Escape from the legacy association software cycle!
Non-profit organisations and NGOs are under served by legacy vendors and they should have the right to buy effective software that runs both in non-profits and for profits, says Paul Lundy, President and Co-Founder of Fonteva, which provides an association management solution built on the Salesforce platform.
Speaking at the recent TechSmart 2019 event, Paul told delegates that they were in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution but probably using technology which is lagging behind: “If your technology doesn’t allow you to grow you are probably with a legacy provider.
“Most people just want all their data in a single place so that they can access it to make good business decisions. Legacy systems have narrow functionality and are usually costly to upgrade. What tends to happen is that when you try to connect everything up you get data silos.
An organisation’s needs and requirements will inevitably change but the actual members’ needs remain largely the same – training and certification, professional development, networking, job search and industry news.
“What has changed is their expectation and that has been shaped by what’s happening in the rest of their lives – they literally want the equivalent of the Amazon Prime buying experience.
“There is challenge in meeting these expectations and rapid technological advances are making it difficult to keep up with these, especially if your own technology is limited and not enabling.”
At Fonteva, they believe in the development of technology on a global scale: “Our technology allows you to transact in any country in any language,” says Paul.
However, he warned, It is not only about the technology, it’s about the people and processes too; if the team does not buy into your strategy and future plans then technology will not work for you. “Your processes may be out of date and it may be hard to justify them, but it can be even harder to change them.
“The cards are stacked against you unless you are smart and engage across the whole organisation not just the technology department, and driven by leadership but it is vital that you choose the correct and enabling technology to begin with.”
Keys to successful digital transformation
- Align and involve leaders
- Empower your people
- Focus your initiatives on top priorities
- Create ambassadors within the organisation
- Stay flexible and agile
- Keep people engaged
Shifting demographics, data silos, increasingly high member expectations, rapid technology advancement – no shortage of challenges here to engage with your members and staff
