Recommended Tools
Practical tools for writing, images, analytics, and organization — no developer experience required
You don't need to be a designer or developer to use these. They're picked for people who don't do this every day but want to do it well.
Start here
If you're not sure where to begin, these four cover the essentials:
- Hemingway Editor for checking readability
- Squoosh for compressing images
- Trello or Monday.com for tracking content progress
- Google Docs for collaborative drafting
Everything else on this page is here when you need it.
Nonprofit programs worth setting up
If you haven't already, these two programs are table stakes for any nonprofit:
- Google for Nonprofits — Free Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Meet), $10,000/month in Google Search ad credits (Ad Grants), YouTube nonprofit features, and Gemini AI tools. Requires 501(c)(3) via TechSoup.
- Canva for Nonprofits — Full Canva Pro + Teams for up to 50 users, free. 100M+ premium photos, brand kit, background removal, AI design tools. Requires 501(c)(3).
Writing
Hemingway Editor
Paste in any draft copy and it highlights overly complex sentences and gives a readability grade level. Aim for grade 8 or below — the plainlanguage.gov guidelines and Nielsen Norman Group both recommend this range for public-facing web content. If your copy scores higher, simplify it.
The free version covers readability grading and sentence complexity. Some features like passive voice detection and AI rewrites are part of Hemingway Editor Plus (paid). The free version is plenty for what we need here.
Grammarly
Catches grammar, spelling, and awkward phrasing. The free tier handles the basics. The paid version adds tone detection and clarity suggestions, which can be useful when multiple people are writing copy. Available as a browser extension, so it works in Google Docs, email, and the CMS.
DeepL
If you ever need to translate content or check how something reads in another language, DeepL is significantly better than Google Translate for natural-sounding results. Free for basic use.
AI tools
AI is genuinely useful for content work — but it's a drafting partner, not a replacement for your voice. The best results come from using it to get past the blank page and then rewriting in your own words.
What AI is good at
- First drafts. "Write a 2-sentence description of our meal delivery program for a card on the homepage" gets you 80% of the way there. Edit it to sound like you.
- Rewriting for clarity. Paste in a paragraph and ask "simplify this for a grade 8 reading level" or "make this shorter without losing the key point."
- Alt text. Describe what's in an image and ask it to write concise alt text. Faster than writing it from scratch for 30 images.
- Brainstorming. "Give me 5 headline options for a volunteer signup page" is a great way to break through writer's block.
- Checking tone. "Does this sound warm and approachable or corporate?" — AI is surprisingly good at this kind of gut check.
What AI is not good at
- Your voice. AI doesn't know how MOWP talks to its community. It'll produce something polished but generic. Always rewrite to sound like you.
- Facts and figures. AI will confidently make up statistics, dates, and details. Never publish a number from AI without verifying it.
- Emotional nuance. A testimonial request, a caregiver-facing page, a message about someone's loss — these need a human touch. AI can help you structure it, but the words should be yours.
- SEO shortcuts. Don't ask AI to "optimize this for SEO." You'll get keyword-stuffed copy that reads terribly. Write naturally and follow the SEO guidelines instead.
Tools
chatgpt.com — The most widely used. Free tier is capable, paid tier ($20/mo) is faster and has the latest model. Good all-around for writing tasks.
claude.ai — Tends to produce more natural, less "AI-sounding" writing. Good at longer content and nuanced tone. Free tier available, paid tier ($20/mo) for heavier use.
gemini.google.com — Free with a Google account. Convenient if you're already in the Google ecosystem. Good for quick drafting and brainstorming.
The golden rule
Never publish AI-generated content without reading it carefully and editing it to sound like you. AI is fast but it's also generic, occasionally wrong, and has no idea what matters to your community. Use it to get started, not to get finished.
Images
You don't need Photoshop. You probably already have what you need, and there are a few free tools that fill the gaps.
What you already have
Before downloading anything, check what's on your computer:
- Preview (Mac) — Built into every Mac. Open any image and go to Tools → Adjust Size to resize, or File → Export to save as JPEG at a lower quality. This handles 80% of image prep — resizing, cropping, format conversion, and basic adjustments. Most people don't realize how capable it is.
- Photos (Mac/iPhone) — Crop, adjust lighting, and straighten photos. If you're taking photos on an iPhone for the site, edit them here before exporting.
- Photos (Windows) — Similar basic editing. Crop, resize, and adjust.
- Screenshot tools — Command+Shift+4 on Mac, Win+Shift+S on Windows. Useful for capturing reference images or documenting what you're looking at.
Free tools for compression and editing
Squoosh
Google's free image compressor. Drag in a photo and it shows you a before/after comparison as you adjust the quality. Great for getting hero images under 500KB without visible quality loss. No account needed, runs in your browser.
TinyPNG
Batch image compression — drag in up to 20 images at once and it shrinks them. Works for both PNG and JPEG despite the name. Free for images under 5MB.
Canva
Simple graphic design tool for people who aren't designers. Useful for resizing images to specific dimensions, adding text overlays, or creating simple social graphics. If you've set up the Canva for Nonprofits program (mentioned above), you get the full Pro tier free — including premium stock photos, background removal, and brand kit features.
A note on image sizes
When uploading images to the site, bigger files mean slower pages. As a rule of thumb: hero images should be under 500KB, card thumbnails under 200KB. If a photo is several megabytes straight from a camera or phone, run it through Squoosh or TinyPNG before uploading.
remove.bg
Removes the background from a photo in one click. Useful for team headshots if you want a consistent background across the leadership page. Free for standard resolution.
Analytics & insights
These tools help you understand how people actually use the site. We'll set these up, but you should know they're there and how to read them.
Google Analytics (GA4)
The standard for understanding site traffic. Shows you where visitors come from, which pages they visit, how long they stay, and where they leave. Free.
Key things to watch:
- Which pages get the most traffic — are people finding what matters?
- Where people drop off — are they leaving the donation flow? Getting stuck on a form?
- Traffic sources — are visitors coming from search, email campaigns, social, or direct?
Google Search Console
search.google.com/search-console
Shows you how the site appears in Google search results. You can see which search queries bring people to the site, which pages rank, and any technical issues Google finds. Free. This is where you'd notice if a page isn't being indexed or if a title/description needs improvement.
Microsoft Clarity
Free heatmap and session recording tool. It shows you where people click, how far they scroll, and lets you watch recordings of real visitor sessions. Incredibly useful for answering questions like "are people actually seeing the donation button?" or "do visitors scroll past the hero?" Completely free, no usage limits.
Heatmaps aren't just for developers
Watching a few session recordings of real visitors is one of the most eye-opening things you can do. You'll see where people hesitate, what they skip, and where they get confused — things that no amount of analytics data can show you.
Accessibility
WAVE
Free accessibility checker — paste in a URL and it flags issues like missing alt text, low contrast, and heading structure problems. Less technical than Lighthouse, more focused on content-level issues you can actually fix. Also available as a browser extension.
WebAIM Contrast Checker
webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker
Paste in two colors and it tells you whether the contrast meets WCAG standards. Useful when choosing colors for text on colored backgrounds, buttons, or banners.
Organization
Content tracking
The goal is visibility: who's working on what, what's done, and what's stuck. Spreadsheets can work early on, but once multiple people are editing content across 30+ pages, it gets hard to see who changed what and when. A purpose-built tool tracks that history automatically.
Many of these offer free or heavily discounted plans for nonprofits — it's worth applying even if the tool seems expensive at first glance.
monday.com — Visual project tracker with content calendar templates, status automations, and board/timeline views.
Nonprofit program: 10 seats free, 70% off from seat 11+. Requires 501(c)(3) verification. This is one of the best nonprofit deals out there — a team of 5-10 people pays nothing.
trello.com — Simple Kanban board. Columns like "Not Started," "Drafting," "In Review," "Approved" with a card per page. Easy to learn, low overhead.
Nonprofit program: 75% off Standard/Premium through Atlassian's Community License. Standard comes to ~$1.50/user/month. Free tier works for up to 10 collaborators.
notion.com — More than just tracking — it's a wiki, database, and content drafting tool in one. Great if you want content status, page drafts, asset links, and notes all in the same place.
Nonprofit program: 50% off Plus plan (~$6/user/month). Requires 501(c)(3) via TechSoup.
airtable.com — Spreadsheet-database hybrid. If you like the feel of a spreadsheet but want real structure (status fields, assignees, due dates, linked media), this is the move.
Nonprofit program: 50% off Team plan (~$12/user/month). Free tier supports 5 editors and 1,000 records — plenty for a content project.
Our recommendation: Monday.com if you want something visual and the 10 free seats fit your team. Notion if you also want a place to draft content and keep notes. Trello if you want the simplest possible setup. Airtable if you think in spreadsheets but want more structure.
Photo folder
A shared Google Drive or Dropbox folder organized by image type: heroes, cards, headshots, locations, testimonials. Set up the folder structure now so assets don't pile up unsorted. When you find a good photo, drop it in the right folder with a note about where it was taken and who's in it.
Google Drive / Docs / Sheets
Google Docs is a fine starting point for drafting content and collaborating on copy. Write drafts there, use Hemingway to check readability, then paste into the CMS when it's ready. The commenting and suggestion features make it easy to get feedback without version confusion.
Google Sheets can work for early-stage tracking too — a simple spreadsheet with page names, status, and owners. There's nothing wrong with starting there. Just know that as the project scales, it gets harder to see who changed what and when. When that starts to feel painful, move to something more purposeful like Trello or Notion.