Image Source: Unsplash
Nonprofits lead the way when it comes to building impactful changes. According to a report on the BBN Times, the positive impact of nonprofit organizations can be felt in a variety of sectors, from education to healthcare. They can be a small organization like Community Does It, which operates in one or only a few areas, or a bigger one like Women Helping Women, which is able to help people find jobs across the country.
However, it is no secret that nonprofits are in need of a lot of support. Maryville University’s piece on NGOs and nonprofits highlights how the latter — though physically closer to their target communities — often operate on a smaller scale in terms of coverage and political influence. This is usually because, compared to NGOs, they’re limited to their locality and operated by a small group. This makes it difficult for them to find people who are willing to jointheir cause, much less secure partnerships outside of their local area.
Fortunately, technology can assist in this regard by giving a virtual platform where nonprofits and professionals from all over the world meet and build connections. If you’re someone who is looking to connect with nonprofits from other countries, here’s how technology can help you.
Finding opportunities via social media
In the digital age, nonprofits utilize social media to make it easier for professionals from anywhere in the world to find the right organization to connect with. Case in point: organizations like Together SC, a nonprofit coalition for community service, actively use their LinkedIn profile to share information about upcoming events and career opportunities. The best thing about this is that their public page is easily accessible by anyone on the internet — distance doesn’t matter.
Moreover, with social media, you will likely get a response much faster even if you’re in different timezones. Most companies even advertise how quickly they will respond. This way you can easily connect with them in order to learn more about the organization.
But LinkedIn is not the only platform out there. Other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram each have a set of unique communication tools that ensure an organization can share its advocacy, community, and accomplishments with a large audience. Here at Upstate International, we also use those social media tools to keep audiences from anywhere in the world updated on our organization’s activities. On our Instagram, @upstateint_sc, you can glimpse how we held past events through our story highlights.
Through those short clips on Instagram, you can learn what topics we usually discuss in our conferences and the kinds of speakers we work with for those events.
Even if you can’t physically attend a nonprofit’s event, you can participate, view, or stay updated through social media, especially if it helps you decide whether you want to support the cause or not. Making the first step in building a connection is much easier through social media no matter where you are.
Becoming active in nonprofits
With these user-friendly platforms and processes, donating or helping out in fundraising campaigns is no sweat for those who need to balance work and altruistic activities. All it takes is a simple Volunteer or Donate button to support a cause that you truly care for and you don’t have to go outside of your house to do this. Nonprofit platforms like Donor perfect offer fundraising solutions for nonprofits that fully integrate the processes and donations making campaign drives seamless and accessible, especially to international donors. With their Online Forms, transactions are quick and documented as the system will immediately confirm your donation with an email. Take advantage of them should you find a nonprofit offering similar opportunities to help.
There are also apps like Givelify which acts as a one-stop-hub for donors. This kind of app speeds up all processes for you: connecting with nonprofits, donating, and recording and tracking your transactions. Moreover, Givelify is a compact alternative to all the points in this article which is perfect for professionals who are always on the go.
Building lasting connections
As potential donors, it’s crucial that your investment is wisely spent. Forbes Business Council member Sevetri Wilson explains how nonprofits today are placing a greater emphasis on accountability and transparency to show their value and sincerity to their donors and volunteers. After all, as grantees, you have the right to know that your investment is reaping rewards for the community.
Using technology, donors can track the organization’s progress in real-time. This is imperative for professionals supporting foreign nonprofits who rely on digital communication to be informed about how their investment was spent. Fortunately, nonprofit management software like Bloomerang delivers real-time performance reports that nonprofits can immediately present to donors.
Additionally, using online collaboration tools like G Suite, Slack, and Zoom, donors and nonprofits can easily exchange progress reports and updates. As an example, our flexible and interactive language classes are offered as face-to-face sessions at the Upstate International center or virtual calls via Zoom. This shows how video conferencing is a highly interactive way for nonprofits and professionals to exchange information and build lasting connections.
In reality, choosing to invest one’s money is not an easy decision to make. But technology makes connecting with the right organization more efficient — a reminder that pursuing altruism does not need to be a difficult process. The right nonprofit may just be a few clicks away.
If you are interested in supporting a non-profit, our Donate page is a good place to start.
Piece specially penned for upstateinternational.org
by Olivia Tilly Declan
