Automation and the Not-for-Profit Sector

Huniyer Hovich, 01 June 2012

What on earth do you blog about when you’ve just started a new job?

Alright… you don’t have to start heading for the hills just yet because I’ve recently come out of four years with a non-profit organisation and it’s a sector near and dear to my heart, something that ties in quite nicely with my new role at Magnetism.

The decision-making process that non-profit groups follow on a daily basis is usually centred on whether there are the financial or human resources available to get something done. Whether you are volunteer-based or lucky enough to have a budget for paid staff, many organisations are just managing to tread-water from year to year. You service your communities to the best of your ability but time, money and expertise hold you back.

I’ve experienced it first hand – it’s hard to find enough hours in the day to apply for funding, manage members, chase debtors, organise fundraising activities – and have a life. More often than not I was burning the midnight oil at home working on one thing or another because if I didn’t do it, nobody else would.  

We were an office of 3 plus a few volunteers, and everybody dedicated more than their fair share of hours. When you’re passionate about a cause, the returns are rewarding but often others don’t see the amount of work you put in behind the scenes. I lost count of the number of times I’d talk about my frustrations with others and with a sympathetic grin they’d say “oh yours is a thankless role”.  

Despite the fact that I was a paid employee, if you add up the actual hours worked it would be somewhere close to minimum wage. Thank goodness the husband is the main breadwinner. But hey – it’s not the money that attracts us to get involved with the community. We develop a passion for something and feel the need to make a difference and jump in with all guns blazing. We go in with the best of intentions but often the enthusiasm starts to wane because you get bogged down with administrational matters.  

Less and less time is spent on growing your membership and talking to potential funders and before you know it, the spreadsheets you set up for everyone to manage their area of expertise has 5 different versions and you don’t know which one to report from at the committee meeting starting in half an hour! Every day feels like Groundhog Day and you wonder whether this cause was even worth getting involved in. 

Let me tell you that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I’m really excited about the non-profit database system that Magnetism has developed because it has been put together on the premise of working smarter, not harder. If I had this system available to me in my last role I hate to think how much more time my staff and I would have had to focus on the stuff that was really important to our stakeholders and communities. 

I was demonstrating our Not-For-Profit software to a client last week. As soon as he became aware of my past experience he began to pick my brains about all things related to fundraising. As a result I’ve decided to share my experiences and knowledge of the non-profit sector in blogs that will be informative and relevant to you, my colleagues. So stay tuned, or better still, contact me direct to find out why it’s never been a better time to embrace the benefits that technology has to offer. 

Image from http://theblackberryalarmclock.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/piggy-bank-non-profit-organization.jpg