Increase Operational Efficiency
Nonprofits doing more with less has become a watchword; investing in the right technology can make business processes run more smoothly, reduce ongoing costs, improve staff satisfaction, and increase time spent on your organization’s mission. The right investments can also eliminate or reduce the need to hire additional staff as your organization grows, leveraging economies of scale.
Extend Your Organization’s Reach
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram…everyone is telling you that you need to be reaching out to your constituents through social media and managing email campaigns to engage them, but how are you measuring the results of those efforts? What’s the return on the investment in tools and the staff time to manage them? Choosing the right tools and developing the right reporting mechanisms is critical to answering these questions.
Be Adaptable to Change
Building a technology strategy that is both effective and long-lasting begins with establishing “organizational readiness,” or the ability to adapt to the rapid pace of change within the realm of technology. Understanding when it’s time to move on from outdated previous technology solutions can be a tricky conclusion to come to, what with the amount of programs tied up in that solution, processes running through certain tech, and past successes attributed to those systems. Seeking out the right implementation partner is critical in assessing what technology solutions have been put into place previously and where you want new technology to take you. Tech moves fast, so it’s imperative that you remain fleet-footed and adaptable to the turning tides as they come.
Value Feedback
No matter your level of technological literacy, there will invariably come a time where established protocol will bump up against new technologies or ideologies. When this moment arises, keep yourself open to the feedback and constructive criticism within your team and your industry. In other words, always be looking to improve through networking with your team members and associates within your field. We can always learn from one another, and technology moves at such a quick rate that these conversations can serve as invaluable pieces to a larger puzzle.
Raise More Money and/or Recruit Volunteers
Your organization may already have an online donation page or a volunteer application, but how do you engage those supporters in a deeper way that helps turn a $25 donor into a $250 or $2500 donor? How do you provide opportunities for your most passionate volunteers to share their stories with others, thus recruiting more volunteers? Technology can help you understand your constituents better and provide them the tools to engage their networks. So, given the great potential that technology has for your organization, how do you tap into it?