Using Technology to Drive Mission Impact

Before Christine and I started Nonprofit Sector Strategies, I had previously founded a software company that I owned and ran for 31 years. My partner Ernie Bruno and I developed and marketed a product called Lawtrac for in-house law departments. We built a successful company and it was a wonderful experience.

While our products and services evolved over the years, two things remained constant: 1) We focused on making our customers happy and, 2) We insisted on creating a workplace that our employees enjoyed – either in person or virtually. in fact we were early adopters of “work from home”, which enabled us to retain our best employees regardless of where they lived or if they were raising young children.

You might be asking yourself, “How does technology apply to the principles of customer and employee satisfaction?” Simply stated, effective (and I do not use that word lightly) use of technology is integral to delighting your customer and making for a workplace that is satisfying for your staff (i.e. a happy employee is a productive employee).

I also submit that every organization – nonprofit or for-profit has customers. At Lawtrac, it was law department users; in the nonprofit world, it is those constituents who help fund your organization – whether it be corporations, individuals, groups or government agencies, and those who benefit from the the good work performed by your organization.

So with that as a backdrop, let’s sum it up as to how technology can drive your development strategy and mission impact:

Using technology to delight your constituents

* Make sure your organization has a customer relationship management (CRM) system in place. When a constituent contacts your organization, they should be acknowledged, and their history with your organization should be available to any of your staff that may interact with that constituent.
* Effective use of CRM technology enables your organization to categorize your constituents in various ways.
Campaigns can then be targeted to focus on their interests, preferences for giving, geographic area.
* An effective CRM reduces reliance on paper. Your staff can then spend more time focused on mission fulfillment

Using technology to make for a satisfying workplace

* Equip your staff with technology to help them communicate efficiently with constituents.
Tools such as Constant Contact or Mailchimp enables your staff to stay in touch with your constituents with a minimal amount of manual activity.
* Make it easier for you and your staff to prepare for board meetings
Reporting tools such as Power BI make it easy for your staff to produce compelling status reports for the board.
* Document Management software will improve collaboration amongst your team.
Tools such as Google Docs will help your staff find and share documents.

In summary, effective use of technology will help promote a sustainable pattern of positive communication with your organization’s constituents and help ensure that your staff enjoys being part of your mission. If you would like to learn more as to how we can assist your organization in filling in any gaps in your current technology utilization, please click here: https://www.nonprofitsectorstrategies.com/services/technical-support/