How to Ensure Your Nonprofit’s Tech Is Up to the Task

Of course, every nonprofit wants to be able to answer the call to fulfill its mission no matter the circumstances. This is especially true in dire situations.

In order to make sure that your organization is able to provide services to those in need — even and especially in an emergency — it’s crucial to have technology that will make you successful.

1. Maintain High-Quality Data

As technology has evolved, so too has the way data is stored. Because of this and the ever-changing needs of the nonprofit sector, using manual methods of storing, retrieving, and maintaining information — such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets — can slow your organization down, especially when facing crises.

“Needless to say, this just doesn’t cut it anymore,” Luke Dringoli, senior marketing technology director at Media Cause, explained in a NonProfit PRO post. “For example, if a colleague has already opened an Excel file, then everyone else remains in the ‘read only’ view while they need to add data. This hampers productivity and increases the likelihood of valuable data and touch points in donor relations being forgotten or lost.”

2. Ensure Secure Storage of Data

No nonprofit can do the work it does without the support of its donors. And, increasingly, donors want to know that they can trust an organization with their personal information before they give.

“Data protection and security are a priority for many people when deciding whether or not to donate,” Paul D’Alessandro, J.D., CFRE, vice president at Innovest Portfolio Solutions and founder of High Impact Nonprofit Advisors and D’Alessandro Inc., wrote in a NonProfit PRO post. “Therefore, your organization should take steps to ensure that donor information is protected.”

Aside from protecting your donors’ data, making sure your nonprofit’s data is secure is particularly important if your organization provides human services and collects personal information from the recipients of your services.

3. Use Your Data to Share Impact With Donors

The beauty of technology is that it is a great connector. But in order to play this role, it is imperative that you leverage technology to make the impact of your donors’ dollars as accessible as possible. By ensuring accessibility and increasing retention, your organization can serve more of those who need your services, which helps you achieve your mission.

For instance, one major shift occurring in the nonprofit sector is that younger donors are looking to give their dollars to brands who are giving back to the community, rather than to traditional nonprofit organizations. To offset that, nonprofits need to be able to easily provide impact to donors who may be more difficult to retain.

“To continue fulfilling their mission in this changing environment and effectively reach the next generation of donors, nonprofits will need to digitally transform their organizations and democratize data, putting information into the hands of people who have the power to act on it in real-time,” Christopher Brewer, a nonprofit strategic industry architect at Unit4, wrote in a NonProfit PRO post earlier this year.

Upcoming Webinar on Technologies for Crisis Response

For more information, join NonProfit PRO’s webinar, “Deliver Efficient Crisis Response and Lifesaving Impact With Cutting-Edge Technology,” 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT on Dec. 5. In this webinar sponsored by Bonterra, you will learn how one organization improved data quality, collection, and storage, enabling it to keep up with demands for service even during a crisis.