Maximize Your Budget and Sharpen Your Strategies by Outsourcing IT
Competition for funding has become tighter in recent years. Because of this, it's more crucial than ever for nonprofits to budget strategically. Many grants for nonprofits emphasize bringing in more money. A smart nonprofit will also incorporate strategies to optimize existing and future funding. There are numerous IT solutions available for strategic grant management, as well.
Strategic Grant Management Solutions
A 2015 survey by the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) reported that 66% of nonprofits included technology as part of their strategy. While budgeting for technology, it's vitally important to invest in the right tools for your mission and the right training for your staff. With the proper IT solutions, your nonprofit organization will be well-poised to:
- Lower operating costs. Outsourcing IT lowers operating costs in a multitude of ways. For example, cloud computing offers scalable data storage without requiring you to invest in the hardware on site. Hardware and software maintenance won't require staffing your own IT department either. The NTEN report noted a 44% increase in budgeting for cloud computing compared to 2014.
- Train staff comprehensively. NTEN found that 46% of nonprofits surveyed budgeted for staff training. Furthermore, those that did tended toward higher levels of tech adoption and more successful tech application.
- Optimize fundraising efforts. There are numerous IT solutions for targeted fundraising appropriate to include in grants. For nonprofits to maximize their reach and impact, they should take advantage of social media and donor management software, for example.
- Pace grant submissions efficiently. Strategic grant management software can help you track submissions. From initial application to distribution and renewal, you'll easily see how many proposals are at each phase of the funding cycle. This is a far more efficient way to analyze your funding trends than crunching through spreadsheets.
- Convey progress to grantors regularly. Analytics programs can track your successes and demonstrate sustainability. Using IT solutions, you can also automate these tasks for regular progress updates to show your grantors that you're meeting milestones. Using pro forma budgeting software, you can offer projections, as well. All these communications can go a long way toward encouraging renewal of grants for nonprofits, a vital part of strategic grant management.
