A big thank you 🙏  to NTEN and Heller Consulting for producing the 2024 Nonprofit Digital Investments Report — a must-read for nonprofit leaders, board members, and funders.

I focus on helping nonprofits streamline operations through adoption of modern work practices, so I found this data from the report especially interesting:

• 75% of respondents said “improving inefficient processes” significantly impacts technology decisions.
• 61% said “saving time for staff” significantly impacts technology decisions.
• 75% said cost considerations significantly impact technology decisions
• 43% said the organization culture is not supportive of learning new technologies.
• 54% said the organization does not have the necessary time to learn new technologies.

I’m still parsing the data on revenue sources for technology budgets, but it’s clear that foundations and government funders could step up to help cover technology costs. 

None of this is a surprise, and the irony is thick: we need to improve processes and help staff save time, but we often don’t have the culture or the time or the budget to support these change efforts– which are frequently technology enabled.

When we couple this with perennial staffing challenges faced by nonprofits, we see a critical need to focus on implementing better work practices, supported by technology.

The whole report is worth a read, and I look forward to hearing how others interpret different aspects of the data.