In this episode of The Strategic Non-Profit, host Trista sits down with Farhad Khan, CEO of Grype, to discuss the topic of “When is the right time for nonprofits to invest in new technology?” Farhad has pioneered the method of using a roadmap to maximize return on investment in new technology solutions. Grype Solutions works with Professional Associations to help grow their membership with Digital Marketing and build engaging Membership portals.
So join Trista and Farhad as they cover; how to use a marketing roadmap, evaluating the return on investment of new technology, common myths about adopting technology and which are the best investments.
Also read:
- Creating Online Courses to Increase Membership Retention with Gordon Sheppard
- How NPOs Can Stay Connected To The Community During Times of Crisis with Gregory Ould
- Nonprofit Website Accessibility Advice, Guidelines & Best Practices
Your Marketing Roadmap
I don’t find that many professional associations and member organizations actually have a good mix of strategy and execution at the same time. Some would do more strategy, less integration; some would do a lot of implementation, but not enough strategy. So what we do is we, when we start to work with any organization, or we start with a very solid light digital strategy workshop to set a roadmap for them to grow their organization and to grow their membership.
Farhad Khan
A marketing roadmap is a visual tool used for communicating your marketing plans with your team. Simple and easy to use; these roadmaps encourage your teams’ alignment and enhance productivity. Without one, you might find that your processes start breaking down, staff are lost and confused and ultimately, your project stalls.
Evaluating the ROI of New Technology
When deciding upon technology to invest in and implement, your first natural consideration will be evaluating the return on investment that it’ll produce. However, Farhad warns that you can’t rely on technology to profit. Instead, you need to carefully consider how to fine-tune your processes using technology.
If you have a clear roadmap of what fellowships you actually have to put in place – you know what tools you will need. You go out and find out what member in the systems and what CRM systems can actually help you implement that roadmap – then you’ll find that your investment in the technology you’re going to be much more effective.
You’ll find that your return on investment will actually go up!
Farhad Khan
Common Myths About Adopting New Technology
There are plenty of myths and misconceptions about technology, which can hinder you when suggesting new programs and software to your team. It’s fair to say that digital technology has revolutionized many processes, but there is still plenty of ambiguity about how effective it is really. We’ve compiled a few of our favourite myths;
Its expensive
As with any purchase, you should always consider how money is spent, rather than how much is spent. However, when it comes to digital technology you have more options than spending a chunk of money all in one go; most companies offer subscription deals and free trials.
You Need A Dedicated IT Department
A very common misconception is that digital technology isn’t accessible to those who aren’t experts. Which can be off-putting, especially for for small businesses. However the Stefanini Group found in their Innovation Study on Digital Transformation that ” that the main barrier to digital transformation was a lack of support from top management, so educating senior staff is vital.”
So use technology as a catalyst to double down on your strengths and deliver a much better service to your members. Use the right technology; use the right tools to amplify your strengths ten times.
Farhad Khan
It Can Wait
The longer you wait to jump into digital technology that can enhance your processes, revenue and customer satisfaction – the further you will fall behind with your competitors. It’s easy to put off something that is daunting, however it’s essential that you keep up with market best practices.
So you can either embrace it and grow with the rest of the world. Or you can fall behind; you can get buried by the wave.
So which one would you prefer? in order to get over the fear of technology, I guess the first thing that people need to do is start by using smaller tools, as opposed to adopting large technology solutions.
Farhad Khan
More about Grype
Grype is a team of talented designers, developers and strategists who create websites and digital marketing solutions for nonprofits and associations that deliver results.
– https://grype.ca/supercharge-your-association-sales-workshop
– https://grype.ca/website-redesign-roadmap
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