For nonprofits, doing more with less is not a goal, it’s the key to survival.
Funding, staffing, internal operations—these are the behind the scenes concerns that often mean the difference in how effective an organization can be.
One area many nonprofits constantly struggle with is upgrading technology. Not just the engines that power donor outreach—databases, message delivery tools, and so on—but security systems as well.
Because most nonprofits have a continual flow of funds moving in and out, they are ripe targets for bad actors. This makes any vulnerabilities in their infrastructure potentially damaging, if not catastrophic.
Outdated technology is also inefficient, often limiting the good work a nonprofit can do by demanding excessive time and resources to simply keep systems up and running.
And when you combine the reality of limited funding with an ecosystem of new tools and technologies that is constantly growing—and the developers of each promising they can solve an organization’s challenges—it can be easy for even the largest nonprofit to find itself paralyzed by the mere thought of upgrading its systems.
Navigating the maze of technology
At Redapt, helping nonprofits find the right technology solutions is a major focus for us. This work goes beyond simply offering organizations committed to helping others with a discount on our services. We want to help a nonprofit maximize both its tools and its security systems. This means:
- Sifting through the various options available to nonprofits to weed out expensive technologies in favor of cheaper options that can deliver the same results
- Recommending critical infrastructure upgrades that are not over-built, which helps keep costs under control
- Examining where security systems are lacking or vulnerable and working with the organization to shore up those systems
- Putting our time and money where our mouth is by volunteering in our communities
All the work our team has done—and continues to do—with nonprofits is rewarding. Not just because it feels good but because we have seen firsthand how expanding the use of technology creates new opportunities for organizations.
For example, take Make-A-Wish Foundation, who, like a lot of other nonprofits, needed to quickly pivot when the pandemic first hit. Here was a venerable organization that worked tirelessly to bring personal experiences to sick kids across the globe, experiences that suddenly became impossible to create during lockdowns and social distancing.
But by leveraging technology such as Zoom, Make-A-Wish Foundation realized they were able to take their work fulfilling the dreams of children to a new, and more personal level. Celebrity interactions, long a staple of the organization’s work, were often longer over Zoom than would be possible in person, making an ailing child’s wish all the more memorable.
In recent years, organizations have also been able to utilize technology like the cloud to greatly expand their analytics capabilities. This has had the effect of making donor outreach much more targeted and personable, not to mention effective.
These are just a few examples of how access to affordable and modern technology can improve how nonprofits better achieve their missions. We’re proud of our work with organizations small and large because every problem we help nonprofits solve, every way we can make their important work easier with technology, the more all of us are helping those most in need.
To learn more about our work with nonprofits, or how our experts can help your organization, schedule some time to chat with us.
