When you hear the word technology, you might think of computers or a bundle of cords connected to various devices. But that doesn’t fully encompass technology’s true reach.
Technology is any practical application of knowledge, and since people have started gaining knowledge, we’ve been creating different technologies to make life easier for ourselves.
In creating new technologies, we’re opening up the possibilities of what advancement will look like in every industry.
Technology brings innovation to every sector: its impact certainly is not unique to nonprofits.
In our previous article How Tech Powers Philanthropy, we explored the ways tech innovation specifically works in favor of nonprofit growth.
In this article, we’ll expand on that to identify why advancements in technology are absolutely essential for nonprofits to close gaps related to knowledge, access, and resource allocation.
Tech is Advancing and Nonprofits Are Missing Out
There’s a common misconception in the nonprofit world that financial ratios are the sole indicator of performance.
Social impact, brand recognition, employee satisfaction, efficiency, and success in achieving whatever the organisation seeks to do all tell a story as to how prosperous a nonprofit actually is.
Any nonprofit or for-profit organisation must use tech to achieve success in a multitude of ways that extend far beyond simple money metrics, although that certainly is important.
Technology is advancing, but nonprofits are missing out and failing to consider the ways their organisation could strategically further their impact.
This is how we ended up with the technology gap.
Increasing technology uptake in the nonprofit sector is necessary for nonprofits to succeed.
By taking advantage of technological innovation, nonprofits will be able to to close gaps that leave them lagging behind their for-profit counterparts, further their impact, be more efficient and cost-effective, and provide more effective services throughout all operations.
There’s a lot of money to be made in tech and there’s is not a lot of money to be made from nonprofits in tech.
So how can we expect the technology sector to pay attention to nonprofit needs and develop tech innovations that specifically serve the needs of nonprofits in complete ways? The answer is through collaboration.
Competition is excellent in the free market, however, when it comes to nonprofits, competition is a hindrance.
Nonprofits need to take the best aspects of the for-profit sector, add a collaborative and transparent spin on them, and then they will see an exponentially positive return.
Let’s dive into an example of how tech innovation can improve a nonprofit sector. We will use our own space, mental health research, (and grant-funded research in general) as an example.
We hope by sharing this information, more nonprofits both within and outside of our space will start to grasp the benefits of collaborating with each other.
How Nonprofits Can Take Advantage of Tech
Nonprofit organisations are often focused on their mission—whether that be providing education to underserved groups, curing diseases, or caring for the elderly-–so they often don’t spend time thinking about how to increase their margins or bring in more business the way that a startup or any for-profit company would.
But if that changes, nonprofits will be able to achieve their goals at higher rates of success.
More than anything, this is about nonprofits learning to take strategic use of technology to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
This might mean partnering with for-profits that can help them better understand what technologies are available and how to use them.
It may mean spending more to fill these gaps like hiring marketing directors, even if it won’t necessarily appease donors.
And, it may mean waiting longer to see a direct return on investment because good things, especially good things that have long-term impacts, take time.
Technology Closes Gaps
Closing the Knowledge Gap
The tech knowledge gap, which refers to small nonprofits’ lack of knowledge on how to use new technologies that could help meet their needs, heavily contributes to the technology gap.
Instead of pushing organisations to learn new technologies, a new technology overload like what we’re currently undergoing often causes “information anxiety,” something many of us experience: anxiety is produced by the ever-widening gap between what we understand and what we think we should understand.
Smaller nonprofits have the potential to become powerful fundraising organisations if properly equipped with the right knowledge of the most effective and most efficient technologies.
By doing so, they’ll have to behave like successful entrepreneurs, strategically planning for their organisations.
There is no longer a need for large teams to get a job done. With the right software, one person can now do the job of many, thereby saving nonprofits additional labor costs and allowing more of their donations to go to their benefactors.
Nonprofits can use their small size to their advantage by acting creatively, remaining flexible, and responding quickly to change.
However, this can only happen if they overcome their “information anxiety, and get to work locating the tools that can help their organisations get equipped for the present and future.
For example, at 1907 Foundation, we use
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Hubspot for our CRM, email marketing, and donations management
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Mentally Tough as our fundraising platform (built in house)
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Atala as our grant management system (built in house)
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Squarespace for our website
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Slack for our communications
Just to name a few.
Tech Provides Access for Nonprofits and Benefactors
It’s time for nonprofits come to terms with technology and the options available to them. Software can be expensive if you do not take the time to shop around and do demos to learn the options available.
When done strategically, technology can give nonprofits access to more funds for their benefactors, more information about their donors, more timely communication with advocates and the field, and better analytics and reporting to make strategic decisions.
As a result, “nonprofits are leaving significant impact on the table,” says Jason Mogus and Austen Levihn-Coon of the Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Many nonprofits will use budget as an excuse for not investing in technology.
However, the key point to remember is that technology saves time and money and that when you use a new technology, while there might be an initial learning curve, the returns are exponential.
More often than not, people become set in their ways and are afraid of change. This mentality has held many nonprofits back from what they could be capable of.
An excellent example of a nonprofit organisation that has used technology to further its mission and significantly increase its impact is Charity: Water.
They use technology to provide a personal experience for all donors unique to the specific type of donor they are.
Tech Addresses Nonprofits’ Resource Allocation Gaps
Nonprofits of all sizes, but especially smaller organisations have suffered from chronic underinvestment as constrained resources favour direct programs over infrastructure needs.
They then are unable to easily attain the resources they need to acquire long-term improvements for their organisations.
When funders give to nonprofits, unlike in for-profit organisations, nonprofits often feel pressure to conform to donor pressures, and donors don’t see the big picture the way those working at an organisation do.
Therefore, philanthropists may be more likely to fund something that provides instant gratification, rather than investing in technologies that can help their organisations in the long run.
Nonprofits’ missions are marathons, not sprints. This is especially true in the world of research.
That’s why at 1907, we sponsor scientists’ research for 2 years, and we bankroll long-term output that will eventually help us solve mental health.
We use technology to make the entire funding process more efficient, more ethical, more equitable, and more effective.
Atala: A Revolutionary Grant Management Software
As stated, at 1907 Foundation, we prioritise long-term investments that will pay off and help us achieve our goals.
This is often harder to market because we live in a world where we’re accustomed to instant gratification, but that’s simply not realistic in the realm of mental health research. But that definitely doesn’t mean it’s not important.
Our team values innovation in technology and thinking critically about how we can improve our world with it, which is why we built, and are now scaling, Atala: a GMS toolkit designed to streamline the applicant, review, and award process.
Atala creates collaboration opportunities between funders to ensure that the point of nonprofit work (aka getting the money into the hands of those who need it and can create progress) is realised more ethically and more equitably.
Atala will be up to date and current with the newest technologies in the for-profit industry, relatively affordable and accessible, and it will be catered specifically to nonprofits.
Many scientists spend up to 40 percent of their time applying for grants, and we want to decrease that number significantly so scientists can focus on making change happen through their work.
We plan to scale Atala across the neuroscience and mental health universe to start, but ultimately we want to make this software available to all grant funders.
Not only will Atala be able to give researchers valuable time back to conduct their work, but it will also create efficiencies throughout the process.
Using blinding during the review process, Atala will close the gaps we currently see in resource allocation to scientists, making the opportunity more equitable.
By ensuring a large sample size of reviewers, Atala will be able to guarantee a higher degree of ethical decision making.
By providing a platform and process for reviewers to make decisions solely based on the purity of science, Atala will allow for more effective and more results-focused selections of studies.
If you would like to learn more about Atala, would like to book a demo, or would like to help support the scale of this revolutionary software, we appreciate your interest and support and look forward to hearing from you.
1907 Uses Technology to Power Philanthropy
At 1907 Foundation, we know all this to be true.
That’s why in addition to our scientific advisory boards and fellows, we have an extensive and professional administration team that handles all the non-scientific aspects of our organisation.
Although they are not directly undergoing research alongside our grant winners, the work they do is irreplaceable and has taken our foundation so much further and helped us get closer and closer to solving mental health each and every day.
Likewise, we dedicate much of our operating budget to acquiring and understanding the latest and greatest technologies that will help us expand our reach.
That’s why we developed Atala and built our own fundraising platform, Mentally Tough.
We can’t wait until Atala becomes a reality for other organisations outside of 1907.
If you found this information helpful, if you believe in our mission, and if you want to help us use effective solutions to scientific research in order to understand and cure mental health, we hope you’ll consider giving today.
