There is a likelihood that Nonprofit fundraising activities will slow down this year. Different factors will contribute to this. Needless to say, most factors are not within the control of nonprofits.
Nonprofits are left with two options: either find ways to cut costs or prepare to fold. Any organization serious about “doing good” should consider doing the following:
- Reduce paper weight and adopt lower weight paper
- By any means, strive to be a paperless nonprofit organization
- Introduce low-cost marketing and public relations techniques
- Lower training costs by using videos instead of paid training sessions
- Use video conferencing instead of buying flight tickets to attend every meeting
In this blog, we list four factors that will affect nonprofit fundraising activities and offer some useful tips.
Global economy
The 2007 Great Recession had some lingering effects on nonprofit organizations. Between 2007 and 2008 Blackbaud discovered that givers were hesitant to open up their wallets.
In 2017, the Eurozone economies can expect a slight economic growth. According to IHS Markit, there are forces that will slow down the Eurozone economy slightly, for example, the recent referendum on Italy had sparked Eurozone crisis. The upcoming elections in Germany and France could have a big impact on the European economy. Economists predict a Eurozone growth of 1.4% followed by a slight slowdown towards the end of the quarter. The UK growth will fall from 2.1% in 2016 to 1.3% in 2017.
The erratic nature of the economy forces nonprofits to spend within budget. The major challenge for most organizations is how to monitor budgets.
Inflation continues to shoot up
Tweet this: Developing countries should expect a rise in the price of goods as their inflation continues to shoot up.
In January, UK inflation surged by 0.2 % points for the first time in two years. Brexit has something to do with this recent rise and economists predict an increase in the price of goods. The US inflation rate is projected to trend around 2.1% and to drop to 1.9% in the second quarter.
Developing countries should expect a rise in the price of goods as their inflation continues to shoot up. For example, South African inflation is projected at 5.7% in the third quarter.
Nonprofits operating in developing countries should expect to spend more on purchases. It’s important that these organizations use an efficient purchase order system that helps them to spend within budget.
Political changes
The US presents the best example of how political changes can affect nonprofits.During the George Bush administration, military production companies benefited while solar companies raked in millions under Obama’s leadership.
President Donald Trump’s plans to cut federal funding are not the only challenge that nonprofits are facing. There may be new policies that could affect how nonprofits run their organizations. Trump’s first 100 days in the office made the nonprofit leaders stomachs to turn as they were not sure what to expect.
Generally, cooperation and honesty are the best way to continue doing good under new governments. Contravening the rules and making the headlines for the wrong reasons will only invite government scrutiny.
Technological advances
Technological advances have a huge profound on how nonprofits work. It’s important that nonprofit leaders keep abreast of the technological trends. The use of technology makes raising funds a lot easier and doing good a lot quicker.
Cloud, for example, provides nonprofits with a secure and highly cheaper environment to do good. The service that is provided via the cloud is cheaper and allows charity leaders to access large amounts of information in real-time.
Cloud makes accessing important applications that help nonprofits to spend responsibly easy. For example, Procurementexpress.com, a cloud-based PO software which helps organizations spend within budget. With this software, nonprofit COOs can track funds wherever they are.
Any duplications of invoices or discrepancies are addressed in real-time. Fraudsters are deterred before they can dip their dirty hands in the charity funds as Procurementexpress.com gives charity leaders a total control over budgets. Accountability seems as natural as breathing!
Don’t let budgeting outsmart you. Sign up for a free trial today. Procurementexpress.com’s team is available 24/7 just to make sure that you can budget like a pro. If you’d like more info about Procurementexpress.com (an automated purchase control system), please contact: [email protected]
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