Digital transformation or digitalization in a non-profit setting might be more qualitative--and less quantifiable in terms of outcomes--than for private firms. Also, subjective assessment of “better outcomes” is one thing; objectively measurable outcomes are harder.
One survey by Business and Decision found non-profit practitioners’ perceptions of value exceeded expectations across the board. Keep in mind these are perceptions, not measurements.
Practitioners ranked transformation efforts high for “raising awareness,” for example. Perceptions of value for gaining new members or generating donations were generally expected to yield less improvement, as was fund raising or generating donations. That likely reflects a genuine understanding that these “tangible goals” were going to be more difficult than intangible outcomes.
It is not easy. Many nonprofits struggle to get by, Microsoft notes. They are revenue-stretched, and paper-bound. Also, if digitalization normally presumes the ability to harvest insights from data, non-profits often have limited capability to generate meaningful data.
Also, non-profits often lack a firm understanding of how they are performing or what their costs really are, Microsoft notes. “They aren’t sure what programs are doing well and what could be done better.”
“Arcane and laborious administrative tasks, as well as the pressure of constant fundraising, can tie up skilled specialists and volunteers, keeping them from focusing on their real mission: helping others,” Microsoft says.
Some basic requirements, such as understanding actual process flows, can be challenging as they are non-linear, non-standardized or porous, as they often rely heavily on volunteers or high rates of employee and volunteer turnover.
Also, “the nonprofit sector is not known for being particularly innovative or open to change,” notes Suzanne Laporte, Compass president. .
So it might not be surprising that as much as 84 percent of non-profit digital transformation projects fail.
No comments:
Post a Comment