Top 12 Non-Profit Skills to Put on Your Resume

In the fast-moving, impact-first world of non-profits, the skills you highlight can tilt the decision in your favor. The right mix shows commitment to mission and a steady hand with the tools, relationships, and decisions that keep programs alive. Below are 12 core skills that help you thrive—and help your work land where it matters.

Non-Profit Skills

1. Fundraising
2. Grant Writing
3. Salesforce
4. QuickBooks
5. Volunteer Management
6. Social Media (e.g., Facebook, X/Twitter)
7. Google Analytics
8. Mailchimp
9. Canva
10. Microsoft Office
11. Project Management (e.g., Asana, Trello)
12. Conflict Resolution

1. Fundraising

Fundraising keeps the mission moving. It’s the work of earning trust and securing financial support from individuals, companies, and foundations so programs can run, expand, and endure.

Why It's Important

Without steady revenue, even the best ideas stall. Fundraising fuels services, grows reach, and proves impact to the community and the board alike.

How to Improve Fundraising Skills

Sharper fundraising blends relationships, clarity, and iteration. Try this:

1. Deepen donor relationships: Segment supporters, tailor messages, and build a stewardship calendar. Thank quickly. Report impact often.

2. Broaden revenue: Balance major gifts, monthly giving, grants, corporate matches, events, and digital campaigns.

3. Tell resonant stories: Pair data with lived experience. Show outcomes, not just outputs.

4. Simplify giving: Mobile-friendly forms, clear amounts, matching gift prompts, and recurring options.

5. Test and learn: A/B test subject lines, CTAs, images, and page layouts. Keep what performs.

6. Protect trust: Be transparent about costs and results. Close the loop after every gift.

Small, consistent improvements compound. Fundraising becomes steadier, less seasonal, and more predictable.

How to Display Fundraising Skills on Your Resume

2. Grant Writing

Grant writing means locating aligned funders and crafting proposals that present the need, the plan, the budget, and the expected results—crisply and convincingly.

Why It's Important

Grants can launch pilots, stabilize programs, and scale what works. Strong proposals turn strategy into funding windows you can walk through.

How to Improve Grant Writing Skills

1. Match mission to funder: Research priorities, eligibility, and past awards. Candid, Grants.gov, and local funder networks help you target well.

2. Write plainly: Clear language beats jargon. Define outcomes, timelines, and who does what.

3. Use evidence: Pair community needs with data. Show baseline, measures, and how you’ll track change.

4. Build a tight budget: Align line items with activities. Include reasonable admin costs. Check numbers twice.

5. Follow every instruction: Formatting, page limits, attachments, signatures—no misses.

6. Peer review: Fresh eyes catch gaps. Ask for notes on clarity and persuasiveness.

7. Keep a library: Save boilerplate, bios, logic models, and templates to reduce turnaround time.

Quality and fit beat volume. Fewer, stronger submissions save time and win more.

How to Display Grant Writing Skills on Your Resume

3. Salesforce

Salesforce is a cloud CRM that centralizes donors, volunteers, partners, programs, and outcomes. Many nonprofits use the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) or the newer Nonprofit Cloud to tailor data and workflows to their needs.

Why It's Important

One source of truth. Cleaner data. Fewer spreadsheets. Better stewardship and reporting. The result: stronger relationships and smarter decisions.

How to Improve Salesforce Skills

1. Adopt the right model: Configure NPSP or Nonprofit Cloud to match your fundraising and program structures.

2. Design for users: Custom fields, page layouts, and validation rules that mirror real processes, not wishful ones.

3. Automate the routine: Use Flow for acknowledgments, task creation, reminders, and data quality checks.

4. Integrate: Connect email, donation platforms, forms, and events to cut manual entry and reduce errors.

5. Report what matters: Dashboards for pipeline, retention, LYBUNT/SYBUNT, program outputs, and service reach.

6. Train and govern: Create a data dictionary, ownership rules, and ongoing training so good habits stick.

Implement gradually. Measure adoption, not just configuration.

How to Display Salesforce Skills on Your Resume

4. QuickBooks

QuickBooks tracks income, expenses, and budgets. For nonprofits, it supports fund accounting, program tracking, and clean, board-ready reports.

Why It's Important

Transparency and compliance aren’t optional. QuickBooks helps you reconcile on time, track restrictions correctly, and answer audit questions without scrambling.

How to Improve QuickBooks Skills

1. Configure for nonprofits: Use classes/tags for programs and funds. Map the chart of accounts to your statements of activities and financial position.

2. Tidy data monthly: Bank feeds, reconciliations, and closing checklists keep numbers trustworthy.

3. Automate smartly: Rules for recurring entries, donor deposits, and allocations reduce manual work.

4. Track grants and projects: Use projects or classes to monitor spend against budget and grant periods.

5. Standardize documentation: Memos, attachments, and consistent naming make audits painless.

6. Report clearly: Build custom reports for board packets—budget vs. actuals, program P&L, and restricted net assets.

Right setup beats fancy features. Keep it simple, accurate, and repeatable.

How to Display QuickBooks Skills on Your Resume

5. Volunteer Management

Volunteer management spans recruiting, onboarding, training, scheduling, recognition, and retention. It’s part HR, part coaching, part community-building.

Why It's Important

Volunteers expand capacity and strengthen community ties. Good management protects their time and energy—and yours.

How to Improve Volunteer Management Skills

1. Start with clarity: Write role descriptions with skills, timeframes, and impact. Fuzzy expectations hurt retention.

2. Streamline onboarding: Offer checklists, short trainings, and a buddy system so people can contribute fast.

3. Communicate well: Centralize updates. Share schedules early. Close the loop after events.

4. Recognize often: Public shout-outs, milestones, references, and small thank-yous go a long way.

5. Use lightweight tools: Volunteer platforms, shared calendars, and group chats keep logistics sane.

Listen to feedback. Adjust roles to fit real strengths, not just wish lists.

How to Display Volunteer Management Skills on Your Resume

6. Social Media (e.g., Facebook, X/Twitter)

Social media platforms—Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok—let nonprofits tell stories, mobilize supporters, and create community in real time.

Why It's Important

Attention is scarce. Social channels stretch your reach, invite action, and keep your mission present in daily scrolling.

How to Improve Social Media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) Skills

1. Know your goal: Awareness, sign-ups, donations, policy wins—pick the target before posting.

2. Know your audience: Build simple personas. Meet them where they already spend time.

3. Tell tight stories: Impact snapshots, short videos, quotes, and before/after moments resonate.

4. Be consistent: A content calendar beats bursts of activity. Post rhythmically.

5. Design for mobile: Vertical video, readable captions, strong alt text, and subtitles.

6. Engage, don’t broadcast: Reply, amplify partners, ask questions, and celebrate community wins.

7. Measure and adapt: Track reach, saves, CTR, conversions. Double down on formats that perform.

8. Partner smartly: Collaborate with aligned orgs and creators to expand trust and audience.

Strategy first, trends second. Let the mission guide the feed.

How to Display Social Media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) Skills on Your Resume

7. Google Analytics

Google Analytics (GA4) tracks how people find and use your website, from pages viewed to conversions like donations and sign-ups.

Why It's Important

Data sharpens choices. GA4 shows what content works, which channels drive action, and where people fall off.

How to Improve Google Analytics Skills

1. Set clear conversions: Define and track the actions that matter—donations, volunteer forms, event registrations, newsletter joins.

2. Use Tag Manager: Manage events, scroll depth, file downloads, and outbound clicks without constant code changes.

3. Structure events well: Consistent names and parameters make reporting easier and cleaner.

4. Segment: Compare new vs. returning visitors, organic vs. social, donors vs. non-donors.

5. Build dashboards: Create quick views for leadership—traffic, conversions, top pages, top sources.

6. Mind privacy: Use consent banners where required. Limit data collection to what you truly need.

7. Test UTMs: Tag campaigns consistently so channel performance is unquestionable.

Review monthly. Spot trends early. Adjust content and spend with confidence.

How to Display Google Analytics Skills on Your Resume

8. Mailchimp

Mailchimp powers email campaigns, automations, and audience management—vital for updates, appeals, and event invitations.

Why It's Important

Email converts. Strong lists and thoughtful sequences turn interest into action and one-time donors into loyal supporters.

How to Improve Mailchimp Skills

1. Segment smartly: Interests, recency, gift size, geography. Send the right message to the right group.

2. Personalize: Merge tags, dynamic content, and tailored CTAs raise clicks and gifts.

3. Automate: Welcome series, post-gift thanks, lapsed-donor win-backs, and event reminders.

4. Design for mobile: Short copy, scannable sections, strong buttons, accessible color contrast.

5. Test and refine: Subject lines, send times, hero images, and length—keep experimenting.

6. Mind deliverability: Set up SPF/DKIM/DMARC with your domain so messages land in inboxes.

7. Connect your CRM: Sync supporters, track engagement, and keep a clean list.

Great emails feel helpful, human, and timely. Keep them that way.

How to Display Mailchimp Skills on Your Resume

9. Canva

Canva helps small teams design sharp visuals—social graphics, one-pagers, event signage—without a design degree.

Why It's Important

Clean visuals boost attention and trust. When your materials look good, your message lands faster.

How to Improve Canva Skills

1. Build a brand kit: Colors, fonts, logos, and templates keep everything consistent.

2. Template the basics: Appeals, volunteer flyers, impact stats, event posts—save time with reusable designs.

3. Design for accessibility: High contrast, readable fonts, alt text, and simple layouts.

4. Export correctly: Use proper sizes and file types for print, web, and social platforms.

5. Collaborate: Use shared folders, comments, and version control to speed reviews.

6. Explore nonprofit benefits: Many organizations qualify for free or discounted premium features.

Start with clarity, not flair. Good design supports the story; it doesn’t overshadow it.

How to Display Canva Skills on Your Resume

10. Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office (now Microsoft 365) includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and more—the backbone for documents, data, and collaboration.

Why It's Important

Reliable tools mean smoother operations. From grant budgets to board decks, these apps keep teams aligned and accountable.

How to Improve Microsoft Office Skills

1. Use nonprofit plans: Many nonprofits qualify for free or discounted Microsoft 365 licenses.

2. Work in the cloud: SharePoint and OneDrive enable co-authoring, permissions, and version history.

3. Standardize templates: Letterheads, slide decks, and report formats save time and lift polish.

4. Automate: Power Automate can route approvals, archive files, and post reminders.

5. Visualize: Power BI turns raw data into dashboards donors and boards can grasp at a glance.

6. Build accessibility in: Use the Accessibility Checker, add alt text, and choose readable styles.

The payoff: faster workflows, fewer missteps, and cleaner deliverables.

How to Display Microsoft Office Skills on Your Resume

11. Project Management (e.g., Asana, Trello)

Project management tools organize goals, tasks, owners, and timelines. They make priorities visible and progress unmistakable.

Why It's Important

Nonprofits juggle programs, events, grants, and partners—often with lean teams. A good system prevents dropped balls and helps people pull in the same direction.

How to Improve Project Management (e.g., Asana, Trello) Skills

1. Define success first: Write a simple brief—outcomes, scope, deadlines, risks, owners.

2. Break work down: Smaller tasks with due dates and assignees outperform vague to-dos.

3. Choose the right view: Kanban for flow, calendar for cadence, timeline for dependencies.

4. Standardize templates: Repeatable checklists for grants, events, and campaigns cut ramp-up time.

5. Centralize communication: Keep comments, files, and decisions inside the project, not scattered in inboxes.

6. Review and improve: Short retrospectives after milestones sharpen the next round.

Lightweight, consistent process beats heavyweight rules every time.

How to Display Project Management (e.g., Asana, Trello) Skills on Your Resume

12. Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is the practice of addressing tensions—between staff, volunteers, partners, or stakeholders—so work moves forward without lasting harm.

Why It's Important

Unresolved conflict drains time and trust. Healthy resolution protects relationships, preserves energy, and keeps focus on the mission.

How to Improve Conflict Resolution Skills

1. Set norms early: Shared expectations for feedback, meetings, and decision-making prevent blow-ups.

2. Listen fully: Reflect back what you heard. Separate facts from assumptions.

3. Focus on interests: Move past positions to the “why” beneath them. Solutions emerge faster.

4. Use neutral facilitation: When stakes are high, bring in a trained mediator or a neutral leader.

5. Document agreements: Clear next steps, owners, and timelines lock in progress.

6. Practice de-escalation: Slow the pace, lower the temperature, and return to shared goals.

Conflict handled well becomes a strength. Teams learn. Systems improve.

How to Display Conflict Resolution Skills on Your Resume