Nonprofit Technology Committee: A Strategy for Long-Term Efficiency & Effectiveness

Who holds the big picture of your nonprofits’ technology environment? Are there different people in charge of your CRM, CMS, volunteer, financial, and ticketing systems? Do they meet regularly to talk about the different technologies they administrate? There comes a point in the life of many growing nonprofits where the short-term strategies of disparate technology administrators have led to manual processes, double entry, multiple technologies with duplicate data, and all sorts of other challenges. This is where it’s critical to consider a Technology Committee.

Connected Tasks Save Time

We see it all the time. Development is in charge of one system, Marketing is in charge of others, and the Volunteer Manager is in charge of yet another system. They work together to get the data they need by exporting, importing, and doing each of their daily tasks. Yet, those tasks are disconnected from each other. When you haven’t been able to build your “tech stack” around a strategy for how it’s all going to work together, staff spend a lot more time on manual processes that could be avoided.

For a long-term strategy that will help you save time, take a look at all the technologies you are using. Get your administrators in one room and ask them how they are using their technology. What does it help them do and how? Look for overlaps in tasks and their overall goals. You might be able to eliminate an entire piece of technology just from this discussion. If one technology can reach multiple goals and do multiple tasks, why would you use two?

Evaluating Processes & Skill Sets Regularly Ensures the Right Tools

As you talk to your administrators, find out what their skill sets are. What systems do they tend to avoid because they don’t know how to use it? If your staff doesn’t have the ability to work with the technology that supports their job, then you need something different.

It’s important to evaluate processes as well. What processes overlap between the different parts of your organization? You may find volunteers and donors registering for events in multiple places. Then your staff spends additional time collating information into one place for grant purposes, followed by another process to see donation information by volunteers. There are tools that allow information to be entered once and displayed in multiple ways, but without talking to your group of administrators about their processes, you won’t know that.

Now, ask this group (or representatives they appoint) to become your nonprofit technology committee that meets regularly to evaluate technology moving forward. Having a committee who can pinpoint the right tools for your staff and processes allows everyone to use the technology to its full potential. No more paying for technology that gathers dust.

Staying Up To Date Is More Effective

You may have noticed there are new technology companies out there offering something you haven’t heard of before. Just because it’s new, doesn’t mean it’s the best thing. However, staying up to date on the latest technology can be helpful in determining what features are available that you might need in the future.

Once these regular committee meetings are happening in your organization, you’ll know what’s happening in your CRM, Ticketing System, CMS, and others. The nonprofit technology committee will easily see where technology isn’t meeting organizational goals. This allows them to recommend improvements to be made with new features or integrations. When the organization has outgrown a system, now someone will likely have a suggestion for what will fill the gap and pull things together better in the long-term. Now, you’re not just adding technology because something isn’t working, certain tasks don’t seem possible, or a few staff members left and no one knows what to do. You’re adding in technology strategically to benefit your long-term goals.

Long-Term Strategies Are Crucial

When you have a dedicated nonprofit technology committee who looks at tasks, processes, skill sets, and keeps up with what’s available, you’ll be able to have a long-term strategy. Gone will be the days of the large tech stack with barely used systems. You’ll have what your organization needs and be able to continue to grow strategically. Don’t have the capacity for staff to evaluate and manage your nonprofit technology long-term strategies? We can help. Send to your support email or contact us for a free 30 minute strategy call.