Nonprofits often run on the passion of their teams—which, unfortunately, can contribute to widespread burnout. In fact, 95% of nonprofit leaders are concerned about the impact burnout has on their missions.
The answer? Great technology! When leveraged strategically, tech can reduce your staff’s workloads, allowing them to focus on the mission-critical tasks they’re most passionate about. This flexibility stretches beyond daily convenience—tech-forward nonprofits have over five additional revenue streams on average, giving your staff more resources to work with.
Essentially, upgrading technology isn’t just an IT decision; it is a critical strategy to protect, retain, and empower your team. Let’s explore the specific advantages nonprofits can access when tactically using tech.
1. Centralizing and Cleaning Data
Without accurate and accessible data, your nonprofit is flying blind. Simply having information stored somewhere isn’t enough; if your staff wastes hours checking email threads, personal spreadsheets, and disconnected software systems just to find a donor’s giving history, you’re leaving fundraising revenue on the table.
That’s where the right CRM comes in handy! By keeping all constituent interactions, notes, and giving history in one centralized place, you save your team immense time and bandwidth. Plus, a modern CRM can automatically clean up this data (e.g., removing duplicates and updating fields) so you can always trust that the information at your fingertips is accurate and ready for strategic moves.
That said, your CRM must be accessible to your entire development team. When anyone can look at a profile and see the last touchpoint, it prevents clunky, duplicative efforts. When choosing your CRM, ensure you invest in enough license holders for all relevant team members—or, better yet, find a CRM that comes with unlimited user seats.
2. Streamlining Communication and Project Management
In a busy nonprofit environment, it’s natural for information to fall through the cracks. But, when it does, it can jeopardize your team’s efficiency. Tech can bridge these gaps and guarantee that your team members are fully informed about what’s expected of them. Here are some communication and project management features to look for:
- Centralized communication hub and dashboard
- Native messaging portal
- Task assignment and time tracking tools
- Shared calendars and scheduling
- Automated task notifications
- Document sharing and collaboration
If possible, look for software that allows staff to customize projects beyond the task template. Keeping contextual conversations tied directly to specific tasks keeps projects organized, creates a clear record of decisions, and helps staff easily see what they need to prioritize each day.
3. Empowering Self-Service for Donors and Volunteers
Your staff members aren’t the only ones who can benefit from improved tech! Your supporters interact with your nonprofit regularly by donating, signing up for shifts, and conducting outreach on your behalf—and you can make it even easier for them to chip in with self-service tools.
Some self-service features you could offer include:
- An online giving portal that allows supporters to manage their recurring donations and update payment information.
- A volunteer portal where volunteers can view and sign up for available shifts, log their hours, and access training materials.
- A customizable peer-to-peer fundraising platform that allows supporters to create and manage their own campaigns.
- An event registration system that allows supporters to RSVP, purchase tickets, and manage their attendance.
Not only does instituting user-friendly self-service platforms free up your staff’s time, but it also allows supporters to have a more active hand in how they interact with your organization. To ensure the platform is accessible, pilot it with a few loyal supporters and create robust training resources.
4. Providing Better Insights with Accessible Reporting
Compiling comprehensive reports can be daunting to even the most seasoned nonprofit pros. But don’t worry—you don’t have to be an expert data manager to make beautiful, informative reports and dashboards!
For instance, tech can help you:
- Create custom reports: Easily tailor reports to specific needs (e.g., donor segmentation, campaign performance, volunteer hours).
- Build integrated dashboards: Pull information from multiple systems (CRM, accounting, email) into a single dashboard for a holistic view.
- Access real-time data: Get the most up-to-date insights, allowing for quicker course correction and decision-making.
- Generate reports automatically: Schedule regular reports to be created and delivered without human intervention.
Before you roll out reporting tech to your team, ensure they know how to read reports. Host a training session to explain how to create reports and dashboards and what they’re used for so everyone can glean valuable insights from them.
Useful Tech Starts With Solid Implementation
As with many other nonprofit practices, implementing tech is as much a people-focused task as it is an IT task. Once you’ve chosen your new software, ensure you adhere to change management standards. According to Heller Consulting, following these best practices takes the stress out of implementation and helps your staff feel more supported during the transition.
By delivering role-based training, collecting feedback, and working collaboratively throughout the process, you ensure that everyone can gain the most value from your new tech stack.
About the Author
Lyndal Cairns is the Director of Marketing for Heller Consulting. She has worked at the intersection of nonprofits and technology for most of her career, building strategic marketing programs and managing data-driven campaigns at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Nonprofit Technology Network, InfluxData, and others. She leads Heller’s marketing efforts and is excited to position Team Heller as the partner of choice for nonprofit and education advancement leaders. When not at her desk, Lyndal is usually on a hiking trail or listening to a podcast about star stuff.
