THE IMPACT LEAK - Projects Managing Us
Updated: Jan 31
- What impacts the good we do?
Photo by Josh Calabrese via UnSplash
Canada’s nonprofit sector is project driven. From the recession in the late 90’s until recently, governments and funders have required organizations to cobble together enough short term projects to have long term impact. While innovation is the buzzword, you have to actually prove implementation and that is where project management software comes in.
TechSoup is a great supplier of software to the nonprofit sector but it also passes on wisdom related to technology, and that can be just as important. “A project management tool allows organizations to take on more and accomplish goals quicker by clearly laying out what resources are available and when they are available.” When you consider that stakeholders, such as Board members or funders with different perspectives and opinions, can impact the project’s goals, scope and priority, don’t you want to know if you can meet their expectations?
Project management software also takes on another difficulty experienced by many nonprofit staff – when the scope changes or expands without the changes being acknowledged or recorded. How many times have people been at meetings reviewing minutes or reports and someone asks “When was that change added?” Project management software records when and by whom, so that roles and responsibilities and timelines are always visible and clear to anyone reviewing the project.
Photo by Hugo Rocha via UnSplash
One of the best features of project management software is the ease of reporting. After working for 6 months (24 weeks!) implementing a project, a search and save function allows you to produce easy to read, well-documented reports that can integrate financial reporting directly from your accounting software. Along with easy editing in Word or Excel, staff will find their time really is going to serving clients and the public.
The list of uses is much longer but I’ve saved the best for last. When project management software is used in the nonprofit sector, getting everyone on the same page is almost as easy as sharing your screen. And since COVID, we can all do that.
