Leveraging your Nonprofit’s IT Budget

By Kyle Hamilton and Kelly McQueen
Opti-Vise IT

Every business needs to keep up with the times and ensure that IT is a priority, and nonprofit organizations are no exception.

With nonprofit organizations, budget is always key. It’s important to make sure the technology you’re leveraging fits the budget and is being utilized to its fullest. Here are 3 areas that nonprofit organizations should focus on when thinking about their IT resources and budget.

Outsourcing IT

Keeping up with current technologies is a never-ending need. Many are choosing to leverage an out-sourced IT partner, giving the ability to scale IT resources to the need of the organization. By partnering with a Managed Service Provider (MSP), organizations have access to a team of IT professionals that can provide IT services, support, and strategy for a monthly fee. This approach allows organizations to receive a more robust solution for the budget allocated.

Cloud-based Subscription Services

Another trend we’re seeing is the move to cloud-based subscription services. Whether it’s cloud-hosted collaboration tools like Office 365 or cloud-hosted infrastructure and servers such as Azure, nonprofit organizations can leverage their not-for-profit status for discounted licensing, lowering the barrier to access. Shifting focus to budget-friendly monthly subscription services allows organization to strategically scale expenses according to their need.

Protecting Data

Protecting the personal data of donors is a challenge for every nonprofit. Being intentional is the key:

• Limit liability by working with the right vendors to offload risk in a way that makes sense for the size of the organization.
• Maintain a focus around good policy and good procedures. It doesn’t cost anything but time to be intentional with your actions around protecting data.
• Take Cybersecurity measures – enable two-factor authentication, use complex passwords that change regularly, keep software updated, avoid using public WiFi, regularly back up data and encrypt hard drives so unauthorized users cannot access sensitive information, and so on.

Nonprofits rely on data to make good decisions, plan campaigns, and strategize funding. So it makes sense that they should prioritize protecting their data by ensuring they have appropriate cybersecurity measures in place. Some measures require funding and some require only time and education, but all of them are important.