Good team members want to do their jobs well and support the mission, but it’s a difficult ask when they’re having daily fights with bad tech.
“We have to change our CRM soon or my best staff member is going to quit.”
This an unfortunate comment I hear from Not for Profits too often when they’re struggling with their technology – though it’s not just CRMs causing the pain. It’s often payroll and finance systems too.
Bad tech can impact your staff with…
- Increased stress, often caused when they need to consistently apologise to impacted stakeholders or they find the same problem occurring over and over.
- Decrease productivity, particularly when there are unnecessary manual processes.
- High turnover because Not for Profit staff signed up for the mission, not to do time-consuming administrative tasks and fix constant errors.
And if it’s that bad on the administration side, what’s it like for your stakeholder that may interact with the system as a customer i.e. donor, member, client?
How to address bad tech
The most expected answer would be to replace the systems causing the pain. However, that’s not always the right answer.
It’s not uncommon for me to do a review of an organisation’s technology landscape and find that the real problem is not the system(s) itself but the result of:
- Poor system design, often caused when choosing the wrong implementation partner who has little to no experience with Not for Profits.
- Lack of system design updates when needs change.
- Lack of training and therefore staff do not know how to use the system properly.
- Lack of integrations (or integrations not working), creating unnecessary manual processes.
Next steps if your tech is really bad
If you’re unsure what the root cause of your bad tech is, the next step would be to review an individual system or your enterprise architecture as a whole.
Documenting these findings not only makes the cause(s) really clear, but it also provides the necessary information your board is needs to make an investment decision if required.
I regularly help Not for Profits with IT strategies and investment decisions. Let me know if you need some help.
P.S. If you found this article helpful, you might want to read these too:
- How an IT strategy can boost your Not for Profit’s impact
- Why your NFP’s strategic plan needs an IT strategy
Tammy Ven Dange is a former charity CEO, Association President, Not for Profit Board Member and IT Executive. Today, she helps NFPs with strategic IT decisions, especially around investments.