Editor’s note: As promised in the Winter 2021 edition of The Pen Woman, here’s another bit of advice from The Nerds.

By Wilma Davidson and Diana de Avila, Sarasota Branch

“Dear Nerds,

Our branch sure could use an easy way to create social media and web graphics. And we could also use a tool to create surveys and forms. The catch is that we don’t have lots of funds for this. Do you have any ideas?”

Anonymous but Need to Know

As a matter of fact, we do! And, guess what? The two recommendations we have are free for nonprofits. Now, who doesn’t love free stuff?

These two tools are Canva and QuestionPro.

First, what is Canva? Well, according to Canva, it is a tool that takes 23 seconds to learn! Sounds promising, right?

Here’s the deal: It’s a graphic design platform used to create social media graphics, presentations, posters, documents, and other visual content. The app already includes templates for users to try. It’s worth repeating: It’s free for nonprofits — and what’s more, a  qualified nonprofit will be upgraded to a pro account at no cost.

We thought that would get your attention. For more about the Canva for nonprofits program, go here. (If you’re interested, Canva even has a Facebook community for those using the nonprofit program.)

Do you need to create a survey or send out a poll? If so, you’ll want to know about our second recommendation: QuestionPro.

QuestionPro is web-based software with an intuitive wizard interface for creating survey questions, tools for distributing your survey via email or your website, and tools for analyzing and viewing your results. You simply build your survey and email it to a list of potential respondents or post the survey URL link wherever you want.

QuestionPro will take care collecting and recording the responses. Results are available in real time. (Our branch used it for RSVPs to our “Clowning Around with Science” Program, so you can be sure we practice what we preach.)

QuestionPro’s advanced package would ordinarily cost over $1,000 a year — but there is a nonprofit program that will cost you nothing. Get the details here.

One tiny caveat: Qualifying for the nonprofit license will require your adding a little snippet about QuestionPro on your website. That’s a small price to pay for such a robust tool.

Ready to qualify? Go to questionpro.com/pricing/non-profit.html for the directions to qualify. (Our branch qualified within two hours after adding the required backlink wording and URL!)

We’ve discovered that many technology companies are quietly generous to nonprofits. It just takes a little poking around to find a non-profit discount  or, better yet, free use of a tool in exchange for a small statement on the nonprofit’s website.

We’ll continue poking around for the benefit of your branch, so please keep your questions coming!