Non-profit organizations make up one of the largest sectors in the world. They are a vital aspect of the economy and are crucial to the maintenance of the general well-being of communities across the world. The thing about NPOs is that they rely heavily on the support of generous individuals and large-scale foundations. In today’s world, technology is a vital tool for effective communication and efficient operation in any business. Being slow adopters of technology, NPOs risk being unable to reach out to benevolent entities, gather information, and put insights and data into practice. This is why we are here to walk you through easy IT solutions that can help you transform your NPO.
Geofencing
Geofencing is a virtual visual representation of an actual geographic area. It can be dynamically generated, meaning that it is created as a radius surrounding a specific point location. It can also be generated as a predetermined set of boundaries like neighborhood parameters and school zones. Geofencing can also be determined by longitude and latitude. How can this help your NPO? Well, geofencing technology merges recognition of a user’s current location along with the recognition of how near they are to the location of interest (your NPO). It is basically a marketing strategy that delivers ads and pushes notifications to a person’s device, depending on their location.
Accounting Software
Managing and keeping track of donations can be quite challenging for NPOs. In 2017 alone, charitable organizations received more than $410 billion from Americans. With this amount of money flowing in, NPOs are obliged to meet the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s strict guidelines. Fortunately, using specialized accounting software for nonprofit organizations can help streamline bookkeeping procedures and make the process a lot easier. This way, you will rest assured that all the standards, guidelines, and tax obligations are met. You will also ensure that all your financial records are kept safe and organized.
Virtual Assistants and AI
Two of the most widely used AI advancements, virtual assistants and chatbots, are believed to be highly beneficial to the world of non-profit organizations. Smart appliances, especially speakers like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home’s Google Assistant, have become an integral part of many people’s lives. Talking to virtual assistants has become habitual for many people, which is something that NPOs should leverage. The donation process would be a lot quicker and easier. Imagine asking Alexa to transfer $500 to your desired charity without having to lift a finger.
Cloud-Based Services
To keep up with today’s fast-paced world, NPOs are expected to digitize rapidly and efficiently. One of the best ways to do that is by integrating cloud-based technology. Transferring to the cloud can help NPOs respond more quickly to market trends and establish new capabilities much faster. It can also help non-profits bring new innovations to life, even if the organization lacks the needed scope and infrastructure. This is because cloud-based services can facilitate NPOs’ access to third-party and native services. Not to mention that they eliminate the need for inefficient and highly costly storage and communication solutions, as well as equipment updates, replacement, and maintenance. Cloud-based services are highly scalable and adaptive. You can easily drop and add capacity to adjust to demand.
To survive in today’s highly digitized world, NPOs must make use of new technologies and integrate them into their operations. There are several IT solutions that can transform the non-profit sector to compete in the digital market. Now that you know some of the best technologies, you can take your NPO to the next level.
