30+ of the Best Google Docs Templates for Nonprofits

Creating a presentation for your board?

Wading into end-of-project paperwork?

Or maybe you’re signing up a new crop of volunteers for your non-profit…

Whatever the task, odds are that there’s a time-saving template, free in Google Docs, to help you do more with less effort.

In this post, I’ve compiled over 30 of the most useful Google Doc templates that I’ve come across.

1. Infographics Toolbox

This is perfect for small organizations who don’t always have access to a graphic designer. Illustrate your data with your own custom graphs, charts, maps and more.

And yes, you can change the colors to match the style of your own documents and presentations so that it really feels like

2. Meeting Minutes

This simple document template for recording the minutes of meetings is suitable for any type of organization that holds formal committee or board meetings. It should be a help for those who are new to the Secretary position.

And if you’re looking for some greater knowledge on how to take better meeting minutes, we’ve written a whole guide on how to write effective meeting minutes.

We also have other meeting minutes templates if you’re looking for a greater variety.

3. Meeting Agenda Template

A very simple document to help you prep for your next board meeting and update your team of the agenda.

4. Communications Plan

Keep your project team all on the same page with a shared communication plan. When everyone knows what to expect, when, and what they are expected to provide, you can drastically cut down on potential misunderstandings and get the work done more efficiently.

5. Holiday Card

Send your members and donors holiday greetings with this easy-to-edit and print holiday card template. Or invite them to a little holiday fundraiser — it’s versatile that way.

6. Event Feedback Survey

This event feedback survey lets event organizers collect feedback from multiple-choice satisfaction levels to text-box comments and notes, such as suggestions for things that could be changed or improved the next time around.

If you’re looking for inspiration, we also have a list of 30 post-event survey questions that you can use to flesh out your survey.

7. Volunteer Sign-Up Form

This survey template allows organizations to ask potential or new volunteers about their interests, skills, talents, and availability. This also lets your volunteers sign up and show their interest in your organization.

8. Online Petition

Creating an online petition for your cause just can’t get any easier than with this very basic Forms template. Edit to add your own petition text, and Google Forms will collect the responses. (To learn more, see Data Collection Made Easier with Google Forms and Spreadsheets.)

9. Business Plan with Social Impact Statement

This template is a complete business plan – and though it’s obviously designed for use in for-profit organizations, many non-profits will find the format useful as well. It includes sections for an Executive Summary, Industry Analysis, Marketing Plan, Competitive Analysis, Financials, and a Social Return On Investment Statement.

10. Invoicing Template

Send a professional-looking invoice to all your members with this easy-to-edit template.

11. Board Member Accountability Form

Going through a board reorganization, or just want to make sure you all start out on the same page? This form compiled by The Management Center is designed to help board members remain accountable to each other and the organization they serve.

12. Biweekly Timecard

Although it’s designed for small businesses, this timecard template will be equally handy for small non-profit organizations to keep track of employee hours. The spreadsheet will automatically calculate overtime and pay for each employee, but you could also use this to track volunteer hours.

13. International Site Visitor Feedback Form

If you sometimes get blog comments or are contacted through your website in a language other than your own, it can be difficult to distinguish between spam and valid feedback, or to know how to respond. Here’s a Google form with built-in “Detect language” and “Translate” formulas to translate that feedback on the fly.

14. Fixed Rate Service Calculator

This simple template will calculate the performance of anything where there is a fixed rate, different activities, and a time period. Non-profits who want to track, say, the hours of volunteer work that goes into various projects or tasks in a month, can use this template to create a graph of volunteer trending by date.

And if you’re a real stats pro, you can create more advanced charts to further analyze your volunteer activity over time and set targets for the future.

15. Business Cards

Printing your business cards on an as-needed basis is not only an eco-friendly, paper-saving choice, but can save your organization both time and money when an employee or volunteer needs cards on a temporary basis or to take along to an unscheduled event.

You’ll find a number of business card templates in the Google Docs Template Gallery. This one, part of the “Red Blocks” style set, is an elegantly simple and professional-looking business card that should work for most organizations – just edit the text and add a logo to make it your own.

16. Press Release Template

No fancy forms or graphics here, but it’s still a reminder of how document templates can make it easy to maintain consistent branding for your organization. Customize this simple template with your nonprofit’s name, logo, and contact information, and you’ll be able to quickly create and distribute a professional-looking press release whenever you have news to share.

Read More:How to Write and Distribute a Nonprofit Press Release

17. Project Timeline Template

Want to better manage projects without needing additional software? Check out this project schedule template for project timeline tracking. This one is from the “Marine Theme” set which includes a variety of matching templates, so you can keep your branding consistent within your organization as well.

18. Road Trip Expenses

This easy-to-use travel expenses calculator lets you quickly figure out who owes how much for what when you’re travelling with your team.

It’s set up for four people, and I like how Google explains that: “Why four? Because that’s the ideal number that fits in a car, to save money, and above all, the environment.”

19. Comprehensive Travel Itinerary

Again, there’s nothing fancy here, but it’s still a very practical fill-in-the-blanks template for a travel itinerary that even sophisticated travelers will appreciate.

Fill it out and share it with your colleagues and family via Google Docs, so everyone knows where you are. The template helps make sure that no vital details are left out – and it’s easy to update as needed if a flight is cancelled or your travel plans are fluid.

20. Sign-Up Sheet

This simple template lets members of your team sign up for various tasks. Collaboration via Google Docs means they can see what others have already signed up for, and you’ll save a whole lot of time going back-and-forth by email.

You can use this template to coordinate events, administrative tasks, etc. – even to organize the tension-fraught duty roster for your office lunchroom! Just fill in the appropriate dates, names, and tasks, then share the document with your colleagues or volunteers so they can fill in their responsibilities and contact details.

21. Grant Tracking

One of the biggest struggles I’ve heard from other organizations is that it’s hard to keep track of which grants are due when and which requirements they have.

So, here’s a Google Doc template to the rescue!

This template can be used as both a project tracker and a grant tracker; just switch the names of the columns and fill it out with your grants (for example, instead of “Task 1” write the source of the grant).

22. To-Do Checklist

This one’s fairly straightforward: for those times when you need to keep track of a long list of tasks, use this simple template as a to-do list to make your job of managing your organization a little easier.

23. Budget Sheet

This budget worksheet allows you to keep track of your finances in a simple and straightforward way. You can also update it to include your donations, grants, and events, as well any other fundraising (or expense!) sources.

24. Donation Receipt

Every organization needs to send out donation receipts, so here’s an easy way to send them out! This is a basic template of a receipt to give to your donors after their donation. This form can be customized to include all the relevant donation details, including the location issued, payment method, and others.

25. Volunteer Interest Form

This is a simple form for people to leave their contact information in order to express their interest in getting involved with your organization. Unlike the other volunteer forms on this list, this one doesn’t help with scheduling, but could help you create a list of potential volunteers to reach out to when you need them.

26. Volunteer Scheduling Form

To schedule your existing volunteers’ shifts, or to manage finding a meeting time that works for everyone, use this template to organize your calendar. This form can help you find out your volunteers’ available times all at once, instead of messaging them one-by-one. Just send this form to all of them, and then use the data collected to schedule their shifts.

27. Liability Waiver

Depending on your organization’s activities, there may be times when you’ll need volunteers or members to assume some degree of risk. This is a basic liability release form you can use in those situations. Before mailing it to the participants of your event, make sure to delete the first instruction page, and to fill out the details of your organization in the highlighted areas.

28. Questionnaire

If you need a simple form for a questionnaire of any kind, try using this one. One of the most basic – and useful – forms out there, it allows you to collect any kind of data, feedback, or information.

29. Grant Proposal Template

This is a template with instructions on how to write a grant proposal. While this is in PDF format, you can open it with Google Docs and edit it if you need to; either way, it’s a great guide on how to create a professional proposal from scratch.

30. Treasurer’s Budget Tracker

This is a useful form for treasurers or anyone else keeping track of your organization’s finances. This simple annual budget chart can be modified to your exact needs, and comes with instructions on how to use it. You can use this as an annual finance report as well.

31. Event Program or Brochure

These two templates are fairly similar, and you can use them both to create a stylish event brochure or program.

While I would encourage you to modify these templates as much as you want in order to make them as personalized as possible, you can also just fill in the blanks with your information if you’re in need of a quick brochure.

And if you don’t see a template here you need, it’s easy to search for more yourself.

Simply browse Google’s Template Gallery, or narrow your search by Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Forms, and Drawings.

You’ll find thousands of templates – some by Google itself, and many unique templates that were contributed by users around the world, all free for you to use and adapt as you like.

Or, just comment below and I’ll add it to this list

Additional Resources for Those Interested in Google Docs Templates:

• Free Guide: Online Tools for Managing Your Board (WildApricot.com)
• Data Collection Made Easier with Google Forms and Spreadsheets (WildApricot.com)
• 11 Hidden Tips, Tricks, And Hacks For Making The Most Of Google Docs (And Also Sheets And Slides)(Forbes.com)
• How to Create a Custom Template in Google Docs (LapTopMag.com)