Automation is one of the fastest growing trends in IT and operations. It not only saves your organization time and money, it also allows you and your team to focus on more mission-driven projects. Interestingly, Gartner found that almost 70% of routine work done by managers could be fully automated by 2024. With less time spent on tedious administrative tasks, managers have more time to focus on more important tasks — all with the help of IT automation.
Nonprofits can especially benefit from automation. GrowthForce notes that “any strategy that can increase a nonprofit’s operational efficiency also stands to increase its impact, and one of the absolute best ways to increase efficiency is by automating as many tasks as possible.” How is your organization utilizing automation to support your team, services, and growth? Continue reading to learn more about automation, as well as how automation can benefit your organization.
Types of Automation for Your Organization
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning are common buzzwords in the world of automation, but how exactly can they all be used to support your organization?
Volunteer, Donor, and Community Management: Supporters of your organization — whether they’re volunteers, donors, community members, beneficiaries, or partners — all need to be tracked, managed, and communicated with. This is a perfect opportunity to utilize an automated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to handle these processes seamlessly.
You can even use automation to automate training for volunteers. BizTech Magazine discusses the following example: “The suicide prevention organization The Trevor Project recently collaborated with Google on an AI-driven training tool that simulates a crisis contact, giving volunteers an opportunity to learn essential skills in a training environment.” With tools like this, your organization can streamline volunteer training.
Fundraising and Marketing: Marketing and fundraising often go hand-in-hand, and automation can make these efforts easier. Marketing automation systems can manage marketing campaigns, create custom messages for different audiences, and track your marketing ROI. These efforts can be used to reach more donors and increase brand awareness.
Finance and Accounting Management: There are many powerful bookkeeping and accounting tools your organization can utilize to record expenses, track grants and donations, and create financial reports. This allows you to save time, keep more accurate records, and prevent fraud.
You can even browse a few automation software options here. DonorSnap also recommends a great list of automation best practices here.
How Automation Can Benefit Your Organization
The benefits of using automation to support your organization are endless. Two of the top benefits include saving time and reducing costs — two common pain points all organizations experience. You can save your organization time by automating administrative tasks such as sorting paperwork and searching for information. This will allow your team to focus on more mission-driven projects. Additionally, automation can significantly reduce labor costs by allowing you to make the switch from manual to automated processes.
Automation also allows you to increase efficiency, boost productivity, improve security, and continue scaling your organization. We went over the top five benefits of non-profit automation in one of our older blog posts if you’d like to take a closer look.
How Varsity Can Help
If you’re looking to implement automation but aren’t sure where to begin, connect with Varsity. We have the IT expertise, as well as the nonprofit industry experience to help you achieve more through the strategic use of technology. Learn more about our services or contact us today to get started — we look forward to working with you!
