How Charities Can Use Technology To Save Money And Bolster The Bottom Line

Nowadays, it is more important than ever for charitable organisations and social welfare entities to take all possible steps to lower their operational expenses and keep their fund balances high.
In an effort to do just that, many charitable groups are looking to technology as a means to identify and make connections with potential contributors.
Some of the effective strategies they are using follow below.

Online Volunteer Recruitment

Posting on the Internet to find volunteers allows charitable groups to case a wider net than ever before. Not only can the group's own blogs and websites be used for this purpose, it is possible to use online clearinghouses including Do-it.org.uk and CharityJob.co.uk to secure local volunteers ready and willing to help.
Interested volunteers can conversely use these sites to discover new opportunities in their areas. They also have the ability to sort available positions by description in order to find perfect matches for their topics of interest, available time and other affinities.
This works to group potential volunteers by locale as well as interest area, and it also helps organisations connect with younger demographic groups that have previously been difficult to reach. Social media outreach also can do great deal in this respect.

Using Social Media to Connect

Among the many wonderful aspects of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube is the fact that these platforms provide groups with the freedom to speak directly to a large audience with ease and with little financial investment.
Launching a Facebook page is a great way to build connections with your membership and allows members to interact with one another as well. The endeavor becomes much more collaborative when everyone begins posting information, comments and personal anecdotes.

Article links and photos can be sent to Twitter followers, as can real-time updates of special events.

YouTube is terrific for providing a showcase of high-priority projects or explaining complicated concepts or initiatives. Simple videos can be a wonderful way to convey messages of deep, emotional meaning. Then, it is easy to place links to these videos on the organisation's website, Facebook page, Twitter page and blog.
Always be sure to incorporate calls to action in all forms of communication. Indeed, social media is a great way to solicit donations from supporters.

Facilitation of Donations

It really is quite easy to place a "donate" button directly on your group's website, Facebook page or blog. You simply need to copy and then past some simple code. Donors will then be able to click onto your fundraising page and use their debit or credit card to make a gift.
Then, send a tweet containing the link to your donations page, and the results will surely impress. You also have the option of establishing a donate-by-text capability that works on all mobile service providers. Interested donors just need to text a specified code in order to make a donation in a pre-determined amount.
A key part of any fundraising endeavor is to make certain donors are updated on how their gifts are spent. Blogs are a great way to convey this important information so that donations continue to roll in. Not only that, blog postings offer contributors a forum for posting comments and impressions of the work being done.

Use Sharepoint to Establish a Virtual Office

Lots of charitable groups and social welfare organisations are operated almost entirely by volunteer staffs who lead busy lives of their own. Committees are often developed, but meetings may actually be quite infrequent.
In such instances, document sharing platforms like Sharepoint are idea for creating virtual offices where important information can be shared, stored and edited by multiple users.
The site will then become a vital part of the volunteer team and serve as a hub of collaboration. Sharepoint is not just a document sharing platform, as it also functions as a meeting scheduler, calendar and a project tracking tool.
It may often prove quite difficult to assemble the full volunteer team in one place at one time. But, it is easy to establish a physical office space as well that can be utilized at the convenience of the members.

Making Savvy Use of Data

This is one area that can actually prove quite difficult. Two main challenges exist, the first involving actually securing sound data, and the second one pertaining to analyzing the information and putting it to wise use.
Targeted mailings to those with a previously expressed interest in your group are sure to produce better results than more random mailing efforts. But, there is a great deal of information easily available that may prove extremely helpful to your mission. Demographic identifiers including family size, pet ownership and physical location can often be quite helpful to many charities.
If you lack the ability to afford such data, make sure you take full advantage of information your group has already acquired and gathered. Lots of groups tend to forget that they have existing databases of current members, lapsed members and others. Be certain to revisit this data and put it to work whenever possible.
No matter if you need to raise new revenue streams, broaden your membership base or build a new core group of volunteers, using the advice found above really can make a big difference.

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