Running a successful nonprofit membership organization is incredibly rewarding work. It can also be extremely challenging, as well. The directors of nonprofits must juggle many priorities that include serving their organization’s purpose and ensuring that members are satisfied with those efforts.
While pursuing these goals may involve a number of different strategies, one that directors can’t afford to ignore is the role that technology plays. Some of the most important nonprofit membership best practices rely on powerful IT services.
4 Reasons Every Nonprofit Membership Organization Will Benefit from Managed IT Services
The good news is that these nonprofit membership best practices don’t require an organization to have its own IT department. Instead, they can rely on managed IT services to help their nonprofits grow and pursue more ambitious goals ever. Here are four reasons why.
1. Enjoy the Advantages of a Full IT Department
The structure of a nonprofit can take on many different forms, but most run like traditional businesses. That means there’s a director or even CEO at the top who presides over the same kinds of departments you’d find at many conventional companies.
Unfortunately, one department that is often left out of the arrangement is IT. Despite the aforementioned nonprofit membership best practices surrounding technology, this department may prove too expensive to seem feasible for many nonprofit organizations.
Some try to overcome the problem by asking their communities for help. It’s not uncommon for IT professionals to donate an hour or two of their time every week to check in on the network and provide any updates or patches that may be necessary. Of course, this is far from ideal. Networks need continuously managed, or it’s only a matter of time before a major problems surface.
A far better solution is managed IT services. It gives the nonprofit the department they absolutely must have to succeed but without the corresponding costs that usually make them hesitate. Best of all, this frees up the organization to focus on their most important assets: the members themselves.
2. Secure Critical Data with Backup Solutions
Another big advantage that managed IT services offer nonprofit organizations is cybersecurity and backup solutions. It’s sad but true that nonprofits need to understand how to protect themselves from cybercriminals. As these organizations collect valuable payment information, criminals will continuously look for ways to access their networks to steal this sensitive data. Having the vigilant eyes of an IT expert watching over a nonprofit’s network at all times is a big step toward keeping this from happening.
That’s not the only threat to important information, though. Without backups, essential materials could disappear because of a freak accident. Nonprofit strategic plan examples the organization had been collecting, or potential marketing materials could be gone forever.
The same goes for member-specific data. No director wants to explain to their member list that they need their payment information one more time because of an internal problem. Even if it doesn’t involve an intentional breach, many members may decline for fear of their data falling into the wrong hands.
Sufficient backups will prevent prolonged downtime, as well. This is important for membership organizations that would otherwise have to show a downed site to any member trying to access it.
3. Allow Staff to Work from Anywhere
More and more, nonprofit membership best practices are focused on remote management. Part of the reason is because of the rise of remote workers, which has seen countless employees become work-from-home staff members. Other nonprofits have always benefited from workers being able to operate from the field, and they didn’t have the technology to support this kind of work.
Managed IT services is the solution. It allows employees and members to sync, file, and share documents from anywhere they are. This also allows for collaboration across many sites.
4. Leverage Reliable Phone Systems and Network Appliances
Finally, no modern nonprofit should be without advanced tools. Without reliable phone systems and network appliances, they’ll needlessly struggle to stay in communication with their members. This may give off a bad impression, convincing members to find other organizations to join. It could also get in the way of planning successful events and activities for members – another reason for them to leave.
Managed IT services connect nonprofit membership organizations with these kinds of essential tools. Even if the director has no former experience choosing which devices would work best, the IT experts are more than capable of helping them make the right investment and offer training.
Accomplish More with the Power of Managed IT Services
Nonprofit membership best practices are always changing, but one that will never go away is the need for modern organizations to utilize modern IT services. Fortunately, that no longer means having to invest in a whole IT department. Contact us today to find out how managed IT services can improve your nonprofit membership organization.
