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Overcoming Obstacles: Keeping Critical Donations Flowing with the Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit
12 Jun, 2023
A story of digital transformation and empowerment, told by one of the HSO technology experts on the team that helped make it happen
For non-profit organizations, anything that contributes to the ability to pursue their mission is invaluable—from attracting volunteers and donations to working more efficiently with less. The mission of HSO’s Non-Profit team is to help—by applying technology to the challenges they face.
In this Overcoming Obstacles blog post and interview, you’ll hear from Matthew Case, a Consulting Director at HSO, who shares the story of how a non-profit left a big obstacle behind.
Matthew Case, Consulting Director, talks about modernizing the donation process for a non-profit whose outdated technology was putting them at risk of losing donors
We focus on building solutions for non-profits to help them improve processes and better interact with donors, volunteers, and the people they serve by addressing issues with their existing software systems –and as a result, their processes—are outdated. This is why I’m glad we have relationships with these organizations, so we can help through the smart use of technology.
All non-profits exist in this reality where they're dependent not on a revenue stream from a product or service, but on generous donations from institutions and individuals. The way that money is collected has changed drastically, especially in the last decade, where many of these interactions and transactions are happening digitally and at the point of sale. The trouble is that most non-profits can’t afford to innovate their technology to keep up with this trend—and they risk losing donations because of it.
One particular faith-based organization we worked with recently was literally entrenched in software and processes that had been in place for years, and while they were still functioning, they had not aged well. They needed a new solution, not only for donation management, but also for other key areas as well. But this is a big investment of money, resources, and time, so they needed to find something that could be up and running as quickly as possible so the donation stream would be impacted as little as possible.
The solution: Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit
The organization was introduced to the Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, which really captured their attention because Microsoft had clearly focused on developing a solution that specifically caters to non-profits.
The Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit ticked most, if not all, of the boxes:
- No time, money, or resources spent on customizing a platform from scratch
- Ability to use existing data types and entities, like constituents, donors, and donations, which are already baked into the platform
- Out-of-the-box integrations for things like payment processing, public-facing portals, and more
With the Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, specifically the Fundraising and Engagement (F&E) module, and integration with the entire Microsoft ecosystem—Teams, Outlook, and more—all sitting in the Azure cloud, they are getting as close to a one-stop shop as they can get. From collecting, tracking, and accounting for donations to acknowledging and thanking donors, digital transformation has been made much, much simpler. And that’s just the donation side of the story…this kind of transformation can happen across the entire organization.
Keeping it personal
While it is important to keep donations coming in, non-profits are ultimately about people. One of the goals this organization had was to create more personalized journeys with the help of technology, rather than depending so heavily upon their employees and volunteers. And I’m happy to say they are happy with the progress on that front, as well. By automating many of the processes that were previously done manually, they free up their people to do other things without compromising on a consistent, reliable, positive experience for anyone who interacts with the organization.
That keeps it personal, which is what it’s all about for any non-profit … and that’s what I love about what we do.
Watch the Interview with Matthew Case
Want to hear more about how this non-profit organization began its digital transformation by modernizing key areas like donation management? Watch the entire interview, Overcoming Obstacles: The Fundraising Transformation Journey of a Faith-Based Non-Profit, with Matthew Case.