Switching to a paperless, cloud-based software system can save nonprofits money and increase their collaborative efforts. Organizations that focus on everything from scholarships to child sponsorship can benefit from the many features offered by strategic cloud software adoption.
Cost-effective solution
Cloud software systems digitize all paper documents associated with a nonprofit’s mission and operations. As Webroot noted, this platform clearly eliminates the need for many office supplies on which charities currently spend a lot of their earnings. Everything from reams of paper to the maintenance of printers costs nonprofits large sums on a monthly, even weekly basis. Monthly electric bills will also decrease with cloud adoption, as it uses electricity more efficiently.
However, it should also be noted that personnel and staff costs can dramatically decrease after onboarding paperless software systems. With a streamlined method of document processing, volunteer tracking, and donation analysis, good employees can redirect their skills toward tasks that require attention and may have been put off over time due to these other clerical duties. There’s no need to fire strong employees upon cloud adoption; simply utilize their efforts in a new way to continue growth for the organization.
Increased collaboration
The great people that make up a profitable nonprofit work together toward a common goal every day. Enhancing the fluidity with which these team members communicate, share documents, and exchange information will only add to the already rich sense of identity the organization possesses. Salesforce noted that cloud software offers employees the opportunity to view documents in one central location, rather than saving different versions of the same contract or report on each of their own machines. This eliminates the risk of error and improves consistency drastically. It also makes working with staff in different time zones easier, as anyone with access can view a document at any time, from any device.
Flexible with change
All nonprofits hope to grow over time as they gain more donors and volunteers contributing time and money to various causes. This does not pose a problem for organizations utilizing paperless software, as cloud services can increase bandwidth at a moment’s notice. If a charity decides to pull back and decrease the amount of space used to store files and information, it’s easy to transition to lower bandwidth, as most cloud-based software is pay-as-you-go. Plus, when necessary, software updates are simple and automatic. Vendors typically prefer to help clients perform these tasks and provide maintenance when applicable, which frees staff up to continue more important work pertinent to the organization.
If something does go wrong with files, disaster recovery is stronger and more reliable with cloud-based platforms. Especially in the instance of flood or fire damage, maintaining accurate files on the cloud ensures that no physical documentation is destroyed.
Any nonprofit organization in doubt about whether or not they should adopt cloud-based software services should consider how streamlined communication, increased document security, lowered expenses and reliable software assistance can improve their charity. Chances are these benefits and more will be too desirable to ignore.
