Transform your non-profit with 4 steps towards technology

It can be uncomfortable to think of a charity in business terms, can seem too trivial or inappropriate for the sector. In our work with charitable organisations however, we’ve seen huge benefit and indeed relief in applying sound business concepts and technology to the nonprofit sector. By rethinking the following areas, the impact of a not for profit organisation can be radically transformed for the better.

1. Know who you are reaching out to and how to maintain a relationship.
An organically created, high quality contact database is gold dust for fundraising and promotion of a charitable cause. We have seen people pour their hearts into building relationships and gathering contacts, only to waste this hard work through poorly maintained databases and marketing mechanisms. A user-friendly and feature-rich contact base is liberating and allows ease and flexibility for internal communication as well as marketing activity. No contacts are lost, details can be updated and intelligently grouped, data can be stored on the cloud, linked directly with social networks and analysed with ease.

2. Make sure humans are a resource, rather than a strain.
Volunteers are free in theory, but anyone who has worked in a charity knows that good ones are hard to find and that making the most of their time is paramount. By putting in place efficient human resource processes within one, centralized system, fundraising capabilities are maximised and significant amounts of time and money can be saved. Transition periods can be seamless, even in high turnover posts, as audit trails are kept and training and handover processes simplified and recorded with ease.

3. Keep track of the small things, leaving room for the big picture.
The paperwork and safeguarding involved in charitable work can be overwhelming, how many people have lost the spark of inspiration that brought them to the sector by being buried under a pile of red tape? By centralizing tasks, document management, reporting and finance (to name just a few possibilities), nonprofit organisations generate time and freedom to focus on their core activity. We have noticed that as well as improving campaign and fundraising success, optimizing workflow processes also generates creativity and innovation because of the lightened load for everyone involved.

4. If you work on a global or national level, your life should be getting easier.
Managing global projects and working with teams remotely requires relationship building from a distance. It also increases the level of information sharing as teams are not working face-to-face in a shared environment. Up-to-date document management and ease of internal and external communication enable the smooth running of non profit campaigns. Cloud computing and online Customer Relationship Management software are leading to higher success rates and amplified benefits as charitable projects are completed on-time and on budget.

The use of cloud storage, social marketing and quality Customer Service Management in the charitable sector is something we are passionate about. The more times we go through the process, the more excited we get about software making a positive difference where it counts the most. Do you work with a not for profit organisation? What are your opinions and experiences of charities using business principles and technology to increase their success?