Nationwide, nonprofits spend an average of 5.2% of their budget on technology. Yet, almost 30% describe themselves as barely maintaining, or failing to maintain, their technology systems that propel their missions.
It’s tough to manage technology with limited budgets and internal expertise. Outsourcing your IT can make it possible to deliver mission advancement on a fixed, monthly budget.
Outsourcing your IT can:
- Identify and leverage special discounts available only for nonprofits
There are technology providers and nonprofit technology-related networks that provide heavily discounted or free products and services. An experienced managed IT vendor will have experience and success in identifying and obtaining these discounts and products.
- Reduce your technology costs by extending the life of the equipment you already have
Proper inventory and analysis of your current equipment can identify cost effective repairs that will extend the life of that equipment. An experienced managed IT vendor will conduct a thorough repair vs replacement cost analysis and make recommendations on the cost effectiveness of both.
- Increase your credibility and compliance by securing donor and client information
Although every organization can be vulnerable to cyber-attacks, nonprofit organizations are particularly vulnerable because they are often rich with donor payment information as well as client personal information. An experienced managed IT vendor will conduct a full security analysis, identify your areas of greatest vulnerability, and make recommendations to keep your data safe and compliant.
- Save staff time by coordinating and managing IT-related vendors
Most organizations have several IT-related vendors that provide services or equipment that support your organization. Supervising these vendors requires valuable staff time that is often taken at the expense of other more mission-critical needs. An experienced managed IT vendor will troubleshoot problems, supervise service and assess vendor performance to support the overall health and maintenance of your IT infrastructure thus freeing staff to focus their efforts elsewhere.
Managed IT services can add critical expertise and capacity to your team that will assist and guide your organization through the fast-paced, ever-changing world of technology. Technology should propel your mission and many organizations have found success with outsourced IT services.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As the CEO of Networking Results, Jeff Howard found his passion – building one of the happiest places to work with the most talented employees, and helping great organizations here in DFW do what they do best – make a difference! Networking Results is committed to increasing nonprofits’ use of technology as a means of growing their organizations and their impact on the community we share.
Find Jeff on LinkedIn.
