GETTING 100% BUY-IN FOR YOUR NONPROFIT TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION

So, you’ve decided to move to a technology- based solution… Congratulations! On the horizon… BIG CHANGE.

How do you make your case? Outcomes Based Framework

Outcomes-Based Framework Step 1: Impact Strategy Describe Your Mission Step 2: Impact Area Identify key components of the Impact Strategy for Technology Adoption Step 3: Indicators of Success Define measurable indicators for each identified Impact Area

THE RESEARCH “Today’s technology offers one of the quickest and easiest ways to increase nonprofit capacity and effectiveness, as well as enhance performance- related investment—all while dramatically decreasing administrative costs.” Nonprofit Good Practice Guide, Johnson Center at Grand Valley State University—The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation

IMPACT STRATEGY To Deliver More … Mission [insert your mission here] Examples: “Housing for the Homeless” “Access to Health Services for the Elderly” Your Message: “We all get out of bed every day to change lives in a world of unlimited need, scarce resources and growing expectations. Technology will empower us to serve more people with every hour, every program and every dollar.”

IMPACT AREA 1 Track What Matters What does Track What Matters mean? One system to manage whatever information staff, client, volunteers and funders need to collect and report on. Your Message: Many nonprofits spend critical, quantitative resources diverted from mission-related activities in the ongoing challenge of collecting and reporting results. The right nonprofit software can guaranty confidentiality and free time for mission-driven service provision and for serving more people in need.

THE RESEARCH “ … The ability to collect and understand data, and the time it takes for these activities, are the biggest internal barriers to nonprofits’ use of data for strategic decision-making … In surveying respondents about collecting data related to information about what programs specific clients/constituents take part in, 18% said ‘we don’t have the time/money to effectively track this’; 16% said ‘we don’t have the technology to effectively track this’; and 17% said ‘we don’t know how to track this’.” The State of Nonprofit Data, November, 2012; an NTEN Report Prepared by Idealware “Statutory penalties for failing to protect HIPAA protected client data for ‘unknown cause’ or ‘reasonable cause without willful neglect’ (as compared to willful neglect), range, per incidence, from $100 per to $50,000.” The Road Map to HIPAA Compliance: What Your Nonprofit Needs to Know, August 8, Venable LLP, Washington, DC.

INDICATORS OF SUCCESS Track What Matters – Indicators of Success: Capture information Eliminate duplication of effort and deliver reports Better manage virtually any and all information

IMPACT AREA 2 Collaborate with Ease What does Collaborate with Ease mean? One flexible, permission-secure, easy-to-use system, placing shared histories, updates, reports and actions at everyone’s fingertips. Your Message: Explain how difficult it is to provide family-centric, holistic case management, or other collaborative services, when staff cannot securely and immediately share information.

THE RESEARCH “Two-thirds of [technology’s] potential productivity value lies in improving collaboration and communication within and across nonprofit organizations of all types. The average social worker spends an estimated 28% of the workweek managing and 20% looking for internal information or tracking down colleagues who can help with specific tasks… Value can be realized through faster, more efficient, more effective collaboration.” The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI)

INDICATORS OF SUCCESS Collaborate With Ease– Indicators of Success: Securely access and use information anywhere via browser or device Automate and streamline the way teams share information, serve clients and determine outcomes Enable stakeholders to securely access and provide information via the web

IMPACT AREA 3 Prove Results What does Prove Results mean? Nonprofits and grant writers are increasingly being asked to use outcomes-based, provable data in applying for grants. Without the correct outcome reports, funding is being denied. Your Message: Organizations rely on performance measurement to guide their service practices. Would any for-profit business expect to be successful if they lacked the will or means to closely monitor their products’ consumer acceptance and their company’s impact on their market? The same holds true for nonprofits.

THE RESEARCH “In surveying respondents about collecting data related to information about the outcomes of clients/constituents, 22% said ‘we don’t have the time/money to effectively track this’; 20% said ‘we don’t have the technology to effectively track this’; and, 17 % said ‘we don’t know how to track this’.” The State of Nonprofit Data, November, 2012; an NTEN Report Prepared by Idealware “In a recent study of 6,000 foundations, 90% stated that their first requirement of nonprofits seeking funding was to be able to prove positive outcomes in related areas of service.” MicroEdge, Inc. Customer Survey, 2012

INDICATORS OF SUCCESS Prove Results– Indicators of Success: Differentiate your organization and story with hard-hitting facts that help you win funding and better inform donors Refine your programs and plan new ones with evidence-based discipline Run more consistently and efficiently to replicate and expand impacts

FINAL ‘BUY-IN’ TIPS Involve key staff in the search Provide an overview of selection; explain how and why software was chosen Ask for a personal demo; include key staff in the demo process