The importance of Purpose took centre stage at a recent NonProfit Alliance (NPA) event. Key takeaways from the panelled discussion are that NFPs need to do a better job of focusing on their purpose and use it as the primary guideline in determining meaningful outcomes. Proper reporting is also a problem for many organisations, especially smaller charities and other NFPs who tend to under-report their impact and minimise their importance to society.

Great Strength Comes from Unity

As discussed in an earlier article, Reaffirming Your NFP’s Focus, when nonprofits focus on their purpose, it becomes a powerful tool to bringing every aspect of your operations and your team into alignment with your goals. Every action is taken with your core mission, your reason for existence, being top of mind. Your purpose becomes your team’s rallying point that keeps everyone motivated and working together towards your common goal. This improves your organisation’s efficiency and effectiveness, but also gives you a competitive advantage over those entities that are less focused on their core mission and the need to generate a significant, measurable impact.

Using Tech to Reaffirm Your Purpose

So, what else can nonprofits do to increase their focus on their purpose? What if your NFP has already clearly defined its values and goals, used it to create a strong culture and brand image, and is setting clear expectations and making hiring and training decisions based on your purpose? One area that is often overlooked when we think of reaffirming our purpose is the importance of new technology, and how to use it improve our processes and increase impact.

For example, there are several new HR software suites available that reduce the time needed to manage common human resource activities such as onboarding, training and professional development, as well as oversight and management of team performance.

New fundraising apps make it easier than ever to segment your donor lists and customise messaging to make the best impression and encourage greater support. These same apps offer options that make it easier for your supporters to make gifts using a wider variety of payment options.

New bookkeeping and recording software, such as Admin Bandit’s software for volunteer treasurers, is geared to address the special needs of your financial administrators, fully automating your most common, tedious tasks so that you have more time to devote to more important functions such as strategic planning, reducing risk and offering much-needed advice to other board members.

Use Purpose to Uncover Hidden Costs

When we focus on purpose, it not only brings the mission front and centre for each of us, it also uncovers and reveals those areas that we often overlook.

The next time that a proposal comes before the board to invest in a new software package, or hardware, don’t just consider the upfront price tag when you vote. Keep in mind the indirect costs that come from maintaining the status quo. Think about how much you can save in terms of time by upgrading your software to one that will streamline your processes and improve your efficiency!