Nonprofits on the Road to Digital Transformation

“This research shows that the nonprofit sector is really embracing digital transformation and can see the benefits of moving to cloud-based solutions,” said Chris Brewer, Nonprofit Strategic Industry Architect, Unit4. “The transition should not be under-estimated, as it does require commitment from everyone in the organization, but with robust planning and implementation it is the ideal opportunity to modernize business processes, improve productivity and deliver better service. How the nonprofit sector is embracing digital transformation shows the value of a cloud-based strategy to drive innovation and that organizations of any size can benefit from it.”

Although the overall picture is positive, there remain challenges to the adoption of cloud solutions for finance and HR applications. Globally, the major issues are a reluctance to change from users, information being in silos and issues with integration to existing systems. Interestingly in the UK, resistance to change and willingness to invest from the board makes it into the top three ahead of integration issues.

Having access to more budget and improved resources in terms of the skills available and time to implement change are seen as the main way to support the full transformation to cloud-based solutions. However, just over one in ten in the UK also say that they need more support with integrating cloud-based applications, which underlines that nonprofit organizations must understand that digital transformation will require some level of change management if it is to be successful.

There is also debate over which functions in nonprofit organizations should be automated. Globally, the top priority is the maintenance of regional and global contracts and suppliers, whereas in the US it is allocating and reporting dynamic indirect cost allocations. It is also prioritizing the automation of the maintenance of donor information and reporting. In the UK, automating global contracts and suppliers is the top priority, but it differs from the US in saying that its other focus for automation is impact planning and monitoring, as well as regulatory, compliance and sustainability reporting.

Unit4 and its partner, BDO, will be presenting with their customer Islamic Relief Worldwide at the NetHope Global Summit on October 18^th at 11:00am CET on the topic of “Embracing Rapid Technological Advancements: Lessons Learned and Selecting Solutions.”

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Methodologies

DJS Research was commissioned by Unit4 to interview professionals in the nonprofit sector in the US and UK through a combination of 4 quantitative interviews and 204 responses to a qualitative survey. The research was conducted between May and June 2023, and spoke to respondents from companies ranging in size from 250 employees to up to 10,000. The survey approached individuals either as the sole decision makers or involved in decision making and were drawn from a range of roles including IT, Finance and HR.

About Unit4

Unit4's next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions power many of the world's mid-market organizations, bringing together the capabilities of Financials, Procurement, Project Management, HR, and FP&A to share real-time information, and deliver greater insights to help organizations become more effective. By combining our mid-market expertise with a relentless focus on people, we've built flexible solutions to meet customers’ unique and changing needs. Unit4 serves more than 5,100 customers globally across a number of sectors including professional services, nonprofit and public sector, with customers including Southampton City Council, Metro Vancouver, Buro Happold, Devoteam, Save the Children International, Global Green Growth Institute and Oxfam America. For further information visit www.unit4.com.

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