Good Finds for Nonprofits: Sortd

Each week we’ll bring you a new resource that we think could revolutionize the nonprofit sector—or at least your workweek. It may be an app, platform, podcast, or product that will help you do more good. This week, we’re looking at Sortd, an extension for Gmail users that takes email efficiency to a whole new level. 

Sortd

“Inbox Zero” is a fantasy. Every day, we’re all bombarded by emails. If you want to hide information in a place where it’s not likely to be recovered, try the inbox of a nonprofit pro. Average business professionals send/receive 121 emails per day, but us do-gooders hit that milestone before lunch. If you’re struggling to manage your messages and find yourself using paper, post-its, to-do lists, and other apps, we found an extension for Gmail that can help.

Sortd is an integration that allows you to drag and drop email into lists that you design and label. You can also create new tasks to add to the lists without an email attached. This helps consolidate to-do lists and emails into one place. To give you a better picture, here’s a snapshot of my own inbox using Sortd. 

Sortd email inbox

Rather than jotting myself a note that will end up shuffled between other papers or thrown away by mistake, I simply drag important messages over to the category where they belong. It’s also easy to drag and reorganize when new tasks come up. We use the team upgrade ($8/user/month) so that our team can assign messages to each other without having to forward, bcc, or add to the inbox woes of our colleagues. Each of us can see the team board and the items that are assigned to us while also having our own private boards. Adding notes, links, and due dates helps us streamline the passing of messages and the prioritizing of our own tasks. 

Here’s a few things we love about Sortd:

  • It’s simple. A few minutes to load the integration, select your labels, and you’re sorting. Plus, switching back to the regular Gmail inbox view only takes the push of a button.
  • It’s sleek. The design is not hard to get used to, and I find the starkness motivates you to work toward clearing more white space on your lists. 
  • It makes accountability easy. Having emails visibly categorized by topic and/or priority prevents them from getting lost in the shuffle. 
  • It allows for tracking. Similar to Hubspot and other more costly solutions, this email provides easy tracking of messages. A simple click of the checkmarks in any message tells you how many times an email has been opened or viewed. 
  • It’s ideal for today’s work-from-home world. Remote teams will delight in the ability to assign messages to the right person with details and due dates.

Tip for Success: 

While “Inbox Zero” might be a fantasy, it is possible to clear your follow-up lists daily, and we suggest you do. A limit of this app (and all apps) is that they’re subject to scrolling when you go beyond what’s visible on your screen. If your list gets too long, your efficiency will get .

The Consensus: 

Sortd is great for organizing and streamlining your inbox and your workday. Our team at Nonprofit Hub/Do More Good seems like we’re the ideal user type for Sortd: remote, growing, entrenched in communications, and wearing many hats. If your team relates to any of these characteristics, we think you’ll enjoy this new efficiency tool as much as we do.

The Deal for Do-Gooders:

Sortd has agreed to help you do more good with a discount of 30% off your first year! Simply use promo code DOMOREGOOD at checkout. 

Nonprofit Hub’s endorsement of Sortd and all Good Finds is completely independent. No sponsorship or financial incentive was provided for this post. We work hard to find the best products, resources and deals to help nonprofit pros! What tools have you found to do more good? Share your best finds here and we’ll give you a shout-out if they’re selected to be featured.

 

Email tools for nonprofits

Katie Appold

Katie’s nonprofit career includes a variety of leadership roles for human service, foundation, and publishing-related nonprofits as well as many volunteer roles. Under Katie’s leadership, nonprofit organizations have developed new programs related to free healthcare, affordable and accessible housing and literacy programs for K-12 students. In her first Executive Director role, Katie increased the annual revenue of the organization she led by 300% and received the top grant prize in the nation for affordable housing through the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis. Today, she leads Nonprofit Hub and Cause Camp, which collectively serve more than 50,000 nonprofits throughout North America. Her educational background includes an undergraduate degree in business administration and a masters degree in nonprofit leadership. Katie serves as the board president of Gracious Grounds, a housing organization serving individuals with disabilities. She is an active member of the Grand Rapids Young Nonprofit Professionals, the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, Cause Network, and the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

May 13, 2021

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