A crash course in nonprofit operations

The coronavirus pandemic has challenged New York nonprofits like never before, but experts say technology can give them a helping hand as they adjust to the new normal of the ongoing economic recovery. “We need to know what we are doing,” Jenn Krueger, projects manager at United Methodist Women, said during the panel she moderated on tech and innovation at the virtual NYN Media 2021 OpCon, which took place yesterday afternoon. “What are the gaps? Because if you don’t know the gaps, then you cannot go out and look for the right tools.”

Working from home has meant accelerating the digital transition away from paper documents. This was a formidable challenge for finance departments in particular, according to consultant Roberta Katz. “Whether they move back to an office or a hybrid situation, (nonprofits) are moving, not only on implementing automated systems like invoice processing and purchase orders, but also setting up something as simple as a secure shared drive where information and documents can be shared internally,” she said during the panel. A greater reliance on digital tools, however, means nonprofits have to get better at managing and protecting the data of their staff, clients and donors.

Check out the full event here to see all the practical advice nonprofit leaders and other experts offered at OpCon. One big takeaway was how the pandemic offered organizations of all types an opportunity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of their operations. “We really need to focus on taking the best practices that we learned during the pandemic and applying them to as we get back to normalcy,” Faizan Younus, senior manager at NCheng LLP, said on the panel.