Managing an association doesn’t have to cost money. Most small associations run on tight budgets, often based only on membership fees. But that doesn’t mean you have to do everything by hand. Here are 7 free tools that can change your association’s day-to-day.
1. WordPress + Convoca (free)
If your association has a website, it probably already runs on WordPress. By installing Convoca, the plugin for associations, you turn your website into your operations hub: members, fees, activities and volunteering. The free version never expires.
2. Google Drive / Sheets
For sharing documents among the board, Drive is still unbeatable. Meeting minutes, budgets, permissions. Everything in the cloud, accessible from your phone and without the fear of losing a USB stick.
3. Canva
For activity posters, social media posts and announcements, Canva offers a very complete free version. You don’t need a designer to make a poster worthy of the neighborhood party.
4. WhatsApp Community
The WhatsApp Communities feature lets you group several groups (board, volunteers, members) under one umbrella. That way important announcements reach everyone without each group being its own separate chaos.
5. Trello
For planning big events (the annual party, a conference, an outing), Trello lets you organize tasks, owners and dates on a shared visual board. The free version covers any association’s needs.
6. Mailchimp (free plan)
For sending newsletters to your members, Mailchimp allows up to 500 contacts and 1,000 sends per month for free. Ideal for the association’s quarterly communication.
7. Jitsi Meet
For online board meetings with no time limit, Jitsi is the open-source alternative to Zoom or Google Meet. No installation required, no expiry, and it’s 100% free.
With these 7 tools you cover 90% of an association’s needs. And if you want to unify everything, Convoca centralizes management in one place.
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