E-Signature For Nonprofits: How to Simplify Operations with E-Signatures

Quick Summary 

This guide shows how to streamline your nonprofit’s operations with SignWell’s e-signatures so your team can secure approvals faster, cut admin time, and focus on the mission. 

Is Paperwork Slowing Down Your Nonprofit?

From grant applications to donor agreements, volunteer waivers to board approvals, nonprofits run on signed documents. But when those documents rely on printing, scanning, or back-and-forth emails, they slow everything down. 

E-signatures remove this bottleneck by making it easy to send, sign, and track documents in just a few clicks. This results in faster approvals and more time to focus on your mission.

In this SignWell guide, we’ll explore how e-signatures can simplify nonprofit operations at every stage, and why choosing the right tool makes all the difference.

But first…

Why Listen to Us

SignWell has helped over 65,000 organizations, including nonprofits, charities, and foundations, simplify and speed up their most important paperwork. We’ve seen how heavy admin slows down great missions, so we built SignWell to help nonprofits sign faster, save resources, and stay focused on changing lives.

What Is Nonprofit Administration and Where Do eSignatures Fit In?

Nonprofit administration is the day-to-day work that keeps a nonprofit running. It involves managing donors, applying for grants, coordinating volunteers, handling board decisions, and staying compliant with regulations. 

But with so many moving parts, paperwork piles up fast. Important documents often need signatures from people in different cities or countries. Teams spend hours printing, mailing, and following up. And while that’s happening, time-sensitive opportunities can slip away.

That’s where e-signatures come in. You can skip the manual process and get documents signed in minutes, regardless of where key stakeholders are. 

Benefits of Using E-Signatures in a Nonprofit 

• Faster Approvals: Get grant applications, donor agreements, and board documents signed in minutes, not days.
• Reduced Admin Work: Cut down on printing, mailing, and manual follow-ups so your team can focus on the mission.
• Lower Costs: Save on paper, postage, and storage with a digital process that keeps everything in one place.
• Remote Flexibility: Collect signatures from staff, donors, and volunteers, wherever they are in the world.
• Stronger Compliance: Keep a secure audit trail for every document to meet legal and regulatory requirements.

What To Look For in an E-Signature Tool for Nonprofits

Compliance and Security

Choose an e-signature tool that follows U.S. and international e-signature laws, like ESIGN, UETA, and eIDAS. It should also include features like audit trails, document encryption, and secure access controls to ensure every signature is tracked and protected. 

Templates and Workflows

Use an e-signature tool that lets you save and reuse your most common documents as templates. When combined with custom workflows, you can send documents in a specific order, track who’s signed, and get notified when everything’s complete. 

Essential Integrations

The best e-signature tools work with the apps your team already relies on. Look for a platform that integrates with tools like Gmail, Dropbox, Slack, or Google Drive. These connections make it easy to send documents, store signed files, and get updates without changing how you work.

Bulk Sending Capabilities

With the right e-signature tool, you can send the same document to multiple recipients in just a few clicks, each with their own unique signing link. Everyone gets what they need, and you get clear tracking to see who’s signed and who hasn’t. 

Real-Time Tracking

It’s easy to lose track of documents when they’re sent by email or handed off in person. Real-time tracking gives you a clear view of who’s opened the document, who’s signed it, and who still needs to take action.

Meet SignWell: A Tool to Simplify Nonprofit Administration

Nonprofit operations run smoother when paperwork doesn’t slow you down. When approvals rely on manual steps, things can get delayed. SignWell eliminates this delay so you can move faster.

With features like reusable templates, signing workflows, audit trails, and real-time tracking, SignWell makes it easy to manage nonprofit documents from start to finish. If you want to onboard volunteers, secure grant signatures, or finalize board approvals, SignWell helps you do it all in a few clicks.

Why Nonprofit Teams Choose SignWell 

It’s Super Easy for Everyone

Nonprofits often work with a wide range of people, many of whom aren’t tech experts. That’s why ease of use is important. SignWell is designed so anyone can open a link, follow a few simple prompts, and complete a signature in seconds. There’s no complex account to set up.

Legally Binding and Secure

SignWell meets U.S. and international e-signature laws (including ESIGN and eIDAS). Every signed document comes with a full audit trail and includes detailed activity tracking. You’ll always know who signed, when they signed, and where the document stands without digging through email threads.

Custom Workflows for Any Use Case

Every document requires a different signing process. SignWell’s custom workflows let you send these documents in the right order to the right people every time. You can assign roles, set signing order, and automate reminders to keep things moving.

Track Document Status in Real Time

SignWell’s real-time tracking lets you see the status of every document, when it was opened, signed, and completed. Whether you’re coordinating multiple signatures for a board vote or a grant deadline, you can get signatures faster without having to chase people down.

Save Time with Reusable Templates

If your team sends the same forms repeatedly, templates can be a huge time-saver. SignWell lets you turn any document into a reusable template that’s ready to go whenever you need it.

Seamlessly Integrates With Your Tools

SignWell connects with over 5,000 popular apps like Gmail, Dropbox, Slack, and Google Drive. That means it fits right into the tools your team is already using. You can send documents from your inbox, store signed files automatically, or get updates in your project tools without switching tools. 

Simplify Nonprofit Operations With SignWell

Managing a nonprofit means making the most of your time, team, and resources. SignWell’s E-Signatures help ensure this. 

With reusable templates, signing order workflows, audit trails, and real-time tracking, you can send, sign, and manage documents all without the manual process.

Ready to start simplifying your nonprofit’s paperwork? Start with SignWell for free today.