them. Check out Zapier as a way to connect apps and automate workflows.
*One of our fav go-to sources for tech tools is Beth Ziesenis, Your Nerdy Best Friend. Check out her blog for more tips on tech and social media tools.
Leadership/Volunteer tools:
Online Document Sharing (free versions available)
Online Groupsharing/collaboration, Discussions & Calendar (free versions available)
- Yahoo Groups
- Google Groups | Google Calendar | Google Docs (aka Drive)
- Groupsites –
offers full group services (free & fee based) - Slack
Scheduling (one of our favs!)
- Doodle – allows you to poll a group on tentative meeting times & avoids back-n-forth emails
(free & fee based – paid subscription includes a calendar connect feature)
Conference Call Services (free versions available) Each of these services is different, so please review their websites and see which one works best for your needs. Once you schedule a call, send out the day/time and call-in information to call’s participants (see online calendar options above – we recommend sending it as an Outlook meeting request so it is automatically added to a person’s calendar once they accept the meeting invite).
- Wiggio – offers full group services (free)
- Zoom – great for video meetings & webinars
- GroupMe – offers group messaging & conferencing
- GoogleVoice
- FreeConference Call
- NoCost Conferences
Shared Grantwriter (contract services)
Volunteer Management
- iVolunteer
- VolunteerSpot
- Volunteer Scheduler Pro
- SignUpGenius – now includes a payment & donation tools
Training & Orientation (using tech to boost learning)
- Powtoon – super (and inexpensive) way to add video to any campaign
- Animoto – create videos
- Puzzlemaker (free)
- Kahoot (free & fee-based) – game-based learning and trivia platform
Marketing, Admin & CommunicationTools:
Distribution Tools
- MailChimp (free)
- TinyLetter (free) – a free group email blast service from MailChimp
- 1and1mail (free)
- Constant Contact (fee-based)
- MagnetMail (fee based)
- iContact (fee-based)
Webinar Services
Social Media & Social Networking Tools (of course, this list is nowhere near complete!)
- LinkedIn (free)
- Facebook – groups & private groups (free)
- Groupsites – offers full group services (fee based)
- WordPress – blogging platform with CMS (free & fee-based)
- ListServe (fee-based)
- Buffer – plan & schedule posts (free & fee-based)
- TweetDeck – social media dashboard for Twitter (free)
- Hootsuite – handle multiple social accounts (free & fee-based)
- Slack – creates a single workspace for teams with groups (free & fee-based)
Surveys & Polling (most have a free, low-end version)
- Survey Gizmo
- Survey Monkey
- TypeForm
- Google Forms (yes, read Beth Z.)
- Poll Everywhere (best option is 1st tier paid)
- Poll Daddy
- Kahoot (free tool that turns polls into games!)
Web-hosting
- Go Daddy – add-ons include calendar, email marketing (fee-based)
- DreamHost (fee-based)
- MediaTemple (fee-based)
- Laughing Squid (fee-based)
- Web Hosting for Free (free)
- Webs (free)
Web-Based Databases (fee based)
- Wild Apricot
- MemberClicks
- ChapterSpot (collaboration, website + dues collection)
- Star Chapter
- MemberHub
- WishList
- YourMembership
Event registration
- EventBrite – add Card Reader to take easy at-the-door payments
- RegOnLine
- WuFoo
- SignUpGenius – now includes a payment & donation tools
- BrownPaperTickets – no fees to sell tiks
Marketing-Communications
- WuFoo (free & fee-based) – yes, its a form building & a communications tool
- Canva (free & fee-based) – great design tool with thousands of templates
- Powtoon – super (and inexpensive) way to add video to any campaign
Form-builders, Data Collectors (streamlining all those chapter reports)
Last Update 11/6/2018