Many nonprofits struggle to find new donors or grow their supporter base. They don’t have great programs or services, but because their business processes make it difficult for people to find, learn about and support them. Business processes are the steps your organization takes to move from one activity to another. They are how you organize and manage your programs, services, data, and people so that your organization can consistently achieve its goals. Business process management is a systematized approach for optimizing organizational performance through activities such as analyzing processes for inefficiencies, documenting processes, and automating manual tasks where appropriate. Read on to learn more about how business processes can improve your non-profit organization.
Non-profits and Business Processes
Streamlining the donation process
A business process can improve your fundraising. The donation process is a critical part of your donor acquisition strategy, and it’s essential to ensure that the money you raise is used effectively. With an improved donation process, you can better support your cause and make sure that donors feel confident in their giving decisions. You should be looking for ways to streamline the donation process to be as efficient as possible while still providing value for donors. This will give them confidence that their money will go directly towards supporting the cause they care about, rather than being wasted on administrative costs or overhead expenses like office rent or utility bills.
Focusing on your mission
Focus on your mission
Your mission should be the driving force behind your business decisions, not just a marketing tactic or tagline that you use to attract new donors. Make sure every decision is made in the best interest of your mission and that it aligns with what matters most to you as an organization.
Measure your mission
It’s essential to measure how well your organization is doing at accomplishing its goals to have a clear sense of progress and know when something isn’t working as expected. Measurement can help inspire individuals within the organization by showing them where they stand in relation to their peers or competitors in similar fields, creating an incentive for everyone involved to work harder towards success.
Find the right cause marketing
Cause marketing is when a non-profit and a business collaborate on a project. The idea is that the company gives money or products in exchange for the non-profit’s permission to use its brand name. For example, if you donate $50 to your favorite cause and they put it towards buying new water filters, you might get a water bottle as part of your donation. Cause marketing is essential because it allows brands with deep pockets to support causes they care about while also making money. They can also help smaller businesses build their brand through association with an established cause or organization. In addition to helping create awareness for their brand, companies often choose causes that have personal meaning for them or align with something else they already believe in, like environmental sustainability.
Improve Partner Relationships
A partnership is an arrangement between two or more organizations interested in helping each other achieve their goals. Partnering with a larger organization can benefit your non-profit, especially if it means gaining access to new donors, volunteers, or markets. For example:
You could partner with a local hospital and offer health screenings for their annual wellness week. This will help you reach a wider audience and grow your pool of potential donors.
Partnering with an animal welfare group could allow you to expand your pet adoption program by offering low-cost spay services for local residents who otherwise might not afford the procedure on their own. This will also help you reach new markets and get more pets into loving homes.
Make volunteer management simple
The importance of volunteers in nonprofit organizations cannot be overstated. Volunteers are a crucial asset to any organization that requires extra help, whether sorting clothing donations or assisting with administrative tasks. They also provide invaluable services to your business by giving back and supporting your mission, and they can be integral parts of the team if you treat them right. To ensure that your volunteers understand how much their time means to an organization, nonprofits need to have volunteer management software. This system allows you to track all aspects of your volunteer program with ease and accuracy: from recruitment through training and certification, then onto engagement and recognition activities until they complete their commitment period or leave the organization altogether.
Increase fundraising efficiency
In a nonprofit, fundraising is essential for driving your mission forward. The more efficiently you can raise funds, the more resources you’ll have to put into your programs and services, which is critical if you want to continue impacting the community. As we mentioned earlier, there are several ways that business processes can help improve your fundraising. Here are some specific ways it can do just that:
Eliminate waste with paperless
There are many benefits to carrying out your business process on a paperless system. First, it’s more environmentally friendly; paper is made from trees, which means that you’re saving resources and supporting the environment. Second, it’s more efficient: everything can be stored electronically instead of being filed away in boxes, making it easier to access older files when needed. Third, it’s more secure. You have fewer hard copies around that could be stolen or destroyed by fire or other disasters. Fourthly and finally, the cost savings associated with digital storage are huge.
It’s vital for non-profits to be as efficient as possible
The business process management concept is a way to ensure that all your processes are working well together. It’s also a way to make sure you’re getting the most out of your employees to do the work they are best at. BPM helps non-profits make sure their resources are being used efficiently so that more money goes towards the cause and not into administrative costs.
Conclusion
As we’ve discussed, there are many ways in which business processes can improve your non-profit. They help you save time and make better decisions to focus on what matters most: making a positive impact in the world.