Once you and your Board of Directors have assessed your need for an online portal, the logical questions that follow circle around how to select a portal that best meets the needs of your organization, supports good governance practices and helps maintain compliance requirements.
There are several questions to ask and answer that will lead you to your decision. The following are the most important questions to consider:
Is it Secure?
Your portal should be a secure platform, where board members can sign documents, communicate with ease, review materials, and more. Further, based on your organization’s required level of security, you may require multi-factor authentication for login or other security enhancements. Verify that the portals you are considering can give you, your Board, and your leadership team peace of mind as it relates to the work of the Board and its committees. If you’re considering BellesBoard as your board portal, you can feel comfortable that your documents and communications are safely housed.
Is it Easy to Use?
Your portal should be easy to access and easy to use. Whether your Board is comprised of tech-savvy professionals or those just developing their computer skills, your portal will not get the use you envision if it is too complex. The developers at BellesBoard understand the need to make the end user experience a friendly one. Your Board and leadership team will be fluent in the product in no time at all. With the companion mobile app, your users will be prompted to check for updates with regularity, a boon for board engagement.
Does it Have the Needed Features?
A board portal should include useful features to enable your users to communicate and collaborte effectively — and stay informed of all relevant governance
updates and notifications. BellesBoard is a feature-rich platform with modules for meetings and event, calendars, tasks, documents, committees, and Board rosters, along with customizable dashboards to highlight your organization’s key metrics and support board member ambassadorship. All of these features are readily usable on the full website and mobile app. The tasks module also includes additional functionality such as 1) online voting, 2) electronic signature integration with SignNow, and 3) Doodle-like availability polling.
What if We Need Assistance?
Quality customer service is crucial. Unanswered questions can stymie your efforts and poor customer service simply leave a bad taste in any customer’s mouth. That’s why the team at BellesBoard makes customer support a priority from day one. All clients come to understand that working with BellesBoard means working with a partner. The goal is for every user to feel comfortable and easily access important governance information once they log in to the portal or mobile app.
Let’s Not Forget the Budget…How Much Will it Cost?
No matter how wonderful a product is, if it is outside the budget, it is beyond the reach of the organization. That’s why the founders of BellesBoard created a platform that small to mid-sized organizations can afford and view as a strategic investment into the work of the nonprofit. And with free trial options, you can see if it is for you without risk. All BellesBoard pricing packages are under $200 per month and only require a three-month commitment.
Is it Easy to Get Started?
Nonprofit leaders are all wearing multiple hats, so it is vital that transitioning to a board portal be a seamless, easy, and straightforward process. The team at BellesBoard makes this a top priority. Nonprofits have a dedicated point of contact who will build their platform, provide live administrator training, board member training (if needed) and be an ongoing support resource as needed.
Check out the competition. Compare security, ease of use, features, customer support, and price. Ask to take a ‘test drive’. Then give BellesBoard a call (or schedule a chat) and compare.
BellesBoard, your nonprofit Board management tool made easy.