Teknologi untuk non-profit: Membangun kepercayaan dan meningkatkan dampak

Organisasi non-profit mempekerjakan 12,3 juta orang dan membelanjakan hampir $2 triliun setahun di A.S. — mulai dari miliaran dalam biaya gaji hingga pengeluaran sehari-hari seperti makanan dan sewa. Tetapi inflasi, kenaikan suku bunga, dan ketidakpastian pasar telah mendorong organisasi untuk memanfaatkan sumber daya yang terbatas sebaik-baiknya. Dengan naiknya harga, organisasi non-profit berjuang untuk memenuhi kebutuhan mereka yang mereka layani sambil kehilangan sukarelawan karena harga bensin yang tinggi dan bergegas untuk merekrut dan mempertahankan staf.

Tanpa staf yang cukup untuk memenuhi kebutuhan mereka, beberapa organisasi non-profit kesulitan untuk menepati janji mereka. Jika organisasi non-profit tidak dapat menggunakan donasi dengan baik — atau membuktikan bahwa mereka menggunakan sumber daya mereka secara efektif — mereka akan kehilangan kepercayaan yang membuat mereka tetap beroperasi.

Itu sebabnya organisasi nirlaba perlu memanfaatkan teknologi yang tepat untuk mengisi kesanjangan dan membantu mencapai potensi mereka. Dari platform pengelolaan donasi hingga alat pemrosesan pembayaran online, lembaga nirlaba dapat menggunakan perangkat lunak online tanpa kode untuk memprioritaskan inovasi dan pembangunan komunitas.

Selama beberapa bab berikutnya, kami akan membahas mengapa transformasi digital untuk organisasi non-profit sangat penting untuk mengendalikan biaya, memperdalam keterlibatan, dan membuktikan dampak, ditambah cara membuat strategi digitalisasi yang sukses.

Dibandingkan dengan perusahaan non-profit, salah satu tantangan terbesar yang dihadapi organisasi non-profit adalah kurangnya dana operasional. Menurut Nonprofit Finance Fund, kurang dari 25 persen organisasi non-profit memiliki lebih dari enam bulan uang tunai sebagai cadangan — dan 10 persen memiliki cadangan kurang dari satu bulan. Tanpa pendanaan yang konsisten dan memadai, organisasi non-profit mungkin tidak dapat membayar karyawan secara adil atau mengadakan penggalangan dana, apalagi tetap membuka pintu mereka cukup lama untuk memberi dampak pada komunitas mereka dan memupuk kepercayaan donatur.

The less money you have, the less you can support your workers. The more employees and volunteers you lose (especially in a volatile market), the less work you can accomplish. But with nonprofit technology solutions, organizations can operate more efficiently.

Consolidate systems with no-code solutions

With the right technology, your organization can create processes that unite your departments’ efforts. No-code technology solutions allow nonprofits to build powerful applications and workflows regardless of programming experience, limiting the need for a specialized IT team.

Through built-in third-party integrations, many of these programs consolidate existing processes and disparate programs, boosting collaboration by serving as a single solution everyone can access. Cloud-based programs also prevent nonprofits from relying on servers that are vulnerable to hacks as well as crashes during times of high traffic.

Take, for example, the all-hands-on-deck process of planning a fundraising banquet. On one platform, event organizers can share theme ideas, and marketers can quickly approve designs and creative material for brochures and social media promotions. Online forms can automatically collect RSVPs while staff use the same program to gather and compare quotes from vendors. By digitizing manual processes, nonprofit technology solutions like this help organizations improve communication, productivity, and creativity.

Automate processes and workflows

Low pay and high demands are causing nonprofit employees to burn out: 45 percent will seek new employment by 2025 (with 23 percent choosing not to stay in the nonprofit sector). Even if an employee stays, it doesn’t mean they’re thriving. Work stress is at an all-time high, increasing worry, sadness, and anger in the workplace.

One way to help workers is by automating work. Process and workflow automation remove menial burdens, freeing up employees to complete tasks that contribute to the organization’s mission. For example, instead of manually inputting donors’ gift amounts into a spreadsheet, employees can confirm their booth details for a local fair, return a phone call from a grant office, or tackle an ever-growing fundraiser to-do list.

Otomatisasi memberdayakan pekerja dengan memberi mereka kontrol lebih besar atas cara mereka menyelesaikan tugas, yang dapat melawan perasaan kurangnya kontrol, penyebab umum yang disebut-sebut dari stres di tempat kerja. Misalnya, sebuah organisasi dapat melancarkan berbagai elemen perencanaan gala, termasuk desain undangan. Setelah karyawan menyesuaikan templat undangan dengan font, warna, dan pesan merek, mereka dapat langsung mengirimkannya ke perencana acara. Proses otomatis juga mengurangi kesalahan — yang memakan waktu untuk diperbaiki dan merugikan perusahaan jutaan per tahun.

In addition, workflow systems speed up employee and volunteer onboarding. In a few clicks, new employees or volunteers can complete paperwork, schedule orientations, and watch training videos — all from their homes. As a result, their first weeks are more organized and productive. The stronger the onboarding experience, the more likely new hires are to stay with an organization and the more satisfied and prepared volunteers will be throughout their service.

Streamlined reporting structures are another benefit of technology for nonprofits. Whether you’re allocating donations to the proper campaigns or approving a fundraising budget, automated notifications and approval routing keep internal operations organized and moving — not stuck in an inbox for days.

Optimize your talent pool

Technology solutions for nonprofits help control costs by allowing employees to do more in less time, expanding the impact of their talents

Besides low pay and demanding work, lack of professional development leads many to leave the nonprofit world. People want fulfillment from work, especially in nonprofits, where professional development and leadership growth can result in more opportunities to serve others. No-code technology with a user-friendly interface gives employees the tools to turn their passion for a cause into results — from opening new community centers to providing scholarship opportunities for local students.For example, drag-and-drop functionality can allow one worker to create and duplicate multiple templates for grant applications. A customizable employee dashboard allows everyone on a grant-writing team to view progress and manage multiple applications.

Beberapa lembaga nonprofit dapat memaksimalkan waktu karyawan dan mengurangi biaya overhead dengan menyediakan opsi kerja jarak jauh, yang diharapkan banyak karyawan saat ini. Tergantung pada pekerjaannya, Anda bahkan dapat memberikan peluang jarak jauh kepada sukarelawan.

Allowing your employees to work from anywhere bodes well for employee satisfaction and retention. With online tools and internal mobile apps, volunteers and employees can make a difference without going to an office each day. This is especially beneficial for nonprofits that operate in multiple sites throughout a county or state.

Donors provide much of the funding that determines your nonprofits’ longevity and reach. As a result, you need to maintain donor relationships through communication and trust.

While nearly 60 percent of American adults trust nonprofits, don’t take their confidence for granted. These organizations must continuously earn trust and deepen engagement by improving transparency. The more donors perceive nonprofits as behaving ethically, the more likely they are to trust and continue to give to an organization. Nonprofits can use technology to help maintain the transparency that cultivates trust — among both donors and the general public.

Donor Surveys

Online surveys are one of the easiest ways to foster greater engagement with existing and prospective donors. From feedback requests to event evaluations, surveys help you learn more about your donors and identify potential new ones. You can then tailor relevant appeals that speak to their concerns. Most importantly, you can remind your donors that their opinions matter enough to directly affect how you run your nonprofit.

Formulir Online

Digitizing forms instantly streamlines volunteer recruitment and donation processing. With the right programs to create and share online forms, nonprofits can save time, money, and storage space. Online forms enable electronic donations as well (through online payment processing systems), which makes giving more convenient. An online form builder that creates mobile-friendly forms is critical to serving donors, as more than 300 million people in the U.S. have a smartphone.

Automated and customized donor acknowledgments

Though sending a heartfelt, personalized thank-you email or letter to each donor is ideal, it’s not realistic as your organization grows. The next best option is to use technology to customize donor acknowledgments.

Various nonprofit technology solutions streamline communications by prepopulating donor acknowledgment letters or emails with information from donation forms and even ensuring discounted postal rates based on delivery zones. Some programs enable users to create acknowledgment videos, a truly personal way to engage donors and thank them for their support.

Dynamic e-newsletters

A popular communication method for nonprofits, e-newsletters are invaluable to donors. They’re a great way to encourage passion for your cause and strengthen relationships with your audience — raising the likelihood of steady donations.

An e-newsletter program helps nonprofits build and schedule content and maintain several email lists to better target current and prospective donors. Users can easily include powerful, bold imagery and videos to share stories about completed projects, campaign statistics, or beneficiaries of a recent donation drive. With online templates, even those who don’t have design experience can create eye-catching callout boxes to make year-to-date stats stand out instead of highlighting them in a bulleted list.

Custom donor portals, apps, and experiences

Many nonprofit technology solutions offer tools to create donor apps and portals. These donor management systems give donors access to valuable information, discussion boards, and more.

Through these apps and portals, you can connect with your donors by sharing your performance over time, overviews of your organization’s financial status, and lists of ongoing projects and upcoming events. If you group your donors by tiers, online portals allow you to give exclusive information to specific groups, enabling you to deepen your relationship with them by detailing how major donations helped people or contributed to specific projects.

Customized donor portals can also include information about upcoming events and volunteer opportunities, downloadable fiscal statements, progress on organizational goals, and news on recent achievements. Consider creating portals for volunteers to track the hours they’ve given to your cause or measure the monetary value of their work.

Safe donor data collection

Digital data collection allows nonprofits to update donor databases and personalize donor interactions. Beyond basic information like names and addresses, you should also gather data on donors’ giving habits and other interactions with your organization. The more you know about donors, the better your relationship with them will be.

Teknologi Anda harus membantu mengukur dan menganalisis data di semua departemen untuk membuat keputusan yang lebih dapat ditindaklanjuti yang lebih baik melayani tujuan Anda. Kemampuan untuk melihat data kualitatif dan kuantitatif dari keuangan, pemasaran, dan koordinasi acara menunjukkan kepada Anda inisiatif mana yang berjalan dengan baik dan program mana yang membutuhkan dorongan dari kampanye. Anda kemudian dapat menempatkan data ini dalam format yang membantu meningkatkan atau mempertahankan dukungan donatur.

But if you don’t collect data safely, this could damage donors’ trust in your organization. Plus, they may hesitate to contribute to a cause, even one they believe in, if it means making themselves vulnerable to data breaches.

By implementing technology that incorporates best security practices into your everyday operations, you can reassure donors their data is encrypted and secure.

Such technology facilitates security elements like requiring strong passwords and multifactor authentication from all users of your apps and cloud system. They also ensure your software and devices are frequently updated. In addition, you should install a firewall to protect your internet connection and a spam and virus filter for your email system.

Website design that contributes to transparency

Meskipun beberapa program membuat pembangunan situs web menjadi mudah, bahkan bagi mereka yang tidak paham teknologi, organisasi nirlaba sebaiknya memilih program yang membuat pemeliharaan rutin dan penyegaran visual menjadi sederhana dan informasi penting menjadi transparan.

With a user-friendly website builder, you can add financial documents directly to your site or post them as downloadable files.

Dari pengalaman merek yang lebih personal hingga perlindungan data, pelanggan mengharapkan lebih banyak dari organisasi. Hal ini tidak berbeda di sektor non-profit.

Similar to paying consumers, donors want to support nonprofits that are fulfilling their missions. They appreciate details on completed projects, new programs, and the ways donations are spent for either overhead or fundraising. They also want messaging about progress that is clear, straightforward, and honest.

Technology like social media, dashboards, and real-time impact reporting can help nonprofits share their impact quickly.

Measure and share efficacy

Demonstrating impact can attract more community attention, donors, and volunteers, increasing an organization’s sustainability. Technology for nonprofits can provide donors with real-time information about project progress, goal-meeting, and general updates. These tools help nonprofits quantify their work and its results — and then make the information accessible through shareable spreadsheets and reports.

Consolidate data

Beyond measuring information about projects and milestones, nonprofits need to find ways to share that information. Thankfully, cloud-based nonprofit technology solutions centralize data storage and break down the silos often found in nonprofits.

If data and processes are poorly managed across departments, they’re probably not well organized or accessible to donors, either, which can affect trust and jeopardize funding. A system that helps nonprofits create beautiful reports strengthens branding and proves impact to donors as well as boards of directors and grant offices.

Prioritize brand consistency

A consistent, recognizable brand is key to demonstrating impact as it creates awareness among donors, volunteers, and the general public. Elevated, professional branding helps nonprofits show their best selves, aligning their values to a polished visual look that improves public image and the donor experience.

With customizable, shareable templates, employees can ensure that online forms, donor surveys, and dashboards all have the same logo, colors, fonts, voice, tone, and style. These tools also encourage team collaboration and make tasks less complicated for employees. Even those who aren’t artistically inclined can work together to produce visually coordinated messages across social media platforms, websites, PDFs, reports, and more.

Protect donor data and privacy

To help protect donors from potential data breaches, the Nonprofit Technology Network recommends conducting a self audit of what data you collect, where it’s stored, and who’s responsible for it. Do you need all of it, or can you mitigate risk even further by getting rid of some of it?

Implement antivirus technology across the organization to protect team members. Anti-malware solutions block suspicious downloads and scan systems for potential cyber breaches, while data privacy software helps you manage and store data. Better yet, choose one solution with built-in antivirus tools.

Meet and maintain compliance standards

Perlindungan data donor berjalan seiring dengan memastikan kepatuhan terhadap peraturan industri dan lokal. Sistem terpadu memudahkan untuk mematuhi undang-undang ini sekaligus memastikan informasi donor aman. Tetap mematuhi peraturan lokal juga merupakan kunci untuk mempertahankan status bebas pajak dan lisensi serta sertifikasi lainnya.

Nonprofit technology solutions help you comply with local, state, and federal regulations by tracking all forms of funding, including grants and donations. Through special accounting features, these types of solutions help you manage your budgeting and financial reports, track donations, generate Form 990s, and even minimize redundant data entry — all in one platform.

Digital transformation in the nonprofit sector doesn’t have to be overwhelming. You can start by digitizing your existing processes for a smoother transition.

Here’s how you can apply everything you just learned into a realistic game plan.

Conduct a tech audit

You first need to know what to improve, which is why conducting a tech audit is the first step to a powerful, effective digital strategy. Auditing your current tools allows you to see if they’re expensive, complex, or just not yielding the results you need.

A proper nonprofit tech assessment requires you to consider all parts of your organization — including staff skills, donor communication, and budget — and analyze how they work (or don’t) with your current tech setup. Create a list of the ways you currently use tech (online volunteer registration forms, automated donor acknowledgement letters, online payment processing options, etc.). Then ask yourself a few questions:

Though they can be cumbersome, tech assessments shed light on missing or underused processes. They are one of the only ways you’ll better understand where you can (and should) spend your time, money, and effort.

Survey your staff

Just as it’s essential for nonprofits to survey donors to learn more about them, it’s vital to check in with employees. Ask them how they spend their time, which processes have troublesome bottlenecks, and which tasks drain too much of their energy. Employee feedback surveys are great morale boosters as well because they remind both new and established staff that their opinions and concerns matter.

Once you combine the results of your tech audit and employee surveys, you can better understand the features to look for in a tech solution.

Find a tech partner

The most critical step on your digital strategy to-do list is finding a secure tech vendor, preferably one that values innovation and has a solution that can scale alongside your nonprofit. Before you sign a contract, put potential solutions to the test with thorough research — take advantage of demos, free trials, and industry discounts, and look at client testimonials and case studies.

When shopping around, be on the lookout for extraneous platform costs, such as setup, storage, and user fees. The goal is to cut expenses with tech, not incur more. Once you find a provider you like, request a service level agreement (SLA) that outlines everything you discussed with them — from guaranteed uptime to customer service response times.

Start slow and scale

Introducing new nonprofit technology solutions and optimizing the ones you have takes time and patience. It’s about the long game, which is why you shouldn’t overwhelm your team with too much change at once. Instead, begin with one department or workflow and gradually adopt the new or optimized technology across the organization.

No matter how broad or narrow your nonprofit’s focus, now is the time to embrace technology. Digitization will bring you up to speed with other nonprofits and for-profits, making partnerships more fruitful. Technology gives you the flexibility to handle unexpected emergencies in your community and stay nimble during nationwide uncertainty or sweeping change. Powered by technology, your nonprofit will become more resilient, increasing your standing and imbuing pride in your workforce and volunteers.

With the right technology solutions for nonprofits, you can better fulfill your mission to help others and make the world a little better.