An Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP) is an all-inclusive dashboard that incorporates all data regarding a company or a corporation. It moreover infuses back and front-end processors into one integrated system. In essence, ERP is software that brings order to your business by having a record of everything from your finances, HR, and services in one central location. It is a popular technological tool used by different industries to streamline business operations and increase productivity.
When it comes to charity organisations, in particular, many things can go wrong. Imagine that your organisation started a new project promoting a specific cause. You will have to open registrations and divide the volunteers into groups depending on how large the project is. Thereafter, put a team member representing your organisation in charge. There will also need to be a call for donations, be it financial or otherwise, to ensure that they are collected responsibly and, most importantly, to donate the items or the funds received to the promised cause.
Losing contact with a volunteer, not knowing which team member was in charge, or worse, losing receipts of the donations received are some ways in which a charity organisation’s credibility is constantly at risk. All of this can, however, be sorted by implementing an ERP system through which your team can organise, analyse and share data to help each person fulfil their roles.
This article will explore six key benefits your charity organisation will gain by implementing an ERP system.
Here Is Everything You Can Gain From an ERP System
In order to optimise your work, digitising your organisation is a step you have to take to achieve your goals. If you think about it, by implementing an ERP system, you will also be contributing to a sustainable paperless world and working towards the worthwhile cause your organisation stands for. Here’s everything you need to know:
Do Less, Save More
Non-profit organisations have an increased responsibility to manage their finances better and remain transparent in all transactions. In a traditional setting, you would have had to spend a lot of resources to simply manage the grants you received from the public sector and put more effort into successfully noting down and separating finances received by generous donors. If you incorporate an ERP system, a record of all transactions received and made will automatically be inserted into the software. It additionally helps you to make your annual financial budget error-free.
Cut Out Repetitive Tasks and Learn on the Go
As an ERP system takes over repetitive tasks, your team will not have to waste time doing administrative roles. Long gone are the days when you would have to upload records one by one on an excel sheet. This inadvertently also means that you can save finances by not requiring a team of data-entry personnel in your staff. Instead, leave all the menial tasks to the ERP system and utilise your team’s skills for more important tasks ahead. Moreover, as investing in an ERP system holds information across all departments, newcomers can have an easy onboarding experience.
Reporting Has Never Been Easier
As a charity organisation is expected to be transparent in its actions, you will be requested to produce monthly reports. The time taken to collect all information, let alone updated information, is a hassle that takes an enormous amount of time. With an ERP system that concisely automates data, however, you can receive real-time, detailed reports specifying the exact dates, amounts, times, and purpose of each transaction accepted or made. When someone attempts to breach the security of the ERP system, you can rest assured that you will remain in control of all your data. With an encrypted ERP system in place, all privacy details are guaranteed to be protected.
Stay Up to Date Wherever You Are
Similar to accessing your email through any electrical device, an ERP system gives you the mobility to access information even from your phone. Monitor all expenses, grant approval, and check on whether your team is completing their responsibilities from wherever you are. Where, for instance, emergencies occur, requiring your team to work on the ground, an ERP system can easily help you make a quick decision and respond.
Leave No Room for Corruption
As long as an ERP system is in place, the administrator can easily keep track of those in the system. This includes providing access to those who paid the membership fee, whereas those who fail to renew it can be removed with ease. To ensure data is protected, each person will receive log-in details to use the system, and thereafter, any data inserted or shared will be encrypted. Most notably, this feature allows the organisation to instantly recognise situations where a member has unjustly gotten enriched by volunteering and spot any suspicious work being carried out.
Create Valuable Relationships That Last
An ERP system can give your organisation valuable insights, including how relationships can be maintained with your generous donors. When a person makes a donation, for instance, a profile is made in the ERP system. Through this, you can assess the donor’s history and gain an understanding of what special causes the donor is passionate about. You could use this as a strategic approach to secure a donation in a future fundraiser that is championing the very same or a similar cause. Take that extra step to connect with your donors and update them on how the organisation used their proceeds to reach the project goals. You can also easily filter out which donors have contributed most to your organisation’s growth.
Stay On Top of Projects by Collaborating on an Integrated Platform
You will no longer have to set meetings in person for each project. Easily collaborate with your fellow volunteers and partners through the ERP system. Flesh out your plan by using the platform’s features, be it in terms of setting goals or a checklist of tasks. Hence, when a person volunteers for a role, simply note it within the system and track their progress till the completion of the project. From finances to marketing and event planning, stay on top of everything with just one click. Moreover, the ERP system is powerful enough to manage the data of multiple projects happening simultaneously. You can keep all projects organised by separating their information and yet, be able to understand what is happening in any one of them with just one look at the system.
Do Not Hold Back Now
An organisation in the non-profit sector can gain much more by utilising the innovative features of the ERP systems. Until you do, you will find it difficult to drive change in society because your in-house responsibilities require too much manual work, thereby removing your focus from the larger goal of your organisation. ERP systems are, therefore, a feasible solution that guarantees the optimisation of your operations in terms of executing your projects on time, utilising your resources smartly, and sticking to your financial budget. By taking advantage of the above benefits that ERP systems offer, in the subsequent future, you may branch out to other regions and countries seamlessly. Therefore, the question you should ask yourself is whether you are able to focus on your grassroots efforts, or are your administrative tasks keeping you from reaching your true potential?
