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Cool Tools I Like This Week
Sure, technology is more than the tools--but it is usually finding the right tool at the right time for the task at hand that makes all the difference.
In our work of nonprofit technology assistance, we are asked to advise and support pretty much anything you can think of. Old equipment that really should have been retired years ago. Crazy and potentially inappropriate software someone's husband or kid or Board member just absolutely thought a group should use. I was even asked to help network a Nintendo DS for a group the other day to their wireless network. It's a game, no it's a computer, no it's...something.
So when some tools come across our radar that really do work well, are a good fit and actually help the groups we support, it is really exciting. Here are a few from the last couple weeks:
Form building on the web couldn't be easier. Need a volunteer sign-up form, simple event registration form, a survey, donation/membership form integrated on your website? Want to enable fast online payment? Want this all for a bargain price? Wufoo is all that and is slick, has easy to handle reporting, quick data exports and more.
A full-on operating system that fits on a CD with word processing, web browsing and a ton of utilities for, as I rediscovered late last night, mounting hard drives and (hopefully) recovering data from damaged drives. Two hours of effort salvaged a group's email, database and accounting data. Yes, they thought I was pretty amazing. Thank you, open source Linux development!
As a follow-up to the data recovery story above--welcome to the affordable world of online data backup. For as little as $50/computer/year, reliable and easy online backup services are a small organization's first choice for automated data storage.
CompanionLink for Google Calendar
This is more of a personal triumph for me--I've wanted to synchronize my Outlook calendar to the web for a long time, but didn't want to go the route of Microsoft Exchange or a hosted Exchange service. Free tools such as Remote Calendars were tantalizing but ultimately frustrating and flaky--your experience may be better than mine. But for $30, CompanionLink for Google Calendar now handles it without fail. A quick Scheduled Task and it does an automated update every 3 hours. I feel just a tiny bit geekier--and that is a good thing.
Say you want more than Wufoo can offer for event registration but don't want to pay a lot? After reviewing a bunch of low-cost event registration systems (including EventWax which was a close second), EventBrite gets my vote. Easy to use, lots of flexibility and features, a snippet of code you can embed to start the registration process right on your website, and definitely one of (if not the) most affordable event registration tools out there with this number of features. Free to use for events that are free and just 2.5% (minimum of $.99 plus any merchant fees which, with PayPal, run about 3%) for any paid events.
What slick, affordable and appropriate tools are working for you? Let us know!