8 common brick walls that slow down not-for-profits
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The document discusses common challenges faced by not-for-profits, particularly in relation to inefficient management and data systems that hinder productivity and decision-making. It highlights the importance of integrated ERP software to centralize data, improve communication, and streamline operations, ultimately allowing organizations to focus more on their missions. Case studies of various organizations demonstrate the benefits of implementing such systems, emphasizing the need for long-term thinking in technology investment to avoid future costs and inefficiencies.
8 common brick walls that slow down not-for-profits
- 1. COMMON BRICK WALLS THAT SLOW DOWN NOT-FOR-PROFITS
- 2. If you’re in the not-for-profit sector making a difference is your business. WEALLWANTTO MAKE A DIFFERENCE Not-for-profits should lead the way in minimising costs and maximising funds to really make a difference. This presentation covers some of the most common business management issues not-for-profits face. We can’t claim to solve every problem, but we can offer some advice about the impacts and benefits of ERP software. It’s about getting around those ‘bricks’ and making the biggest difference with the funds you have.
- 3. Because not-for-profits use a lot of volunteer or low- paid labour, the time it takes to complete a task can seem less important. And because you are almost always racing to catch up, you don’t have the time to look for faster, more efficient options. So the status quo tends to be long hours, overtime and reworking. NOTENOUGHTIME FOR GOOD TIME MANAGEMENT1 The status quo tends to be long hours, overtime and reworking.
- 4. 4 Photo: Concern Universal / Jason Florio THE CONCERN UNIVERSAL STORY: MAKING POSITIVE CHANGE Concern Universal found it difficult to track live project information in remote regions due to its complex reporting processes. It meant field staff spent lots of time at their desk, that could have been spent out on the ground, helping people. “By centralising our systems, Greentree helps us spend less time administrating, and more time improving the lives of people in poverty.” View Concern Universal Case Study > Viv Mair, Systems and Services Co-ordinator Concern Universal
- 5. Charities and not-for-profits have to make hard decisions about budgeting. Unfortunately when it comes to technology sometimes the cheapest option can be more expensive in the long term. It requires future thinking: • What are your supporters, suppliers, volunteers and team members going to need now and into the future? • Will the system scale to account for business growth? • What are the hidden costs in hardware and IT infrastructure? • What are the support and maintenance costs? • Are you covered for upgrades? SHORTTERMTHINKING, LONG TERM PROBLEMS Charities and not-for-profits have to make hard decisions about where to allocate funds and how to spend hard-earned cash. 2
- 6. Community Housing Limited’s portfolio of properties doubled in size between 2011 and 2015, and so did the complexity of managing it all. Constantly changing regulatory compliance issues added to CHL’s burdens, so it went looking for a system that could bring all that data together and eliminate manual processes. “We chose Greentree because of its established commitment to the social housing sector and its strong Partner network. With Greentree, we have a system that will evolve with the company.” Patricia Vaz, General Manager, Corporate Services Community Housing Ltd View Community Housing Case Study > COMMUNITY HOUSING LTD: MANAGING CONSTANT CHANGE
- 7. Having no central point of truth is a roadblock for growth. In a 2014 survey of non-profit organisations in the UK, virtually all of the respondents said that they did not have access to an accurate source of data about organisational effectiveness, marketing effectiveness, service users or projects, members or supporters, employees, or even finances. Without this there is no easy way of finding out how your organisation is performing, where things are falling short and how to improve. NOTHAVINGACCESSTOA CENTRAL POINT OF TRUTH Without having accurate up-to-date data about everything that goes on in your organisation, it’s hard to plan for next week, let alone next year! 23
- 8. Before Greentree, Carers ACT was battling with too many duplicated tasks, as well as service and reporting difficulties. Fragmented systems couldn’t provide the consolidated view of carers’ needs that is essential to support a case for funding. Multiple data entry consumed too much staff time, and the reporting process was inconsistent and inflexible. “Everyone across the organisation is using Greentree. Having everything in the one system gives us the whole history of the client, and the staff can then assess what best suits their needs.” Carers ACT Manager View Carers ACT Case Study > CARERS ACT: DATA IN ACTION
- 9. LACKOFCOMMUNICATION BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS24 Separate systems lead to poor communication between departments – particularly around budgeting and finance. In a 2012 study about information management in the not-for-profit sector: • 87% said poor inter-departmental communication impacted on budget tracking and forecasting. • 47% found errors relating to data replication across multiple systems and departments. • 53% experienced inaccurate forecasting information leading to difficulties in long-term planning. Integrating technology so departments can communicate more effectively can make a huge difference to the way your organisation works.
- 10. Tear Fund struggled for some time with inefficient systems and multiple databases. Keeping track of and applying donor funds to projects had become time-consuming and inefficient, largely due to the increasingly fragmented state of data held in departmental silos. “We chose Greentree because its Job Cost module set it apart from the other systems. Greentree offered greater project management control … and an entirely customisable system, which meant we could modify the financial component to meet our not-for-profit requirements.” Jon Horne, Chief Financial and Operations Officer Tear Fund View Tear Fund Case Study > TEAR FUND: POWER OF A UNIFIED DATABASE
- 11. TOOMUCHDATA, TOO LITTLE TIME25 Useful data is relevant, readable and makes a practical impact. Many not-for-profits spend time and energy collecting a vast amount of data – but don’t have the ability to analyse it or put it to good use. A survey of the UK not-for-profit sector, revealed a staggering 96% of non-profit organisations reported that they were unable to make full and effective use of the data they already had access to. In at least some cases, these issues were caused by disparate information technology, with 80% saying they struggled to create reports using information from different systems.
- 12. At any given time, there can be over 200 projects and jobs on the go, each at a different stage of completion. EnviTE’s prior accounting system could not cope with the rapid growth of the organisation, and eventually 3,500 general ledger accounts were used to track projects as well as jobs. “Greentree provides the tools required to report the statistical facts about projects. This effectively arms management with the evidence to prove organisational performance.” “We could quadruple turnover with the same staffing level and not bat an eyelid.” Peter Hughes, Finance and Administration Manager EnviTE View EnviTE Case Study > ENVITE: GROWTH WITHOUT BLINKING
- 13. BADDATA, BAD DECISIONS26 When your organisation is running on a tight budget making good decisions is crucial. Recent studies of not-for-profit organisations indicate that this issue was all too apparent. The results showed that: • 87% admit to entering the same data more than once. • 72% felt that decisions in their organisations were often made without being supported by data. • 78% of respondents said that they had received conflicting data or reports when trying to make decisions. Inaccurate or missing data doesn’t just make day-to-day decisions hard – it also has a huge impact on longterm forecasting and decision-making.
- 14. CORD: STRIKING THE RIGHT NOTE Struggling to manage £3 million of funding on spreadsheets had effectively created a hostile environment of the electronic kind for Cord. Many of its donors required specific information in a pre-specified format. This presented a real administrative challenge manipulating data in spreadsheets and cashbooks. “(Since implementing Greentree) each report is tailored exactly to each donor’s needs and circulated within a month, not the two months it used to take.” Kerry Bosworth, Finance Director Cord View Cord Case Study >
- 15. MEETINGLEGALOBLIGATIONS TAKES TOO MUCH ENERGY27 Do you have hand-on-heart confidence that the information is complete, accurate and bullet-proof? Charities aren’t just working for a cause – they also have to front up to donors, local or national government and, horror of all horrors, the tax department. Again, it all comes back to data management. If you’re having to deal with disparate software systems and departments, it’s hard to produce a simple report for a board meeting – let alone a complex tax document in a foreign currency or with details from thousands of donors. You need the ability to create accurate, timely reports to meet all of your regulatory and sponsor requirements.
- 16. Many of Rocky Bay’s administrative processes had to be carried out manually which was time- consuming, inefficient and error-prone at best. Information was scattered and couldn’t be viewed or exported easily, restricting how information was displayed. “Greentree’s reporting flexibility enables Rocky Bay to tailor data for specific audiences and present it in a timely fashion to the Board or other stakeholders for scrutiny. The good thing is that everyone understands what’s being presented to them.” Mervyn Williams, Finance Director Rocky Bay View Rocky Bay Case Study > ROCKY BAY: IMPROVED GOVERNANCE
- 17. LESSINTEGRATION, LESS EFFICIENCY Lacking integration of functions between departments is one of the most significant problems not-for- profits can face. Results of a 2012 paper about efficiency in not-for-profit organisations, show that full integration of back office systems is still a long way off: • ONLY 21% of respondents had complete integration of finance, HR, payroll, and front office systems. • JUST 42% of organisations surveyed said they had some integration, with many functions still in silos. • SADLY 16% stated that they had no integration and all departments were completely separate. An integrated business management system leads to operational intelligence, which has one major benefit: the ability for everyone in the organisation to make the best decisions to do their job more effectively. 8
- 18. OXFAMSHOP: TRADING SUCCESS Getting fair trade products into Australian stores where they’ll attract more buyers requires a sound business footing. Oxfam has achieved this, with the help of its Greentree system. “We can’t afford to have orders going missing or not being processed, and the reliability of our Greentree system gives us that important trading lock-in.” “Greentree has helped to put Oxfam Shop on a solid business footing, so it can deliver greater returns to producers in the developing world.” David Horner, Chief Information Officer Oxfam Shop View Oxfam Shop Case Study > Photo: Bonnie Savage / OxfamAUS
- 19. GETTINGAROUND BUSINESS ROADBLOCKS2 Greentree has gained some great experience in working with not-for-profits - which means we can offer objective advice about solving recurring issues. One way to work towards a more effective business is through a fully integrated ERP software solution. This acts as a business engine, delivering the operational intelligence your organisation needs to thrive. But it’s not necessarily a simple, one-size-fits-all solution. You have to do some homework to find the right system. Here’s what to look for…
- 20. • Improve morale and motivation by empowering your team to make better decisions. • Integrate your department functions, including finance, project management, HR and supply chain management. • Give you and your team access to accurate, real- time data, anywhere, any time. • Offer fast, simple customised reporting for auditing and forecasting. • Process financial data in any currency, saving time on converting and interpreting data. • Enable in-depth donor reporting and auditing to help target fundraising campaigns. From a chief executive point of view you survive on data and it needs to be in time and accurate and verifiable… Greentree provides that right across the spectrum of the company’s activities.” Greg Budworth Group Managing Director Compass Housing. VIEW VIDEO HERE > WHATGOODERPSOFTWARESHOULD DO FOR YOUR ORGANISATION:
- 21. • Simplify and streamline project costing across multiple projects. • Offer cloud hosting options so your system is accessible from anywhere, at any time from any device. • Automate back-up and data recovery to prevent the loss of key information. • Reduce time spent on administrative tasks, fewer errors and less duplication of data. • Adapt to the way your team organisation operates; not making you and your team change the way you work to fit their system. • Enable everyone, right across your entire organisation to work more effectively together to make an even greater difference. WHATGOODERPSOFTWARESHOULD DO FOR YOUR ORGANISATION:
- 22. If you’ve found the information in this presentation useful, please download our latest eBook > Or visit us at greentree.com FREEEBOOK DOWNLOAD © 2015 Greentree International Ltd Version August 2015. All product and company names are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.