Technologies Used by Leading Charity Centres

Do charity centres make the best out of digital technologies? It is commonly believed that non-profit organisations still are not ready with a solid digital strategy because their budgets are tight. However, charity organisations do make the best out of technological capabilities by using Charity Management System Software. This technology is a suite that houses a myriad of software modules that allow the stakeholders of the charity organisations to make requests, monitor progresses, assign and execute tasks, analyse information and make smarter organisational decisions. Yet, what are the technologies that allow non-profit establishments to powerfully utilise such solutions?

This article helps the reader understand what are the technologies that help charity organisations optimise and gain benefits in the modern world.

Charity Organisation and Digitisation- Myths and Facts?

Charity organisations cannot adopt technological capabilities because they are financially unstable.

Many charity organisations are facing a plethora of problems because of the lack of seamless investment. Nonetheless, it is both true and false. This contradiction is because of the initial cost of embracing digitisation. Adopting a digital system to oversee the operational, managerial and administrative channels of a charity system can be costly at first, but in the long run, this upgrade is going to save a fortune of money, time and effort for the organisation.  

The digital gap discourages charity organisations from adopting technology solutions.

Members and volunteers of charity organisations are usually of different age groups; therefore, they have mixed feelings about technological transformations. Typically, senior contributors of a non-profit organisation will find the implementation of digital technologies tedious and stunting. However, decision-makers of charitable centres can optimise the collaboration and communication and level the technology adoption training with smart approaches. Everyone in the organisations can lead towards a common goal by training and perfecting technology solution implementation with benefits at heart- benefits like expanded reach, lesser costs, more efficiency, better revenues and mitigated risks.

People can cheat when using technologies in charity centres because all information is accessed at one point.

This is a hoax. Non-profit companies can actually improve the transparency of all operations and figure out suspicious activities faster than traditional methods if they leverage technology. Board directors can have a scalable view of all organisational activities, tailor governance structure, and set goals and missions while eradicating suspicious and fraudulent acts within the organisation. Technology systems can be upgraded with early warning systems, alarms, and other digital security measures that privatise and control access to sensitive information.  Therefore, the adoption of technology solutions in charity centres will phenomenally decrease the rate of scammers and defrauds.

Fascinating Technologies That Cannot Be Missed by Charity Organisations

There are a set of technology tools and modules that are considerably more important than the others for charity organisations. Having a comprehensive idea of their capabilities can help a non-profit organisation to bolster and achieve more with less time, investment and effort. Here are some of the not-to-be-missed technology modules that can facilitate non-profit organisations profoundly.
SaaS for fewer technology investments
Operational expenses (OPEX) of charity institutions are more focused on straightforward efforts to deliver front-line services, attract donors and do research to meet more philanthropic targets. However, expending OPEX for technological capabilities without an upfront lump sum is an option for charity centres. A charity centre can invest in a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform that meets their requirements and pay only for the service they receive. The microservices and modules that are offered by these platforms can be subscribed, scaled or unsubscribed based on the charity centres’ technological demands to get a more cost-efficient approach to implementing technology solutions.
Omni-channel communication

Even if a charity centre has limited resources and a considerably less number of team players, it can still deliver services and attract donors in a professional and agile manner. Omni Channel communication systems allow volunteers or members of an organisation to nurture valuable relationships and mediate benefits from benefactors to beneficiaries via different modes of communication. For example, an omnichannel communication system allows the charity centre to respond to phone, WhatsApp, Viber, SMS, Live Chat, BOTIM, Slack, Skype, Facebook, Instagram and many other communication mediums using a single scalable interface. Promoting high-quality service via agility and automation in responding to all people who try to reach out to the charity centre is a dire responsibility, and this technology makes it too easy for the call agents of the organisations.

Cloud Technology

Cloud computing has skyrocketed in the past few years because of its convenience in moving important files, images, videos, sound clips and other data into a centralised online drive. Many non-profit organisations migrate from on-prem systems to cloud systems because most irreplaceable applications used by charity organisations are cloud-based (CRM, Accounting, Donor Management, Grant Management, Volunteer Management, email etc.). The transition to the cloud by non-profits is delayed because they take time to understand its perks like only investing for the space you need, ultimate data safety, automatic updates, easier access to software, improved organisational collaboration and predicted costs. 

Early Warning Systems and Data Security
Charity organisations can use data privatisation and protection systems that trigger alarms when a security threat is detected. All sensitive information of the organisations can be safe under lock and key and encrypted when being shared from one user to another. This will ensure that the sensitive data like personal details of members, volunteers, donors and beneficiaries are not illegally misused by a fraudulent party. This data security process is free of human intervention for the early warning systems and other data protection algorithms powered by machine learning capabilities.
Full Integration of Software Modules

Many software modules utilised by charity centres do not require calibration; since they are pre-built to plug play, and the data sources are integrated seamlessly. This allows the end-users of the charity systems to gain a holistic view of all operations taking place in any department of the charity centre, The centre’s growth, the performance of its inhabitants, the data of benefactors and beneficiaries, key performance indicators and many other critical parameters can be overviewed via integration. 

The Technology-Driven Future of Charity Organisations Is Not Too Far

The future of nonprofit organisations is wrapped around technological development, and that is a fact. Retaining loyal stakeholders depends on the ease of data management, ultimate financial transparency and policy and regulation compliance of a non-profit centre- all achieved by leveraging technology capabilities. This is why charity organisations should rely on online engagement and mobile fundraising methods to help more people by inviting more people on a global scale by using technological capabilities. Therefore, all charity centres must ask the million-dollar question themselves: “Are we ready to be a part of innovation and lose opportunities to perform better by neglecting technological upgrades?”.