Episode 86

In this week’s WineDown episode, we take a look into the Not-for-Profit industry and how IT comes into play.

Breaking Down the Numbers

There are around 60,000 registered Not-for-Profit (NFP) entities in Australia. The number has been slowly going up each year, with about 200 being added every month (although slightly less are also de-registered each month too).

The industry has revenues of around $175BN. A little under 50% of this revenue comes from government grants and programs. Around 33% comes from the sale of goods and/or services. Most of the remainder is from donations and a little bit from investment annuities.

There are around 1.4M people employed in the industry (full or part-time) with an additional 3.4M people in volunteer roles. This equates to a little under 20% of the people in the country participating in a NFP in some capacity.

Key Industry Issues

One key industry issue is sustainable funding. As around two-thirds of the registered organisations are considered to be of a “small’ nature (< $250K in annual revenue), they need to ensure they have sufficient ongoing funds to keep them in operation and help them grow.

This is one sector where technology is often behind other industries.

Smaller NFP organisations often do not have IT resources. Alternatively, they have the IT role performed by one person in the organisation who is “good with computers” but perhaps is not from the IT industry. As such, a variety of solutions exist.

A Lack of Consistency

We commonly see mix matched infrastructure, multiple brands of equipment in use and systems that do not talk with each other.

Shadow IT – where individuals or departments make their own decisions – is common. One person stores their data in OneDrive and someone else uses Dropbox for different data in the organisation.

Others store data on local or personal machines where it cannot be shared (or backed up), and other data is still on paper. This leads to a weak technology strategy in an era where technology is one of the key tools to help you succeed.

Donated Devices Create More Problems Than They Solve

People often donate (old) used computers to charities, thinking they are doing a good thing. The reality is that there is a reason someone is getting rid of it in the first place. It’s old, slow and doesn’t work well with modern applications.

Donating old hardware to charities just slow them down. They end up spending an inordinate amount of time and money trying to fix it and get it working, only to realise it’s probably worse than what they already have. They then spend resources to get rid of it. If old computers are not useful to someone, it’s safe to assume they will not be overly useful to others.

Instead, look into programs near you that will recycle your e-waste.

Doing More with Less

Government grants are available from time to time to help non-profit organisations modernise their operations. There have been recent grants around digital awareness – using technology to help modernise business operations. This, in turn, helps organisations become more efficient, allowing them to do more with less.

Many vendors also offer NFP pricing on their offerings. Microsoft has its philanthropic arm which donates licences for NFP use. If additional licences are required, these are available at a much lower cost than the normal business would buy them at.

TechSoup is a global organisation that helps non-profits access discounted technology. They are represented by ConnectingUp here in Australia, which acts as a distributor for the various vendors for their NFP offerings.

Changing Circumstances

One thing is certain – generational shifts over the last 10+ years have moved a lot of donation activity online. Those NFPs that are not up to date with programs to source donations online will find themselves left behind.

Audience demographics have changed too. It’s a lot easier now for younger generations to donate small amounts via social apps. These are paths that did not exist at the turn of the century.

Competitive Edge

Tiny non-profits are going to find it difficult to grow. There are many charities with similar purposes -all fighting for the same donor dollars. Technology can help charities differentiate – operationally, in fundraising and in broader delivery of their purpose messaging. Those that get it right will go well, enabling the ability to scale.

There has been an increased awareness of charities and social causes over the last few years. One thing that has come out of the pandemic is giving people more time, and more time to think about the causes they would like to be involved with. As a result, there has been an increased number of smaller charities started over that time.

Using technology to boost efficiency, improve operations and allow you to do more with less will help every organisation better fulfil its core purpose. If you’re looking for help, talk to us today.

Wine of the Week

The Wine of the Week is a 2020 D'Arenberg The Innocent Weed. A classic, juicy, generous Grenache Mourvèdre Shiraz blend.

⭐𝟯.𝟵/𝟱⭐