Successful charities are increasingly innovating with IT solutions to assist them in achieving their mission. Taking advantage of the technology available, charities can streamline their operations, enhance their outreach efforts, and maximise their impact on the beneficiaries and causes they support. Below we outline some of the specific IT services for charities that can be most beneficial to their operations.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is one of the main IT services for charities to utilise to aid their operations. A cloud environment will save vast amounts of money for charities by reducing hardware, software and storage costs. Additionally, the cost of security over the setup will be covered by the cloud provider, delivering far superior security to that which would be possible with an on-premise setup.
In light of having no hardware and software overheads, scalability is also made far easier and simpler. Charities can simply pay for the exact level of storage they need, with the option to scale up or down as required throughout the year.
And as the cloud setup can be accessed on any device from anywhere with an internet connection, collaboration with volunteers, donors, employees and even beneficiaries becomes effortless.
Cyber Security
Having robust cyber security measures in place is vital for any organisation. For charities in particular who likely hold detailed personal and financial records, a breach could be the difference between survival and failure.
Charities rely on the trust and confidence of their donors, so for a cyber breach to result in donor information being leaked, they would be likely to pull their future donations. Additionally, depending on the breach, a cyber attack can put a halt to operations.
The central and most vital consideration of any charity is its ability to provide a service to its cause. If this is affected by a cyber breach, not only will their reputation be tarnished which may affect donations, but more importantly their service will suffer in which lives could be on the line.
Communication Solutions
Effective communications are vital for all organisations, charities included. Having a solid strategy for internal communications means operations can run smoothly whilst minimising the possibility of confusion and duplication of efforts.
Collaboration solutions such as a SharePoint intranet allow organisations to keep a single source of truth, with a central platform to share information and collaborate on documents.
Having a functional phone system in place is also important for most charities, as it’s often one of the main outlets for communicating with donors. Telephone fundraising campaigns often yield a far higher response rate compared to other methods; as far as yielding a 10-20% response rate compared to a 0.1% response rate via email. A VoIP phone solution acts as a future-proof phone system with less related costs such as hardware (desk phones), and can be built right into existing Microsoft Teams setups.
Fundraising
Fundraising requires being able to reach as many people as possible with a select message to persuade readers, listeners or viewers, to donate. One of the benefits of specific IT services for charities is access to online fundraising platforms that allow charities to set up fundraising campaigns and reach an audience far wider than they might be able to individually.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 can be utilised as a fundraising platform for advanced functionality, tracking, reporting and collaboration. Microsoft also has a solution designed to allow charities and non-profits to adopt Dynamics 365 much cheaper and faster than other organisations. IT services for charities such as the Microsoft Non-profit Accelerator provides organisations with pre-configured entities to avoid high development costs.
Microsoft 365 Licensing
Microsoft solutions are some of the most adopted across the business world. But they’re not necessarily the cheapest. Thankfully Microsoft delivers beneficial IT services for charities that every non-profit should be aware of.
Microsoft has a social duty to take care of charitable causes, and as such provides heavily discounted rates on licencing for charity and non-profit organisations. Microsoft licencing can be purchased with as much as a 75% discount through a reputable Microsoft partner (such as Akita).
Volunteer Management
Managing volunteers is no easy feat, even with the help of technology, let alone doing it manually. Solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service can be used to develop a digital rostering system, allowing leaders to track each individual volunteer and exactly how much time they’ve committed, as well as whom they have booked to work different shifts or jobs. This simplifies the process of volunteer management saving vast amounts of time and money.
Taking Advantage Of IT Services For Charities
IT services for charities provide a range of capabilities that can help further their mission and support those in need. From cloud computing to Microsoft Licencing, IT can help charities make the most of their resources and provide a service for their cause efficiently and effectively.
Akita supports a range of charities and non-profits with their IT support. View more about our IT services for charities:
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