Charities are facing a unique set of challenges as they work to adapt to an increasingly digital world. Balancing limited budgets and fundraising obstacles to the new world of remote working and volunteers spread across the country and beyond. In addition to this, many not-for-profit organisations are working hard to serve communities and causes from a range of locations and with varying levels of digital access.

Many not-for-profit employees want to embrace the benefits of flexible or hybrid working, with 68% of charities planning to adopt it long-term. However, charities are faced with the challenges of hybrid working too, for team members, volunteers and the causes they serve.

There are two key challenges charities are contending with; keeping teams and volunteers connected and ensuring the people who need them aren’t excluded by technology. In this article we’ll explore how not-for-profits can get the best of both worlds and develop more inclusive services.

Maintaining the connection

With team members, volunteers and donors in a range of locations, keeping everyone informed and connected is vital. From the day-to-day activities of team members to organising volunteer events and keeping donors engaged and up-to-date – the right tools are essential.

Microsoft Teams goes beyond basic chat features, offering all you need to stay connected with the people and teams you need most. Teams transforms your workflow straight out of the box with instant chats, video meetings, file collaboration, and channels to keep everything organised. Set up channels for specific priorities, projects and initiatives and invite both internal and external stakeholders to keep everything you need filed in the same place for easy access, updates and discussions. Check in and chat in the main channel feed and add Planner to the mix to assign tasks and manage upcoming events and deadlines.

Although Teams’ capabilities don’t end there, our Modern Communications experts can expand on the platform to include Teams-powered desk phones, Teams meeting rooms and even Teams-enabled contact centres. By bringing your communications under the roof of Teams, you can consolidate your licenses and reduce expenses. In fact, according to a Microsoft report, 64% of nonprofit CFOs have said that adopting the newer cloud technology methods would cut operational costs by about 20%.

Plus, you can be sure your communications are organised, secure and accessible to the right people from anywhere.

Digital inclusion

In an increasingly online world vulnerable people are at risk of being left behind. For not-for-profits serving these communities, digital inclusion is at the top of the priority list. According to the Charity Digital Skills Report 2021, more than half of charities are worried about excluding some people or groups.

While online support is a fantastic option for many not-for-profit organisations, for some there’s nothing like picking up the phone and speaking to someone. For charities serving vulnerable communities, call centres are a key part of how they remain available to the people they support and are a more accessible option.

Landline-based contact centres are limited by a fixed location and a significant lack of data insights, which can be used to improve service delivery. Teams-based contact centres offer the ability to answer calls from anywhere while tracking key data points like call volumes, response times and other insights. Armed with this information charities can see things like when call volumes peak and adjust the number of team members answering calls accordingly.

With any Teams-powered solution you can be sure that your communications and files are managed securely, both for internal teams and your community of volunteers and donors.

What’s the next step for not-for-profits?

Putting these solutions to work is easy and hassle-free, with our Modern Communications managed services. We work in partnership with you and Anywhere365 to deliver the Teams-powered tools not-for-profits need to stay connected with their communities and ensure everyone is included.

Get started on your modern communications journey and find out all your need to know with advice tailored to your needs with a free expert consultation.