Virtual meetings have become a necessity for nonprofits to connect with stakeholders, donors, and beneficiaries. Zoom is a leading video conferencing platform, offering a suite of features tailored for nonprofit organizations.
From facilitating fundraising events to hosting engaging webinars, nonprofits to amplify impact and overcome geographic barriers.
Discover how to use Zoom for your organization, it’s pricing and discounts for nonprofit organizations.
Ṭable of Contents
Benefits of Using Zoom for Nonprofits
5 Ways to Use Zoom for Your Organization
Zoom Plans and Discounts for Nonprofits
The Bottom Line: Is Zoom Good for Nonprofits?
What is Zoom?
Zoom is a cloud-based communication platform offering video conferencing and collaboration tools. It allows you to meet people virtually by video or call in real-time. You can also host one-on-one meetings or group video conferencing on the Zoom platform.
Zoom offers a direct download and simple installation process to any device. You can download and install it on your laptop, PC, or mobile device, connecting with your team on any platform.
Setting up the Zoom account is free, and there are no charges for using the basic plan.
Some of the useful tools and features of Zoom include the following:
- Person-on-person voice or video meetings
- Live chat function
- Screen recording
- Group video conferencing
- Screen sharing capability
- Webinars and events
- Zoom Rooms for large-scale video conferences
- Zoom phone with unlimited domestic calls, SMS messaging, voicemail transcription, and more
Benefits of Using Zoom for Nonprofits
1. Ease of Use
One of Zoom's hallmarks, contributing to its success, is its user-friendly interface. Everything is extremely intuitive and easy to use for people who have no experience working with these kinds of online systems.
The bonus is that no one needs to make an account to join meetings. Your meeting link, which can be password-protected for security, is their key. All you have to do is click on the link, and the program pulls you into the Zoom meetings.
This feature helps you connect with your board members and volunteers who may not use Zoom regularly. It's also helpful when you're hosting an online fundraising event and want to encourage maximum participation. Eliminating the need to sign up or share contact details can attract more supporters to your event.
2. Affordability
Zoom's basic free plan makes it an attractive option for many small nonprofit organizations. If your organization has fewer than 100 members, this plan is all you need to collaborate with your team and stay in touch with your donors.
→Top 51 Companies Offering Nonprofit Discounts in 2024
3. Enhanced Video and Call Quality
The platform has built-in features to improve call and video quality, as well as enhance conferencing with virtual filters and backgrounds.
It has tools to prevent people from talking over each other in meetings, making it easy to effectively manage large conferences of speakers or board members without creating chaos on the call.
Admins can oversee and control all meeting or event elements on the Zoom platform. Zoom also offers in-meeting statistics to assist in troubleshooting quality and connectivity issues.
4. Saves Time by Recording Training Sessions and Calls
Every new volunteer or staff member needs training upon joining your organization. While you can always conduct fresh sessions, it often becomes too time-consuming and hectic.
With Zoom, you can easily record and store your training sessions and webinars, which can be shared with new members as they join. This cuts down on time spent training new members while still providing them with a great learning experience.
You can also record your meetings and share them with any absent board members or team leader, eliminating excessive back-and-forth communication and keeping everyone on the same page.
5. Easily Organize Online and Hybrid Events
Zoom has remarkable event-hosting capabilities. Depending on your plan, you can host up to 500-1000 participants on the platform.
There is also no limit to what kind of online event ideas you can implement. From virtual trivia nights to charity galas, and online raffles, everything is possible. You can also hold an event to thank your donors and volunteers and connect with your team.
Your nonprofit can even stream a Zoom webinar or meeting live on Facebook to your group page, timeline, or admin page. This can increase the reach and engage more donors and supporters.
Use Zeffy’s e-ticketing platform to automatically generate and sell tickets for your virtual event. You can add the Zoom access info right on them to make it easy for donors to join. You can also add the option to request additional donations to raise even more for your nonprofit.
How Does Zoom Support Your Nonprofit Organization? 5 Ways to Use the Platform
- Host Fundraisers with the Zoom Event Feature
- Collect Donations with Donate Button and Text-to-Give
- Manage and Support Your Volunteers
- Use Zoom as a Marketing and Promotional Tool
- Organize Board Meetings and Training Calls
1. Host Fundraisers with the Zoom Event Feature
Online events have become a huge deal in the fundraising world.They bring together volunteers, supporters, and donors from anywhere in the world to support your mission. As an added plus, you save on cost and time.
Zoom offers an event feature to craft the best virtual event experience for your guests. Create multi-day events, manage registration, and secure insights to analyze event performance. You can access the Zoom events from the organizer mode to sell tickets, manage your created events, view the content library, and update any features for your event.
With the attendee mode, understand how attendees will experience the event to plan for a more seamless experience.
2. Collect Donations with Donate Button and Text-to-Give
Although Zoom doesn’t have a built-in donate button yet, Pledge is a Zoom events technology partner that helps collect online donations. Pledge has made an app that integrates with your Zoom account so people in your Zoom events can donate without leaving.
You can acknowledge and reward their donations in real time by setting up an “I donated” virtual background.
Your nonprofit can even set up a fundraising goal and receive an email when 80% of your aim has been met.
Using the Zoom chat feature, you can collect funds during the event using text-to-give. Share a campaign ID and a simple number for your attendees to text to donate.
Offering different ways to contribute makes your event more engaging and increases donations. When you receive the donation message, call out the donor’s name in real time to thank them.
Your organization will still have to pay a $5 fee for donations under $1000 on Pledge. For donations over $1000, there will be charges of 2.9% + $0.30 in the form of processing fees.
Zeffy is a more affordable option for nonprofits as it allows you to accept donations without charging any processing or platform fees.
3. Manage and Support Your Volunteers
It is not always possible to have face-to-face interactions with your volunteers as they might be dispersed over several cities, states, or even countries.
With Zoom, improve your communication and engagement with your biggest cheerleaders through one-on-one Zoom sessions, presentations, and workshops.
You will see high participation as volunteers will love the choice to join from the comfort of their space.
For newer and smaller nonprofits that may not have a big office to accommodate their volunteers or a good budget to host a physical event, Zoom offers a great way to connect and collaborate with your volunteers.
If your nonprofit doesn't have staff in different places, you can recruit volunteers remotely as this will help extend the reach of your mission.
4. Use Zoom as a Marketing and Promotional Tool
An organization's biggest challenge is creating content to promote its cause and mission. Zoom offers a practical way to address this problem.
Let’s say you organize a virtual event or webinar related to your initiatives or cause to inform stakeholders and volunteers about your organization. Record the entire session. Publish the recordings on your website and share them with your email subscribers and on social media channels.
You can repurpose all Zoom content, whether virtual fundraising events, educational presentations, or webinars, on other communication tools to promote your nonprofit. Not only will this minimize the burden of coming up with new ideas, but it is sure to increase awareness and visibility as people prefer and engage with visual content.
With Zoom, record testimonials from people who have benefitted from the cause or have supported your organization. Share those with new donors to enhance engagement and retention.
5. Organize Board Meetings and Training Calls
The nonprofit board plays a crucial role in defining the success of your organization. It's essential that they meet at least once a month to ensure the organization is in compliance with legal and ethical standards. They check and oversee the working of upcoming projects and initiatives.
It can be difficult for your board members to come together. They often have other jobs and duties, which makes taking time out and traveling difficult.
Using Zoom, ensure your board meets in a timely manner. Turn major shareholder meetings into virtual ones. You can record these Zoom meetings for those not present or to address any doubts that can arise down the road.
Organizing in-person training sessions for nonprofit boards is costly. They are also not very effective as much of the budget is directed towards securing a good venue, catering, and travel fair.
Zoom Plans and Discounts for Nonprofits
Zoom features a free plan, letting you test the platform without committing to a subscription. You can have up to 40 minutes of calls with 100 participants, and no limit on the number of meetings.
You have options for voice and video calls, all for free.
The free basic plan from Zoom comes with other impressive functionality, including screen sharing, meeting recordings, and a selection of chat tools.
Many smaller charities with less than 100 members and limited needs will benefit from the Zoom free plan.
Organizations with larger audiences and staff or the need to host multiple virtual events throughout the year will need to move to one of the paid plans.
When you sign up for paid services, you have four pricing plans to choose from.
Zoom partners with TechSoup to offer discounted pricing to nonprofits. TechSoup for nonprofits verifies your charitable status, allowing you to access 50% off on pricing plans.
Zoom Pro
Price: Starts at $149.90/per year
After Discount: Available at around $75
What it Covers: Gives nonprofits additional features on top of the basic free plan. Create meeting IDs and easily record meetings in the cloud or on your device. Increases the length of the meeting to 24 hours.
Zoom Business
Price: Starts at $199.90/per year
After Discount: Available at around $100
What it Covers: Use your own branding on the video calls. You have the option to create Zoom meeting transcripts and share them with your team or donors. Zoom business offers cloud storage for transcripts and calls. Get a dedicated tech support line for problems and troubleshooting.
Zoom Enterprise
Price: Starts at $240.00/per year
After Discount: Available at around $120
What It Covers: Ideally suited to larger organizations with more than 1,000 employees. Zoom Enterprise allows you to host meetings with up to 500 or 1,000 members and get unlimited storage for meeting recordings.
Secure a dedicated customer success manager for your account. You’ll even be able to access certain discounted rates on the webinar and Zoom Room package.
Eligibility Criteria to Secure Discounted Pricing on Zoom Products
Your nonprofit organization must meet the given eligibility criteria to access the discounted product—one discounted Zoom account per fiscal year.
- The annual operating budget of your nonprofit organization is at or below $10 million.
- You are a verified 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.
- You will have to agree to any applicable terms of service for Zoom.
- You will not resell or transfer products offered by Zoom.
- You are willing to provide information to Zoom for a case study or testimonial.
- Your nonprofit doesn’t practice, support, or advocate any discrimination, and you’re willing to attest that you do not discriminate based on gender, age, national origin, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, or socioeconomic background.
The Bottom Line: Is Zoom Good for Nonprofits?
Zoom offers nonprofits the chance to enhance their impact by overcoming traditional barriers and embracing virtual collaboration. From helping you host virtual fundraisers to live stream webinars and sessions, record training calls, and add a donate button to live events, Zoom has a lot to offer.
FAQs on Zoom For Nonprofits
How to decide how many Zoom meetings licenses you need?
You will require one license for each person who needs the capacity to initiate a Zoom meeting. With one license, you can organize an unlimited number of meetings, but they can’t be held concurrently.
All licenses will allow up to 100 meeting participants. You can get a large meeting add-on to accommodate up to 1000 participants and webinar add-ons for up to 10,000 participants.
Is TechSoup legit?
TechSoup is a well-established and credible nonprofit international network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It provides technical support and technological tools to other verified nonprofits and has partnered with a wide range of technology companies to serve communities in nearly every region of the world.
Does Zoom donate to nonprofits?
Many companies donate to nonprofit organizations, including Zoom. The company supports efforts that focus on climate change, social equity, innovative learning, and youth mental health. Zoom offers grants, volunteer help, and discounts on its solutions through TechSoup to help nonprofits extend the impact of its mission.
What products are eligible for the discount program?
Zoom offers discounts on products and plans, including the Zoom One Business Plan, Zoom One Pro Plan, Zoom Webinars, and Zoom Large Meetings.
