Best Board Management Software For Non-Profits & Charities

Software like the board portal provides advanced management of the organization using modern technology and the latest discoveries like artificial intelligence. Not all provide it, but many do. Applications like board management software are used in most organizations, small and large. There is no difference in turnover. It can be even nonprofit or charity companies. The management process itself is everywhere, and help is never superfluous.

The virtual boardroom is the best solution for centralizing both the solutions and workflow of an entire corporation or a group of companies.

What Is The Difference Between Board Management Tools For Commercial Organizations And Nonprofit Ones?

In fact, the board of directors is pretty much the same everywhere. For example, the management team can expand, change, or end in the same way. Various kinds of financial planning, good resource allocation, appropriate business practices, and the right decisions are essential for both types of companies.

But, there are a few significant differences between them:

• The goal. Obviously, the goal of a commercial organization is to make as much money as possible. A non-profit organization, on the other hand, pursues the goal to allocate the available resources according to the established goals and purposes by making the most rational and permissible decisions.
• Source of funding. Nonprofits build their capital from a variety of sources, such as government aid, voluntary and charity contributions, etc. Commercial businesses rely entirely on their own efforts and earnings to generate even more earnings in the future.
• Board members. Nonprofit board members are mostly volunteers, while for-profit board members are major stockholders or the very founders of the for-profit company. 

Check this detailed review to see which board management software is right for you.

How Exactly Does Board Software Help Nonprofits?

A wisely chosen data security service can provide great data protection and process automation. In general, planning all kinds of events and meetings is one of the main functions of the board of directors software. There are actually quite a few of them:

• Security, of course. Security is achieved by both software and hardware. The cloud storage provider must have advanced hardware in stock to prevent any type of attack, both physical and virtual. If we are talking about software, it must be fully protected with advanced public encryption. Why not a private development of some unknown encryption? This kind of protection is more likely to be cracked. It is preferable to rely on open encryption, which has yet to be cracked. Keep in mind certifications like ISO 27001, complex password policies, complex password recovery algorithms, and data encryption using TLS protocols when choosing a board management software provider.
• Interaction with others. An effective virtual boardroom is designed to help securely communicate, share files, and organize meetings with board directors, management teams, partners, investors, and other participants. When it comes to collaboration with others in the process, you have to make sure that your board portal has features like interactive archives of meeting minutes, detailed activity reports, security roles, and a board repository. 
• Using the application should be easy for all employees. This is one of the most important criteria because if board management software is not intuitive, you will waste a lot of time training your coworkers on it. Before you buy, you should thoroughly check all the pitfalls and make sure that this is what you need. Among the features should be a customizable interface; support for various operating systems, ranging from mobile ones like Android and iOS to desktop ones like Windows and macOS; and, preferably, an opportunity to choose the language for added convenience.

How To Compare Board Portals For Nonprofits?

Today’s market is just overflowing with different board management software, and sometimes it’s really hard to choose. Almost every provider offers basic functions, and sometimes it’s difficult to find the differences between them. But they are always there. You should start at least with the board portal pricing comparison, and then move on to the next ones: 

• Experience with similar projects. There is a layer of vendors on the market that work specifically with nonprofit organizations. They are the ones who understand the unique challenges and provide equally outstanding solutions for effective board management in this particular environment. Check with the provider to find out exactly what nonprofits they’ve worked with before and what they’ve accomplished. This will be really helpful information to learn. In the same way, you can find out information from other nonprofit board members. Ask them if they have used something similar and what their experience was.
• Model for the formation of the cost of production. As mentioned earlier, virtual boardrooms have several different approaches to charging customers. You need to consider each of them. Software pricing can vary based on multiple factors, including available space on the virtual hard drive, number of users, and security level. Focus primarily on those vendors that offer fixed-price solutions. That way, spending will be most predictable and you won’t have to worry about exceeding some kind of limit.
• Versatility. In the field of the board of directors software, the rule is that the more features it has, the better it is. It is especially good if these functions are customizable and you can turn them on and off according to your own discretion.

As mentioned earlier, most providers always give a list of basic features. Look deeper and you will see exclusive options in every major board portal provider.