The Challenge
Are you a Not-For-Profit (NFP) organization that is tired of the excess paperwork to track donations or membership lists? You are not alone. With shrinking funding, reduced donations, and limited human resources, it is more important than ever that organizations create and manage systems which help achieve their operational objectives while addressing the constraints and limitations of today's operating environment. One of the key enablers is the efficient and effective use of information technology.
Making the Best of Your Current Situation
Many small and medium sized organizations currently use QuickBooks or Simply Accounting for their accounting system. These software solutions include powerful features for managing member lists, preparing donation receipts, and assisting with marketing and fundraising campaigns. Therefore, becoming more efficient may be as simple as taking full advantage of the capabilities of your current information systems.
Another consideration is upgrading to a more advanced version of the software already being used. Both QuickBooks and Simply Accounting have advanced versions which introduce additional features and benefits that may address an organization's particular issues or concerns. For example, QuickBooks Premier Edition has NFP and other industry versions built into the software, making the software adaptable to various industries.
Stand Alone Solutions
If the needs of your organization are not being satisfied by your accounting system, the next step is to investigate the availability of stand-alone applications designed for specific tasks such as a contact management system, project management or event planning software.
Integrated Applications
Many organizations currently have separate systems for tracking member details and for accounting information. This is not only a duplication of efforts but also increases the risk of errors in either of the two systems. Therefore, a key to becoming more efficient is to integrate systems as much as possible. Integration enables software programs to share information automatically. This reduces the number of times data must be entered, reduces input errors, and improves the quality and integrity of data.
Hosted Applications
Another alternative to consider is the use of a hosted application. These are generally sold as a service and are hosted on the internet by the service provider. This substantially reduces the burden on an organization since there are no significant internal hardware requirements and all software is administered and managed by the service provider. Therefore, the only additional requirement to your computerized environment is access to an internet connection and a web browser.
Customized Applications
When faced with an issue, often the reaction is to start building a database application in-house. Off-the-shelf database systems found in the leading office suites are relatively inexpensive. However, to be effective and efficient they require a developer with adequate knowledge to design the tables, forms and reports necessary. This expertise may not be available to all organizations, and to hire an external IT consultant to design and maintain a database may be costly.
Conclusion
In times of restricted budgets and human resources, organizations are continually challenged to do more with less. Today, there is a wide range of solutions and opportunities to consider which can help manage the various aspects of your organization. These systems offer compelling benefits and the potential to freeup valuable resources, allowing an organization to focus on strategy and delivery of core services necessary to meet their mandates.
We Can Help
Collins Barrow Ottawa would be pleased to assist you with a comprehensive needs assessment and a thorough evaluation of the solution being evaluated, ensuring that your organization's issues are being addressed, that potential pitfalls are identified, and that the benefits of adoption will be realized.
This article was written by Trevor Pinn, B.Comm. Audit and Assurance Senior and by David Mirsky, CA-IT, Director of Technology Solutions Collins Barrow Ottawa LLP