The FAMCare Blog

In ten years, where do you see your NGO? Most likely somewhere prosperous, serving the needs of the group you've chosen to assist.

Of course, if you're in charge of an NGO, you'd want to see it grow—both operationally and geographically, with operations spanning multiple states, if not entire continents.  However, for many non-governmental organizations, this scenario is far from reality. Because approximately 30% of NGOs in the United States cease to exist after about ten years. And there are several reasons for their failure, the most important of which is their failure to plan for the future.

So, if you’re running a NGO, here’s how human services case management software can singlehandedly be your champion.

A non-profit project is a rewarding idea. Whatever path you choose for your non-profit, you will be giving back to the community in some way, which can be a very rewarding experience.

But, as heartwarming as it is, running a non-profit is no easy task. It takes a lot of strategic planning, resources, and a lot of resilience to develop an initial idea and expand on it, especially when you're on a non-profit. Given the early challenges, investing in non-profit software to streamline some of your work early on will help you stay on track until much later.

Nonprofits in the twenty-first century must embrace innovative technological solutions. In fact, many nonprofits that fail to adapt to the changing technology landscape fail completely in the long run. Even before the pandemic, one of the reasons many nonprofits had to close their doors was a failure to embrace technology.

So, in order to maximize your nonprofit's existing resources, you must invest in the right technological solutions. You can ensure that your nonprofit meets all of its short- and long-term objectives by using the right software solutions.

However, investing in the wrong software can be detrimental to the organization, so ask these simple questions when selecting nonprofit software.

It is no secret that the pandemic has affected the entire world in one way or another. This includes not just individuals, but entire countries, economies, industries and systems.

The virus has helped put things in perspective for many of us, it has also managed to completely wreck the lives of others. While many people were laid off, others spent months working from home, but for social workers, the pandemic brought huge, unprecedented challenges that went beyond just the struggles associated with remote work.

Non-profits have ambitious goals, but they are often buried under a workload of paper. According to an estimate, only 11% of non-profit organizations pay attention to including technology in their operations. Doing things manually takes a lot of time and manpower, so understanding the value of technology is critical for non-profits.  

When agencies dig in and start looking into the advances and potential benefits that modernizing technology can bring to the table, here’s some of the things they consider.

Keeping data secure is a top priority for non-profits and there are several reasons for this.

Non-profits are usually associated with various donors, and the relationship a non-profit has with them is a sensitive one. Protecting their personal information therefore is a priority for any organization.  

Additionally, and most important, many non-profits in the human services field handle adults and juveniles in very vulnerable situations. Therefore, their personal information getting compromised or stolen is simply not acceptable. A breach of data would directly contradict the primary purpose of the non-profit, which is to protect the vulnerable.

Here are a few simple ways non-profits can secure their data.

Nonprofit organizations are often chaotic spaces with a plethora of operations and programs underway. There are huge caseloads to deal with, events to organize, and heaps of paperwork to get through. These are just typical days and yes, sometimes, it gets worse.

Nonprofits mostly start with great ideas and big hearts trying to address a problem nobody else seems to care about. From Doctors Without Borders to Feeding America, Americares Foundation, Direct Relief, and United Way Worldwide, there are countless examples of large, successful nonprofits around us—but even these were only just ideas at some point.

Many nonprofits may have started around the same time as these successful ones, but we don’t even know about them—probably because they’ve ceased to exist.

As a budding nonprofit, here’s what you need to avoid.

Refugees create unique issues for human services organizations, especially when it comes to creating and maintaining an accurate database to manage the care they need. One of the main things you find with onboarding the refugees into your database is the difficult nature of getting accurate data. It is hard to track that information and store that information and then to get your database to talk to other databases that data.

Your nonprofit organization has been growing and helping more people on a regular basis. You have good case workers who care about their clients and making a difference. Have you reached the point where investing in the right case management software could propel your organization to a new level, while making your case workers more effective at their jobs? Here are some tips to see if you’re ready to take that next step.