Throughout the past year (and 310 posts!), I’ve highlighted tons of cool tools small staff associations can use, whether they’re social media-related or not. I thought today, I would compile those posts into one handy guide for future reference. Most of these tools are free (or very inexpensive), and many can help increase your productivity, become more active in the social Web or revamp the way your office runs.

1. Simplify your phone communications with Google Voice: Google has tons of free tools that are great for productivity. Google Voice allows you redirect as many numbers as you want to a single voicemail inbox, so all your calls can be directed to one phone number. Great for organizations with just one full-time staff member.

2. Applications to boost your productivity: I covered Google Reader, Tweetdeck, Evernote and Typinator. Of course, there are tons of RSS readers out there, and dozens of applications to manage Twitter (I’ve also used HootSuite and CoTweet).

3. All about podcasts: I shared a few different podcasts relevant to association professionals, and discussed using podcasts to communicate with your members. Subscribing is easy — anyone can do it straight from iTunes. And I recommended Audacity for editing your audio content.

4. Two options to improve your organization’s communications: TextMarks makes it easy for organizations to set up text messaging campaigns that members can subscribe to. This is a paid service, but it’s fairly inexpensive and has tons of benefits. And Phonebooth has both free and paid services that include a local number with up to five extensions, call forwarding and voicemail with transcription.

5. Create your own check-in application for conferences: With the popularity of location-based applications increasing, many associations may be wondering how they can participate in the trend. DoubleDutch allows organizations to create their own applications for events, distinguishing between different booths on the trade show floor and session rooms.

6. Have you heard about YouTube’s Nonprofit Program?: YouTube provides nonprofits with premium branding capabilities and allows them to raise funds with a Google “donate” program. Additionally, nonprofits will be listed on the Nonprofit channel’s page and have the option to add a “Call to Action” overlay on videos to drive campaigns.

7. Cloud computing now even more collaborative with Google’s changes: Google recently rolled out a slew of changes to its Docs, making them even more user-friendly and easy to use. With awesome chat features built in, collaboration is a snap for organizations — especially if you travel a lot.

8. PostRank: Social media stats and Google Analytics combined: PostRank combines stats from Google Analytics, your blog, Twitter and Facebook to give you a comprehensive “engagement score.” You don’t have to include every element, but the more you have, the more accurate your engagement score will be. Additionally, PostRank offers real-time social media monitoring so you’ll always be on top of your mentions and comments.

9. Looking for a tool to easily manage your organization’s social media presences?: Postling lets small businesses (or associations!) manage all of their social media outposts in one handy dashboard. Additionally, Postling can monitor mentions of your organization across the Web. You can allow multiple users or administrators access to your dashboard, and select which accounts they have access to.

I hope some of these tools benefit your organization, whether through increased productivity or better social media engagement!

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Confession: I’m a consistent lurker of Association Chat, the chat that takes place on Twitter each week at 2 p.m. ET. Something often catches my eye so I go back later and check out the transcript.

This week was no different. The first half of this week’s chat focused on podcasts, specifically, whether they garner enough attention to continue producing.

Jeff De Cagna, the moderator of #assnchat, hosts podcasts that include discussions with thought leaders and pertain to innovation and associations. To gauge interest, he asked #assnchat participants how they felt about podcasts in general.

The responses were pretty varied.

Some people prefer to receive information visually and like to read. Others like podcasts, but often don’t have the time to listen to them. And some were avid podcast listeners.

I think, in many cases, podcasts can be extremely useful.

I recently moved within 3 miles of the office, so needless to say, my commute isn’t too long. But for awhile, I was driving 25 miles one-way to work five days a week. And in Atlanta traffic, that meant I spent at least 10 hours each week in my car.

Podcasts saved my sanity. I listened to all kinds – NPR, This American Life, sports-focused ones, marketing-centric ones, media-centered ones. For some reason, I found them easier to digest than audiobooks.

I did a little digging and found a few podcasts association and nonprofit professionals might be interested in.

Idealist.org produces podcasts about people making connections in their communities, along with interviews with nonprofit professionals.

Of course, Jeff De Cagna’s podcasts are geared specifically toward association professionals. He’s featured Charlene Li, Clay Shirky and Dan Pink, among numerous other thought leaders.

And Jeff Cobb’s podcasts aren’t specifically aimed at association professionals, but I think they’re valuable regardless. The author of the Mission to Learn blog, Jeff talked to thought leaders and authors about all kinds of topics that any professional can benefit from.

Perhaps your commute isn’t as long as mine was. Consider listening to them while you cook dinner or work. What about while you get ready in the mornings? Maybe they’re not your style. That’s OK. Podcasts can benefit lots of people; some prefer the more conversational style over blog posts.

If there were interest among your association’s members, would you ever consider producing your own podcast? The APTA’s podcast showed up in the iTunes store when I searched for “association” and narrowed it down to podcasts. They’re not very long in length; the ones I saw were all less than 20 minutes, and most were around 10 or 12. Just another way to share news and information with your members!

Of course, I’m not suggesting podcasts be your only source of communication. I think Shelly Alcorn said it best during #assnchat: “Capitalizing on learning styles could mean podcasting needs to be integrated with other pieces to be truly successful.”

Check out Audacity, a free tool that helps you edit audio files, if you’re interested in producing a podcast.

Do you listen to podcasts? Which ones?