A charity is non-profit but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to be efficient, quite the opposite is true in fact, with any organization, there is the need to perform as effectively as possible and be able to carry out its objectives and goals in a scheduled manner. For a regular business its objectives and goals includes acquiring a profit. However for a charity that may mean helping as much causes as quickly as possible. Aiding causes swiftly is definitely a goal any charity can meet and Enterprise Resource Planning can go a long way in helping.

So what is Enterprise Resource Planning?

Enterprise Resource Planning software is meant for organization process management. It allows the organization to utilize integrated applications to manage and automate many background functions related to technology, services and human resources. It is capable of integrating all facets of the organization including planning, development, and marketing (yes marketing is important even for charities).

A range of mobile software options for charities when it comes to ERP

When it comes to ERP software, it’s a case of it working best for larger organizations and requiring dedicated teams to tailor to the organization and analyze organizational data.

When the board of a charity comes up with a goal or a target it is up to the different arm of the organization to carry out the directives. The volunteers, financial departments and other support services need to work in tandem to allow the charity/organization to achieve its directives. Any of these arms not acting in unison may prevent the organization from doing enough or cause overages for an entity that already works hard to get itself funded through donations. Both of these are undesirable and must be avoided if could.

So what can enterprise resource planning do for a charity?

The short answer is a lot … the long answer is a bit more complicated

A charity raises donations and uses these donations to support causes it deems necessary. A charity could save money on its operational costs and be able use more of this money on its actual cause. Imagine the charity working so efficiently that every dollar it receives could be put to good use and given to causes that are deemed to have the most impact. Imagine spending more time focusing on the goals of the organization instead of on paperwork. What would the organization be able to accomplish then.

There are already Enterprise Resource Planning Software for charities and N.G.O’s and ERP FM fall into that category where we offer special rates to work with charities. We offer to connect donations to their impact in ways that would not be easy to do before.

A charity must do several things to remain viable:

– It must be able to show how money from its donors are spent.

– It must show a consistent impact from the donations

– It must create credible reports to outline and keep track of spending and charity activities

– Have a flexible and responsive structure that reacts to new developments in a timely manner

Enterprise Resource Planning can be a great tool to utilize in a charity as it addresses these exact problems. It is able to integrate the accounting information to gather exactly what was collected and how it was allocated. The importance of this cannot be understated as donors are more likely to donate when they see where there money is going.

It can show where money allocated had the most effect; this is fairly important as it is the whole aim of a charity organization, making an impact. It can link reports with activities more easily to show where the most pertinent expenses are or what can be regarded as a non-expense and discontinued from reimbursement.

Additionally the charity needs to react to changing developments. Whether this is changes in causes, changes in donation amounts and changes in operations. When utilizing an enterprise resource planning software you will be able to analyze the organization in its entirety and make the changes where necessary.

It is clear that digital is the way to go. It is much more cost effective for an organization to have a cheap and inexpensive system to operate under. The charity would be able to spend less of its focus on work behind the scene or promoting and more of it on the people they work with or try to support through their cause.

The work that a charity does is extremely important. That is why Enterprise Resource Planning is the best solution to help a charity operate like it should and achieving it’s goals of helping others within the system.