The nonprofit sector comes with its fair share of challenges: limited resources, uncertain funding, regulations, tax reform, et al. Perhaps none of these is more underrated than technology/software concerns (which did crack the top five in this 2018 nonprofit benchmark survey).
Why ‘underrated?’ Simple. Although frugal budgeting is, of course, essential to nonprofit management, modern information technology has the potential to radically transform a nonprofit’s future prospects. The Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network found some telling trends:
IT solutions for nonprofits are brimming with cost-effective, automated tools that streamline the daily workflow and empower lean organizations. And yet, nonprofits continue to underinvest in technology. The Fairfield County Community Foundation calls this “The Nonprofit Technology Paradox.” Among other findings, their report revealed that:
The takeaway of the research is obvious: by and large, nonprofits are “directing maximum funding to their program work rather than investing in their own information technology.” This, in turn, “prevents nonprofits from being as efficient and effective as possible.” It’s a vicious cycle.
Here’s where a determined, resourceful IT director comes in. The chronically under-resourced nonprofit sector makes the work considerably more difficult. If nothing else, nonprofit IT jobs are a master class in “how to do more with less.” One of the most iconic 1980’s TV stars captured the nonprofit IT mindset best when he said:
Unlike MacGyver, success in nonprofit IT takes more than paperclips and pinecones. But it also demands efficiency in all four pillars of the IT Director’s role—technology, implementation, data management, and user troubleshooting.
Here’s how you do it:
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Nonprofit IT Directors have a conundrum to solve. On the one hand, they’re tasked with ensuring proper hardware and software are in place for everything the organization needs (donations, storing documents and records, communication, event management, etc.). On the other hand, they’re often given outdated systems and meager (or nonexistent) budgets to work with—and few supporting team members help shoulder the workload.
This can lead to long hours and the predictable frustrations of technical limitations. Here are a few IT solutions for nonprofits that can help you reach technology goals with sparse resources:
Your nonprofit’s website is cheap to host and can be run on minimal technology. This makes it a cornerstone of any lean IT strategy. Take advantage of all the solutions it can offer without much help. Leverage your website:
A self-contained platform that handles everything under the sun (accounting, storage, member databasing, outreach) may be cost-prohibitive—especially if you factor in regular upgrade cycles. But that doesn’t mean you need to cobble together piecemeal solutions and jury-rig them to talk to each other.
Interoperability and integration between key systems make your life easier. The workload stays manageable when the solutions you choose are built to plug-and-play with other software out of the box. Case in point: Can’t afford a full-scale, top-shelf AMS? HubSpot’s CRM is completely free (forever) and loaded with convenient integrations.
As you pursue cost-effective IT solutions for nonprofits (or vet tech-related vendors), prioritize software that interfaces easily with:
One way to manage a tight technology budget is to skip a few upgrade cycles—especially if it’s on less sensitive assets like word-processing, spreadsheets, or internet access.
Another way is to invest in IT solutions for nonprofits that don’t require regular overhauls to stay current. Subscription-based platforms (especially if they operate on the cloud) can offer you flexibility and save you a ton of money and time that would otherwise go to updates, patches, or newer editions.
Technology implementation can be daunting for a nonprofit without the resources to fully support a robust training plan (or the personnel to execute it). Here are a few tips that smooth out the implementation process without placing a huge drain on resources.
Get buy-in from a leadership sponsor on major technology initiatives. Having one voice at the top will minimize resistance or pushback when the implementation requires changes to the familiar way of doing things. Other non-IT staff can also help the plan run smoothly:
The IT department has to learn new systems just like anyone else (especially if you’re going to be training others). That learning happens more quickly if you’re prepping to teach while you learn. This is a “two birds with one stone” mindset.
You’ll also save time if you (and your trainees) take an act-first, learn-as-you-go approach. Experimenting and keeping learning relevant to current goals will boost retention and understanding.
On that note, always survey staff before doing any training or refreshers—there’s no sense wasting time on areas they’re already comfortable in. A pre-assessment saves time in the long run. Other implementation best practices that flatten the learning curve include:
Implementation is at its most efficient when it takes care of itself. You could try methods of empowering users, like these:
Nonprofits compile a massive amount of data: contact information, member/user lists, fundraising benchmarks, website analytics, grant records, and more. Much of this data is sensitive in nature, and all of it is critical to keeping the organization viable.
You don’t need a large IT department to manage this data cascade effectively—just the right tools and approaches.
Data dashboards, custom reports, and data APIs can go a long way toward helping your users access the data they need, where and when they need it. Rather than devoting too much of your time as a bottlenecked point-person for compiled data, train users to create their reports with accessible solutions.
The more you can cut down on database juggling and inconsistencies or redundancies you don’t have time to track down, the better. REST APIs and data integrations shoulder a lot of that load. Cloud-based software with vendor-managed APIs and databases are even better.
OpenWater’s support team, for example, can hook in all of your APIs for you from right in our office, so that you don’t need a developer on staff to attach our software to Salesforce or iMIS. This moves the burden off your plate.
Sensitive data needs guaranteed security, no matter your budget. Fortunately, there are a lot of simple security measures you can take that are both cost-effective and high-impact. To list a few:
The fewer your resources, the more critical it becomes to streamline, automate, and pre-empt your help desk functions. Tech troubleshooting could create a huge, unplanned resource drain on an underprepared nonprofit.
However, there are strategies you can use to reduce the frequency and intensity of help desk requests. For instance:
There are also ways to get more mileage out of the time you do need to spend troubleshooting for users. You’ll be more productive with your time if you:
Finally, it helps to learn how to talk to non-IT folks about information technology, so that every touchpoint is more efficient.
These principles and tools can help you transform nonprofit IT from a daunting obstacle course into a manageable equation. It doesn’t take bottomless resources to direct IT at a nonprofit, but it does take creativity and pragmatism. If you maximize your impact with every action, you’ll be able to do more with less.