The Smart Nonprofit

CHAPTER 10Automating the Back Office

INTRODUCTION

The back office is where vital administrative tasks that support the inner-workings of nonprofits take place. The activities of the back office are often overlooked and underappreciated, particularly in smaller organizations that may not have the resources for dedicated staff or departments to support these functions. Smart tech systems provide cost effective and efficient ways to support administrators in financial management, human resources, and organizational workflow and project management.

These tools can be a true gift of time for small nonprofits. Even better, many of the products in this category are available off-the-shelf, fairly inexpensive, and somewhat easy to use. This chapter examines the role of smart tech in automating human resources, finance, and workflow and productivity.

HUMAN RESOURCES

A key function of human resources (HR) is ensuring that the right people are in the right jobs. However, HR involves a lot more, including:

• Recruitment and onboarding
• Workplace culture
• Compensation, benefits, and performance review strategy
• Compliance and documentation
• Professional development and training
• Volunteer management

Unfortunately, most mid- to small-sized organizations do not have the resources to have dedicated human resources staff, let alone an entire department. Instead, these important functions are often divided between, say, executive directors building organizational culture, bookkeepers doing payroll ...