In today’s competitive and crowded nonprofit sector, organizations must be efficient and effective to maximize their social impact. Here are some of the ways that an organization can achieve this goal.
Programs and Fundraising
A board portal greatly reduces the reliance on emails and phone calls to communicate among board members and administrative staff. Many manual activities and repetitive tasks are eliminated. The efficiencies that result enables an organization to shift staff resources from administrative tasks to other activities, such as programs or fundraising.
Our research shows that even small nonprofit organizations can save upwards of $9,000 in recovered staff time. This staff time can then be shifted to other activities such as programs or fundraising. This has the effect of adding $9,000 in resources towards mission-related activities.
This will result in an organization having more resources available to achieve its mission and improve its social impact.
Board Engagement
Forward-thinking organizations are using board portals to increase the collaboration between the organization’s board, executive team, and administrative staff.
Board members are busy people. By giving them an easy-to-use way to get information when the want it, it naturally follows that they will be more engaged.
An engaged board member is more likely to support the organization’s mission.
Recruitment
Organizations must always be on the lookout for new board members to ensure its sustainability, and by extension, its social impact.
Potential board members often have multiple organizations to choose from when deciding to join a board. Having a board portal can serve as an advantage and differentiator when attempting to make one organization more attractive than another in the decision process.
Implementation
While no two organizations are exactly alike, there are several specific ways that a board portal will have a positive effect on an organization’s social impact:
- improved communication among board members and organizational leadership by providing a centralized, easy-to-use information platform;
- Ensuring that the organization’s sensitive information such as board and committee minutes and financial data are secure, and not compromised;
- Make it easy for an organization to manage current, active documents, as well as preserve the organization’s institutional knowledge;
- Maximize board member engagement by providing accessibility 24/7 from any device, including PC, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone;
- Since no two organizations are alike, ensure that the portal is flexible enough to support different information management requirements;
- Improve programs and iincrease fundraising with features such as a collaborative workspace, electronic signature, polling, voting and can integrate with other software applications that serve mission-driven organizations;
- Make it inviting and easy to use for board members.
Summary
A board portal that is easy to use and provides many, if not all, or the above features, will pay for itself several times over and have a positive effect on an organization’s social impact.
When deciding to implement a board portal, make sure to choose a vendor that has a solid track record and support team.
For more information, contact Frank Orzo, co-founder of Nonprofit Sector Strategies PBC, at 516-902-4638, or forzo@nonprofitsectorstrategies.com.