When you began working with your nonprofit, your focus was on promoting the mission and vision of the organization. As a former director of development, I can attest that there is never enough time in the day to get everything done you want to get done. During the past ten years, I have seen many nonprofits have their time taken away from them, and have to focus on fixing emails, donor database issues… the list goes on and on.
Some of the issues I consistently hear from nonprofits today as it relates to nonprofits:
– Our server needs to be upgraded.
– We have no way to access our data when outside of the office, or, if we do, it is painfully slow.
– We are not getting emails, or our email goes down frequently.
This blog will provide three ways for you to get rid of the IT headache that is affecting many nonprofits.
Migrate to the Cloud for File Storage
There are many solutions for online file storage. Some great solutions, as featured in our blog earlier this week, include: Dropbox and Google Drive. You can access files from wherever you are and from any device, whether it be a computer, tablet or smartphone. A simple request to increase file storage replaces the massive cost associated with having to purchase a new server.
Online Subscriptions for Primary Applications
If your nonprofit is using QuickBooks, check out QuickBooks Online. This allows you to access your data from anywhere, at anytime. No backups needed. If you haven’t already switched to a donor management system that is cloud based, the time is now. DonorLynk can help you implement Salesforce to manage your donors and relationships.
Hosted Email
In today’s environment, unless you have an IT team focused on servers, you need to use an email platform that is hosted. Most nonprofits I see are migrating to Google for Nonprofits or Office 365. With either of these solutions, your email is hosted in a secure, high availability system that provides exceptional service.
We have worked with many nonprofits in implementing cloud based solutions that can have an immediate ROI. If interested, please give us a call at 615-988-4600!
Jason Burgess is Chief Executive Officer at DonorLynk, LLC. DonorLynk is focused on helping nonprofits increase effectiveness and efficiency.