Are you a small nonprofit that wants to use technology more effectively but finds it overwhelming to get started? At TechSoup Canada, we've been tackling this challenge head-on in our blog series, Jane vs. Tierney (that's us there on the right!). 

Here's the idea: we focus on a common nonprofit task. Then we filter through tool roundups and recommendations from experts and from the community, and from that list we pick 2 tools that we think would generally meet nonprofits' needs. Jane and I each take one of the tools and do an in-depth review so we can share our experiences with all of you.

So far we've done 3 challenges. Click on the title to get the summary of the challenge, and the tool names to see the in-depth reviews:

Challenge #1: Email Newsletters - Many nonprofits send out regular newsletters or periodic updates to their supporters. Sending out mass emails in Outlook isn't the only answer! Read more to find out what we thought about MailChimp and Vertical Response.

Challenge #2: Event Registration - Do you ever host free or paid events? If so, learn more about Eventbrite and Guestlist.

Challenge #3: Working on Documents (Collaboratively) - This is a simple everyday task for almost every nonprofit. Learn something new about Google Docs or find out how SkyDrive lets you collaborate right in Microsoft Office.

We also love to hear your thoughts and comments, so feel free to join in the discussion in the comments on our blog, or share ideas/questions on Facebook or Twitter (#janevstierney). 

-Tierney Smith, Manager of Learning & Special Projects, TechSoup Canada