Expertise Grants for Nonprofits: A Information + 12 Prime Choices

Simply as docs want their surgical devices and mechanics want their instruments, your nonprofit group must be outfitted with the best know-how to proceed fulfilling its mission. From donor databases to web site builders to matching present instruments, there are a lot of options on the market that may enhance the effectivity of your operations and generate extra income to energy your work.

In response to Nonprofit Tech for Good, many nonprofits are leveraging know-how to boost their processes—79% use automation know-how in on-line fundraising, and 15% even have synthetic intelligence software program in place to foretell donor habits. Not each group, nevertheless, has the funds to remain on the chopping fringe of know-how.

That’s the place nonprofit know-how grants are available in. These grants provide the required funds for forward-thinking nonprofits to realize entry to software program options and assets that can amplify their affect. On this information, we’ll cowl all it’s essential to find out about know-how grants for nonprofits:

With the intention to obtain greater and higher outcomes, nonprofits should regularly undertake and adapt to advances in know-how that streamline important processes similar to fundraising, advertising, and donor engagement. By doing so, your group can unlock extra capability for what issues most—bettering the lives of these you serve.

What’s a know-how grant for nonprofits?

Chances are high, your nonprofit is already accustomed to grants as a supply of funding. Nonprofit know-how grants, particularly, concentrate on aiding organizations with buying or implementing instruments and software program that can additional their affect. Like most grants, know-how grants for nonprofits come from three main sources:

• Authorities businesses. There are various federal, state, and native businesses that give out grants to nonprofits. A few of these are know-how grants, accessible for the particular goal of advancing a corporation’s technological infrastructure.
• Foundations. These grantmaking organizations are available in two major varieties: non-public foundations and public charities. They perform their very own missions by funding nonprofits that align with their pointers and values.
• Firms. Many companies present grant funding to nonprofits as a part of their company social duty initiatives. Quite a few know-how firms fall into this combine, similar to Google and Verizon.

From these sources stem numerous alternatives to safe know-how grants that can take your operations and processes to the subsequent stage. Whether or not you’re an environmental nonprofit or a nonprofit hospital, gaining expanded entry to the most recent know-how ensures you could serve your beneficiaries with better effectivity and outcomes.

• Increase cybersecurity. NTEN’s State of Nonprofit Cybersecurity Report reveals that solely round 20% of surveyed nonprofits indicated that that they had documented insurance policies and procedures in place ought to a cyberattack happen. A know-how grant can present your group with the assets for cybersecurity coaching and the best instruments to maintain your info safe.
• Leverage automation. A know-how grant can cut back the time and assets your group expends in its each day operations by permitting you to embrace automation know-how. Shifting away from pointless guide processes results in much less room for human error and extra time to deal with higher-priority duties inside your nonprofit.
• Streamline fundraising. It’s no secret that efficient fundraising is important to your group’s lasting success. A know-how grant can allow your group to undertake top-of-the-line CRM software program that makes it simple to handle supporter relationships and attain out to them for items.
• Enhance knowledge administration. Your group’s knowledge is just not solely key to personalizing your communications and partaking donors, however it additionally serves as a wealthy properly of insights for enhancing your methods and growing your outcomes over time. With a know-how grant, you can also make knowledge administration a prime focus amongst workers and volunteers.
• Develop a high-quality web site. An internet site is an important facet of your nonprofit’s on-line presence, offering a centralized useful resource for present and potential donors to entry up-to-date details about your work and make items in assist of your mission. A nonprofit know-how grant can provide you with the required funds to raise your web site or create a completely new one which conjures up extra assist.

When you’ve pinpointed your group’s particular wants for know-how funding, it’s time to discover a funder that greatest aligns along with your mission and values. The extra well-matched you’re to the grantmaking group, the extra possible you’ll achieve successful the grant.

Earlier than you start your seek for grant alternatives, it’s vital to root your self in your group’s objectives and mission. This ensures that you simply solely determine and apply for know-how grants which might be most suited to your nonprofit.

Do not forget that every grantmaking group has its personal mission and pursuits. In consequence, they’ll be rather more susceptible to funding nonprofits that align with their very own priorities and generate the type of affect that they’re seeking to see.

2. Conduct analysis.

Amongst doable know-how grant sources in america, there are round 127,595 foundations alone. Due to this, it’s essential to be strategic along with your analysis to slender down the best choices. As you start trying into know-how grants for nonprofits, observe these greatest practices:

• Examine nonprofits just like your group and find grantmakers who’ve funded them up to now.
• Establish current connections that your board or workers members could have with funders.
• Look via grant directories and databases, similar to Grants.gov and Basis Listing.

Evaluate every nonprofit know-how grant’s software standards to make sure that you’re eligible to use. As an example, some grantmakers could require your group to be positioned in a selected area or space.

3. Think about looking for professional assist.

There are fairly just a few steps on the journey to receiving a know-how grant, from analysis to making use of to grant administration. In case your nonprofit is searching for some extra steerage to make your know-how grant purposes stand out, contemplate partnering with a nonprofit grant marketing consultant. These professionals can help your group with researching grants, drafting purposes, and reporting.

Prime nonprofit grant consultants, similar to Getting Consideration, will commit themselves single-mindedly to making sure that your group’s grant efforts succeed. Once you work with a know-how grant marketing consultant, it is best to count on them to:

1. Be taught the ins and outs of your nonprofit, similar to your mission, your affect, and your donor base.
2. Develop a devoted technique and conduct analysis to determine grant alternatives that align with all that they’ve realized about your group.
3. Deal with your nonprofit grant purposes to maximise your possibilities of successful the grant.
4. Help your group with constructing relationships with funders to safe extra assist down the road.

A nonprofit grant marketing consultant may be instrumental in serving to your group safe nonprofit know-how grant funding, particularly in case you have restricted time and assets to hold out all the course of successfully.

Able to faucet into the potential of know-how grants for nonprofits? Happily, we’ve already gathered 12 prime choices so that you can contemplate.

12 Prime Expertise Grants for Nonprofits

Use these nonprofit know-how grants as a jumping-off level to your pursuit of know-how funding. Keep in mind to maintain your particular objectives in thoughts as you select the alternatives that greatest align along with your group.

1. Google Advert Grants

Since its creation, the Google Advert Grants program has supplied over $10 billion in free promoting to nonprofits. All eligible organizations can obtain $10,000 every month to bid on key phrases for adverts that can seem on Google’s search outcomes pages. With these adverts, you may promote key pages in your nonprofit’s web site, similar to your donation web page or occasion registration web page, to generate extra assist on your trigger.

To satisfy this system’s eligibility standards, your group should:

• Be a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
• Not be a authorities, healthcare, or academic establishment.
• Have a high-quality web site.
• Register with TechSoup.
• Create a Google for Nonprofits account.

This nonprofit know-how grant can equip your group with a robust device for spreading the phrase about your mission and attracting extra supporters to your trigger. To make sure that you safe your grant and benefit from it, contemplate turning to a Google Advert Grants company that may maintain all the course of for you.

2. Salesforce’s Energy of Us Program

The Energy of Us Program has supplied discounted CRM know-how entry to over 56,000 nonprofits and academic establishments. To affix these ranks, your group should:

Moreover, Salesforce Basis offers grants to organizations specializing in schooling, workforce improvement, and local weather change via invitation solely.

3. Twilio

Twilio is a cloud communication platform that facilitates donor and volunteer engagement via the communication channels they like most. By their Influence Fund, Twilio has awarded over $35 million in grants and investments to supply nonprofits with the know-how they should heighten their affect. Organizations which might be eligible for this nonprofit know-how grant funding should:

• Be a acknowledged 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
• Not be a authorities entity or political group.

To obtain an invite to use for the Influence Fund, nonprofits ought to join the Influence Entry Program, which affords extra advantages similar to reductions on Twilio merchandise.

4. Okta for Good

Okta for Good’s Nonprofit Expertise Initiative goals to satisfy the know-how wants of nonprofits by supplying $10 million in philanthropic funding. One latest focus has been enhancing cybersecurity for organizations to make sure that they’ve the correct coaching and assets to guard themselves from cyber-attacks. To be chosen for these know-how funds, nonprofits should:

• Be a acknowledged nonprofit group of their nation of operation.
• Have sturdy management groups and mission alignment with Okta.

Whether or not your nonprofit is looking for to enhance its knowledge safety or transfer to the cloud, Okta’s concentrate on digital transformation is value trying into for all organizations inquisitive about know-how enhancements.

5. Field Influence Fund

Field Influence Fund helps nonprofits with comparable missions on their path to adopting know-how that can improve their each day operations and work. To satisfy Field Influence Fund’s eligibility necessities, organizations should:

• Be a acknowledged 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
• Deal with little one welfare, disaster response, or the surroundings.
• Suggest a digital transformation challenge.

Field lists 4 particular standards for evaluating grant purposes: alignment, affect, inclusion, and scale. Subsequently, it’s vital to make sure that your group matches this funder’s priorities and demonstrates the affect you’d like to realize with the know-how funds to set your software up for fulfillment.

6. Cisco Product Grant Program

The Cisco Product Grant Program provides networking and communications know-how to nonprofits targeted on disaster response, schooling, financial empowerment, and local weather change. To be eligible for this system, organizations should:

• Be acknowledged as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
• Have a couple of 12 months of profitable operations.
• Not be a college, hospital, library, or meals financial institution.
• Not exceed an overhead of 25%.

Cisco accepts grant proposals year-round and evaluations them quarterly. For first-time grant candidates, you may request as much as $100,000 of Cisco gear. To make sure your nonprofit meets all the standards to use, you may take this eligibility quiz that Cisco offers on its web site.

7. Microsoft Tech for Social Influence

Microsoft launched Microsoft Tech for Social Influence to supply discounted and donated Microsoft instruments to nonprofits. These affords embrace Microsoft 365 Enterprise Premium, Energy BI Desktop, and Azure. To be eligible for Microsoft’s nonprofit applications, your group should:

• Be a acknowledged 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public library, or public museum.
• Adjust to Microsoft’s anti-discrimination coverage.
• Solely assign licenses to eligible workers members.

On its web site, Microsoft offers a step-by-step registration course of that you simply, one other workers member, or a volunteer can full to begin accessing the know-how instruments this firm has to supply.

8.  Expertise Innovation Awards

For nonprofits looking for funding for a technology-related challenge, Tech Ahead will present $10,000 via its Expertise Innovation Awards to assist their efforts. To be eligible for this grant, your group should:

• Be a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) charitable group.
• Not be a church, non-public academic establishment, nonprofit hospital, or governmental unit.
• Have an annual working finances of no less than $500,000.
• Be inclusive and embrace range.

As a part of the nonprofit know-how grant software, you’ll have to current info similar to your mission, companies, and key constituents, together with a full description of your proposed know-how challenge.

9. TechBridge

TechBridge’s Dream Large Grants present a chance for nonprofits to accumulate know-how options that can improve their operations and enhance their affect. To be eligible for considered one of these grants, your group should:

• Be a acknowledged 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
• Deal with considered one of its 4 pillars: starvation reduction, homeless assist, social justice, or workforce improvement.
• Have annual working bills over $2,000,000.
• Have no less than 5 full-time paid workers who’re paid minimal wage or extra.

The applying course of for considered one of these know-how grants for nonprofits consists of an eligibility examine, an software essay, and a video submission.

10. Verizon Basis

Verizon affords invitation-only grants to assist nonprofits in three major areas: digital inclusion, local weather safety, and human prosperity. To obtain an invite, Verizon advises nonprofits to contact their area people relations supervisor first. Should you’re accredited to use, you’ll nonetheless have to satisfy these eligibility necessities:

• Be a acknowledged 501(c)(3) nonprofit or not-for-profit college.
• Observe the best requirements of conduct in relationships with the general public.
• Not duplicate or considerably overlap the work of public businesses.

Moreover, for those who’re requesting funds for IT infrastructure enhancements that complete greater than 20% of the grant’s complete direct prices, you need to present particular particulars on how your group is planning to make use of these IT property in your grant software.

11. HP Expertise for Group

HP is a know-how firm that’s pushed to produce funds to nonprofits in order that they’ll buy know-how or technology-related schooling to raised serve their goal. To be eligible for HP Expertise for Group, organizations should:

• Be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
• Not be a member company or a college.
• Not be positioned exterior of america.

Whereas certified nonprofits can apply from throughout the nation, HP will give choice to these working in or close to the location communities listed in its necessities.

12. The Change Occurs Basis

The Change Occurs Basis is a non-public nonprofit basis devoted to supporting nonprofits targeted on creating social change round science, the surroundings, and schooling. The inspiration affords a number of grants—to be eligible, organizations should:

• Be a acknowledged 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
• Not be faith-based or positioned exterior of america.
• Have a three-year historical past of 990 types.

There are three steps within the software course of, beginning with figuring out your nonprofit’s eligibility. When you’ve executed so, the inspiration requires first-time candidates to submit a Letter of Inquiry to find out if its pursuits align along with your request. Organizations accepted for additional consideration can then submit their grant proposals.

Wrapping Up

New applied sciences are consistently rising, and together with them come higher methods for nonprofits to serve their communities and make a long-lasting distinction. Determining tips on how to incorporate these instruments into your fundraising, advertising, and communications methods is crucial to setting your group up for fulfillment sooner or later.

Authorities businesses, foundations, and companies acknowledge this precedence as properly. Due to this, there are quite a few know-how grants for nonprofits accessible to fund your initiatives—you simply have to know the place to look and tips on how to pinpoint the best alternatives to pursue.

Should you’re searching for extra info on nonprofit grants and deepening your group’s affect, contemplate these complete assets: