You are leading a brand new nonprofit, charity, NGO or other community group. You have the basics for your program's existence in place: your board of directors, your business plan covering what you want to achieve in the first year and how you will do that, and you've filed, or are filing, your by-laws and other paperwork with the state and the IRS.

But now, in addition to all of the other things you need to do next, you also need to take some first steps in terms of being online. Don't delay: getting an online presence and your initial tech tools in place will pay off in the long run in terms of donations and other support. You can always make a more advanced web site later. But you want to get some things bought and reserved before someone else does.

In addition, there are some tips here regarding software you should have is noted as well.   

Your first online steps:

• Get a URL (web address/domain name) and a web host. Dotster is a good place to buy a domain name, as is Network Solutions. For a web host, I really like HostGator. Even if you aren't ready with your web site yet, you should do these two things immediately. Then just put up a one page "coming soon" with your organization's name, mission statement, and a "coming soon" statement. This is the detailed advice I give to new nonprofits regarding starting their own web site. 
   
• What is your one word identifier going to be online, what you will use for your ID on social media, what you will use for your personalized URL on YouTube, etc.? For instance, if your nonprofit has a long name, like We Help Children In Scuffletown, you will use that as your name everywhere, including your online profiles, you don't want to use that full name as your Facebook address, for what comes after facebook.com/. So, instead, you would want ScuffletownChildren to be your ID. A real life example: The Forest Grove Restore, part of Habitat for Humanity, is called that everywhere on Facebook, but it's facebook address is www.facebook.com/fgrestore. It's the same on Instagram.
   
• Now that you have chosen your identifier, set up a Facebook page (not a Facebook account, which is where an individual - you - "friends" people. You are setting up a Facebook page, something you set up from your personal Facebook account, something other staff at your nonprofit that are on Facebook can be allowed to manage as well. Your page is how people "like" and follow your nonprofit on Facebook). Even if you have no information to share yet, just like the web address, it's a good idea to claim the name you want ASAP, so no one else gets it. As far as how you will eventually use it, see these recommendations for daily social media tasks and recommendations for using Facebook to promote your nonprofit's work. But for now, you don't have to do anything - your goal was to just get the page ready for eventual posting.
   
• Set up your user accounts/nonprofit name pages on Instagram (which will be tied to your Facebook page), BlueSky, Mastodon, Reddit and any other social media platform you want to use. For now, you don't have to post any messaging yet - your goal was to just get the page ready for eventual posting.
   
• Set up your YouTube channel. It doesn't need to have any videos on it. Be sure this is tied to the appropriate email address, one that is not a personal address of one of your employees or volunteers. Pick a name similar to or even the same as your Facebook address, Instagram ID, BlueSkyID, etc.
  

Now you are all set to start posting content once you have content to post. You have also claimed your nonprofit's name and a one-word simple identifer for your organization that you can keep using as needed.

For other initial tech needs:

• You probably don't have volunteers yet, beyond the board of directors and the founder, so you do NOT need volunteer management software yet. But you do need to track the contact information for all of your staff and what their tasks are. A spreadsheet is best for now. I highly recommend GoogleDrive for all documents and spreadsheets you need to share with your board, and to use photos.google.com for sharing photos with just your board and core staff. You get all this for free with a gmail account. You can purchase a more sophisticated intranet later.
   
• Since you are just starting out, use a spreadsheet to track your clients and their information as well. If you are dealing with medical information, legal information or financial information, like credit cards, I do not recommend Google Drive for any client information - this data needs to stay offline for now. Google Drive is an amazing collaboration tool, but it's not secure enough for things like credit card information, bank account numbers, etc. As you begin to track information and your client base and volunteer base grow, you will start to get an idea of what you will need in a more sophisticated CMS (content management system), and you will be able to make a much more informed choice later about what you need than now.
   
• You do not need to buy Microsoft Office. I strongly suggest you download and use LibreOffice, which is free (and make the recommended donation). I have used it for many years, and it's as compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint as I need it to be.

You will be using video conferencing a lot. You don't have to buy a Zoom account in order to use it one-on-one with others, or to participate in events by others. If you have never used it, create an account and participate in a free online workshop, just to get familiar with it. A lot of people prefer Microsoft Teams, which also has a free version. Your clients, they may prefer WhatsAPP, so be sure you have an account there too and become familiar with it how to use it.

Email can become overwhelming if you are trying to have a discussion with your board or volunteers, or collaborate with others on a project. GoogleGroups is free and decent. The best online collaboration tool for everything, IMO, is Basecamp, but it is VERY expensive.

You can recruit volunteers to help you in any and all of the above. Here are my recommendations about volunteer recruitment. 

The NCVO (The National Council for Voluntary Organisations) in England has an excellent list of suggestions for tackling barriers to digital change for staff and volunteers. I highly recommend it. This is great for not only as you get started with online tech, but as you expand and as you change tools - yes, change tools. What you are using now for computer and smartphone tech in your work likely will not be what you use three years from now, because of how rapidly tech evolves.

And as tech evolves, you need to evolve - and so does your staff and volunteers. My favorite piece of advice from NCVO's guide: 

Start with a practical understanding of people's roles - what they do, how they do it, why they do it, and what frustrates them. This will help you make sure any new digital tools or processes will add value to people's jobs. It will help them trust that you've thought about this.

With me, I don't like when a tech change is announced - I'm supposed to use a new platform for such-and-such function instead of what I have been using - without a clear explanation as to why, and a staff member ready to help with my questions.

In addition to this resource on introducing tech or changing it, the NCVO in the UK has an online knowledge base help charities and community groups use digital tools and develop digital strategies.

Tips include: 

• Digital skills in your organisation or charity
• Convincing senior leaders and trustees to get involved in digital change
• Tackling barriers to digital change for staff and volunteers
• How to carry out a digital skills survey
• Finding comparisons of software and digital tools
• Choosing new software or digital tools
• Responsible and ethical use of technology
• Dealing with unconscious bias
• Doing user research
• Planning a new website
• Creating and sharing useful eLearning
• Moving your face-to-face training online
• Safeguarding online
• Test and learn, usability testing and agile development
• Doing more for digital inclusion
• Understanding digital accessibility
• Data security and privacy protection
• UK-based programs that mobiise volunteers to help charities with digital and technology skills and capacity

And more. The NCVO resources are UK-centric, meaning some references aren't going to apply to other countries. But for the most part, the advice in this guide is universal and works in any country.

What do you think? Is this advice helpful? Do you have more or different advice?

Also see:

• Basic Press Outreach for Not-for-Profit and Public Sector Organizations
  Like fund raising, press relations is an ongoing cultivation process - the process never ends. Your program strategy for press coverage needs to go beyond trying to make a magical list of press contacts that will always print your announcements or trying to land one big story; you want the press to know that you are THE agency to contact whenever they are doing a story on a subject that relates to your mission. These are basic, low-cost/no cost things you can do to generate ongoing positive attention from the media, and thereby continually build your profile among various communities.
  
  
• Outreach Via the Internet for Mission-Based Organizations
  It's more than just putting up a Web site or creating a facebook page: successful outreach via the Internet involves ENGAGEMENT: attracting comments and questions, making your own comments and questions, and more. It's pro-active, interactive and ongoing. Online outreach and online service delivery should also accurately reflect your agency's mission and culture.
  
  
• How Mission-Based Organizations REALLY Use Online Technologies
  Every nonprofit, NGO, or other mission-based organization has two primary resources: people and their ideas. Here's real-life examples of what agencies are using the Internet for, and links to other resources offering even more advice and examples. Includes information about online solicitations and fund raising. This is a hype-free zone.
  
  
• Getting More Viewers for Your Program's Online Videos
  Videos are a great way to represent your program's work, to show you make a difference, to promote a message or action that relates to your mission, etc. But just uploading a video isn't enough to attract an audience. This page on my site offers specific steps that will get more views for your organization's videos on YouTube. Note that many of these tasks would be great for an online volunteer to undertake, with guidance from an appropriate staff member.
  
  
• Email Newsletters
  Don't abandon your email newsletter.  It's still a great way to reach people about your organization, its accomplishments, its volunteering opportunities and more. It's simple, it's quick, and it can be easily forwarded by readers to new readers. 
  
  
• Don't Just Ask for Money!
  Something much more should happen if someone clicks on your web site's "Help Us" link than a message that asks only for money.