Free Downloads and Online Applications

Office Productivity

• Desktop Publishing
• Education
• Multimedia & Graphics
• Project Management

Tech Infrastructure

• Backup
• Databases
• Networking
• Privacy & Security

Using the Internet

• Connecting to the Internet
• E-mail
• Social Networking
• Web Building

If you're like most busy nonprofit professionals, you probably have little time to look for and test free software for your organization. While free software - both open source and closed source freeware - abounds on the Internet, actually identifying programs that will meet your needs is a difficult process. Worse yet, some may include spyware that compromises the security of your office network. That’s where TechSoup’s Free Downloads section can help.

In this section you will find a short list of excellent applications for both beginning and advanced users. Some programs are scaled-down versions of their paid versions, but will still meet most nonprofits’ needs. There are also free services and web applications that can be useful in a nonprofit setting. Some vendors stipulate that the free version is limited to home or personal use, but readers are encouraged to try them out in those settings to see if a paid version can be useful at their organization.

Before you download and install software, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I really need this application?
• Is it compatible with my existing operating system and software?
• Is the documentation sufficient for my users?
• Will there be a steep learning curve for my users?
• If it is an online application, is the data portable to other applications?

If you need help, you can check out our our Free Downloads Instructions , or you can ask questions in the TechSoup Community. If you have a free download to share that is not listed, email us at downloads @ techsoup.org and it may get featured on the site!