How Nonprofits Can Optimize Everyday Workflows with Microsoft 365

As a nonprofit organization, you’re likely focused on planning and executing fundraising events, managing projects and programming, recruiting and training volunteers, fostering donor engagement, and more. And while many of those processes may seem overly time-consuming or repetitive, there is actually an entire suite of tools that can improve your ability to provide exceptional programs. 

That suite of tools makes up what is known as the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, which includes applications that play a pivotal role in streamlining your operations, automating tasks, and securing and maintaining your IT and network infrastructure.   

To help you better understand how Microsoft 365 can improve the flow of operations at your organization, we’ve outlined several key tools and their benefits when put into action: 

Microsoft Teams 

Nonprofit organizations must maintain an open line of communication both internally between teams and with volunteers, as well as externally with key stakeholders, donors, and partner organizations. With Microsoft Teams, nonprofits can streamline their communication and collaborations practices with the ability to quickly chat, share files, and manage projects.  

Additionally, Teams offers video conferencing capabilities that allow your team to hold meetings from anywhere, conduct webinars, and host training sessions, which enhances their ability to work collaboratively.  

 SharePoint and OneDrive 

When ensuring the efficiency of a nonprofit, there are many moving parts. To help keep track of projects such as grant applications, communication plans, event preparations, and more, nonprofits can use SharePoint for centralized document storage, version history, and secure sharing. SharePoint can also be used to collaborate on reports and other documents by making sure your team always has access to the most up to date versions.   

Power Automate 

One of the tools in Microsoft’s Power Platform, Power Automate, makes it possible for nonprofits to automate everyday processes such as donor management, gift processing, and volunteer recruitment with custom workflows. This alleviates the need to complete repetitive manual tasks, as well as the potential for human error.  

Microsoft Planner 

When managing your team’s projects, Microsoft Planner allows you to create plans, assign tasks to specific team members, and track their progress. Planner also provides a centralized dashboard that makes it easy to keep track of multiple projects, events, and campaigns at once. 

Microsoft Forms 

Event registration and follow-up is made more efficient with Microsoft Forms. Forms provides a customizable platform and centralized location for accepting registrant information prior to an event and attendee feedback afterward.  

Forms can also be leveraged to create surveys, collect feedback, and gather information from beneficiaries, donors, and volunteers.  

Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Defender ATP 

As a nonprofit working with grant applications and donor contributions, you likely have sensitive information you’d like to keep protected from cyber threats. With Microsoft security tools such as Defender and Defender ATP (Advanced Threat Protection), you can strengthen your cybersecurity posture, as these tools offer defenses against sophisticated attack attempts like phishing, ransomware, and malware by leveraging AI and machine learning to provide proactive threat detection and response. 

Compliance Center 

Nonprofit organizations are liable to meet strict compliance regulations such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Microsoft 365 employs robust encryption protocols to safeguard sensitive data, ensuring your organization keeps information confidential and is compliant with the necessary regulatory requirements. Additionally, the Compliance Center within M365 offers solutions such as Data Loss Prevention (DLP)that allow for data governance, monitoring of other M365 tools, and audit logging. These solutions make it simpler for organizations to monitor and manage their adherence with compliance standards effectively.    

Master Microsoft for an Optimized Organization 

When put into action, Microsoft tools are one of the best resources at your disposal for ensuring your nonprofit is running as efficiently and productively as possible. Often one of the biggest challenges, though, is knowing how to get started with the many different features offered. At SUCCESS, we can help your team get the most out of the entire Microsoft 365 ecosystem of tools with an interactive, guided training session designed to further your understanding of, and improve your ability to, adopt the Microsoft suite of tools. To get started, access our free M365 Guide and schedule a consultation with our experts to discover what’s possible for your business.