Charities are experiencing increasing demand to demonstrate the impact of their work, especially in areas of high spend.

Nonprofits are competing for a shrinking pot of money so demonstrating the impact on beneficiaries is very important. Big donors can at times demand access to information about whether their donations are making an impact and furthering the charity’s mission. More and more, charities need to demonstrate the impact of their donations to keep these big donors engaged.

Organisations who can clearly demonstrate their impact in easy-to-digest reports and dashboards are at a competitive advantage when it comes to securing and maintaining precious funding. Using the right systems, you can display your results and analysis in a way that your audiences will best understand. This enables you to better connect with each audience and thus achieve maximum impact.

Getting sign-off

Charities are constantly pressured to keep costs low therefore it can be difficult to get sign off for investment in the new systems required to demonstrate your impact. This is somewhat of a catch-22 – you need investment to demonstrate impact, to get investment you need to demonstrate impact. So how do you overcome this?

It can be challenging to get your decision makers to recognise that the cost of these systems can be largely justified through the data that they are able to capture and the improvements that they drive. Tools such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement have the ability to drive successful outcomes right across your organisation, from increasing donations to improving volunteer and member engagement. Results can be displayed in an easily digestible manner, and even further enhanced by the likes of Power BI.

Getting sign off for investment in new systems can be a lengthy and difficult process. This process typically involves creating a compelling business case for change to present to the board.

Legacy systems

Many not for profit organisations find themselves locked into legacy systems which are often clunky and heavily bespoke to their organisation. This can mean that it is a full-time task for IT departments to maintain and support these systems, rather than driving digital improvements across the charity.

Continuing to operate legacy systems is a danger to the sector, especially in budget tight times. Doing so is throwing good money after bad. All funds are precious therefore it is important that the money your organisation spends on IT is invested in a future-proof solution that helps you further your mission.

It is important that your business case communicates the importance of investment in strong foundations and the dangers of continuing to invest in a legacy platform.