NFPs face tech struggle during pandemic
Posted on 29 Oct 2020
By Matthew Schulz, journalist, Our Community
A study of nearly 500 not-for-profits in Australia and New Zealand reveals 70% of groups have not had sufficient technology to allow staff to work from home during the pandemic. Here's a few tips to make life easier.
The latest annual Digital Technology in the Not-for-Profit Sector report, by sector technology specialists Infoxchange, notes that groups have been forced to quickly adopt new collaboration tools and video conferencing platforms and improve the digital capability of staff.
The study of 490 not-for-profit groups also found that:
- 54% are not satisfied with the way they use technology
- 46% don’t actively monitor the security of their online systems and information
- 46% have moved to the cloud, up from 35% two years ago
- 41% say updating their website is a top priority
- 49% of staff aren’t confident with technology and information systems.
The detailed report on the state of technology also provides insights into the types of organisations that responded to the study, how organisation are adapting, new and emerging technologies, preferred content and software systems, and shifting priorities.
The study reinforces similar recent findings about the challenges faced by not-for-profits, such as those in Our Community’s COVID-19 Community Sector Impact Survey, which highlighted service delivery, fundraising, volunteering and sector support as areas of concern.
Infoxchange Group CEO David Spriggs said the timing of the study was significant, given the difficulties NFPs faced during the pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has really emphasised how important it is for not-for-profits to have effective, reliable technology in place so they can keep supporting communities and making the biggest impact possible,” Mr Spriggs said.
He said there had been significant “digital transformation” in the past six months, “with many organisations able to fast-track technology changes in days or weeks that would have previously taken months to complete.”
“There is now a significant opportunity for organisations to consider ongoing service transformation enabled by digital technology.”
As well as sharing the report, Infoxchange will use the results to guide its own work in helping not-for-profits with better tech.
MORE INFORMATION
Read the Infoxchange report in full
Help sheets: How to take your AGM online | Working from home guidelines for NFPs | Tech tools for NFPs working from home | How to stay connected with social media
Our Community research: COVID-19 Community Sector Impact Study | Not-for-profit governance roadmap report