4 ways technology can help not-for-profits
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20/08/2018
Technology is revolutionizing the ways companies operate across all sectors. However, only 11 per cent of not-for-profits believe their own approach to digital technology is highly effective, according to a study by NetChange. With years of experience working with not-for-profit companies, KLC knows how much value technology can add to the day-to-day running of your organisation.
These four tips will show you how to begin to harness the massive potential of digital technology in the not-for-profit sector.
Technology is a great way to stay in touch with your supporters.
1. Campaigning
This is perhaps the most immediately obvious use of technology for not-for-profits. In a world that’s becoming increasingly connected, the use of technology to capture people power is a no-brainer.
Whilst there is still a place for the personalised touch that a street campaign can bring, gone are the days when mailed leaflets were the most effective way of reaching potential supporters en masse. Not-for-profits that wish to communicate their messages to wider audiences need a clearly presented and easily navigable website, and active social media platforms.
By using both of these together you allow your supporters to see your work is ongoing, and up-to-date with global trends, as well as giving them the opportunity to comment and interact with your posts.
2. Supporter relations
To create effective campaigning strategies, you must first understand your supporter base. Knowing your target demographic, their relationship to the issue you focus on, and the ways in which they interact with your campaigns, is key to nurturing and retaining their support.
Customer relation managmement (CRM) software allows you to put everything you know about your supporters into one easily accessible place, and create donor profiles. This can help you to develop more efficient strategies for your campaigns by considering, for example, when people are most receptive to communications and fund-raising appeals.
You can also use these data-driven models to retrospectively assess your campaigns to learn which elements were successful, and what can be improved upon next time.
CRMS can be used to organise your campaigns, and target supporter demographics.
3. Donations
As well as allowing not-for-profits to better understand and communicate with supporters, technology has greatly impacted the ways in which people donate money.
It’s critical to ensure that making a donation is as simple as possible for your supporters. Lengthy processes in which potential donors are required to give up lots of personal information, as well as their time, can be off-putting and actually prevent people who want to support you from doing so.
Advances to online donating software mean that it’s now easy to create one-off donation pages for individual campaigns. These packages often don’t require donors to create an account, and can give simple price breakdowns which allow them to choose exactly where their money will go.
With all of this put directly into the palm of your supporter’s hands, there is no excuse not to bring your donations process into the 21st century.
Online donations make the process quick and easy.
4. Storage
From volunteer hours sheets to campaign strategies, running a not-for-profit usually involves a lot of paperwork. As well as reducing efficiency, paper costs can add up – and this isn’t where you want to be directing money from donations.
Cloud-based storage systems are secure and sustainable places to keep your not-for-profit’s important information. A simple search can bring up the relevant data, and cloud-stored information can be updated and amended as you go.
Time is always of the essence when running a not-for-profit organisation, and by maximising the digital potential in your company you free yourself and your staff up to concentrate on what matters. KLC can help you find the right candidates to make your not-for-profit fully digital-friendly, for more information get in touch with the KLC team today.
