IT that costs no more than it has to
Often one or two people doing IT alongside their actual job, while the requirements around donor data are no lighter than anywhere else. We take on what has to be arranged and leave what you can do yourself, so the budget goes to your cause rather than to management overhead.
The same requirements, fewer hands
The law asks exactly the same of a charity as of a company. The difference is who does it on the side.
In many charitable organisations IT is not a role but a task somebody was handed: a coordinator, an office manager, sometimes a board member. That person usually does it well, but does it alongside the job they were hired for. The result is that what is urgent gets done and what is important is left — the backup that was never restored, the accounts of volunteers who left, the overview of who can reach what.
Meanwhile the GDPR makes no exception for organisations without a profit motive. Data about donors, members and participants falls under the same rules as customer data at a company, and with vulnerable groups it weighs even heavier. So the requirements are the same; only the staffing is different.
Taking on what has to be arranged
So we do not start with a plan for everything, but with the question of what really must not go wrong. That is almost always the same short list: donor data in one place rather than in five export files, accounts that close when somebody leaves, a backup we have shown comes back, and multi-factor authentication on whatever is exposed to the outside. Those things we take on. What you do well yourself stays with you.
Volunteers and turnover
More people come and go here than the size suggests, and by no means all of them sit in an HR system. That makes access management the most underestimated question in this sector. We set it up so an account appears at the start and closes on departure, including for somebody who was there two days a month, and so it can be established who could reach what.
What you can expect from us
You get the same agreements as any other client: response times written into an SLA, one place where a ticket arrives, and reporting that says what happened. Our own processes are covered by ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO 14001 and Kiwa NEN 4400-1. What you do not get is a proposal for everything at once; that does not fit how these organisations work.
What we handle at charitable organisations
You choose what you need. It all sits under one contract, one report and one point of contact.
- Donor data in one placeOne source rather than loose export files, with rights that belong to a role and not to everybody who ever helped out.
- Accounts that closeCreated at the start and closed on departure, including for volunteers and temporary help who are not in an HR system.
- A backup that has been restoredNot just a copy but a demonstrated restore, with a recovery time agreed in advance.
- Multi-factor authenticationOn email, on the administration and on whatever else is exposed outward, because it is the cheapest measure there is.
- Support with a response timeTickets by phone, email or portal, with a priority written into the SLA rather than into a chat message.
- Taking what must, leaving what canWe do what has to be pinned down; what you do well yourself stays with you.
How we take over at a charitable organisation
In this order, because here time is the scarcity, not the technology.
Following the person who does it on the side
A day alongside the person who was handed IT shows where the time goes and what is being left.
Listing the risks
Where the data sits, who can reach it, what happens if it is gone. That produces a short list of what really has to come first.
Recording the agreements
What we take on, what stays with you, what response time belongs to it. That goes into an SLA in plain language, without components you do not use.
Steering on what we see
The reporting shows what keeps coming back. That tells you where the next step pays off most, at your pace.
The services that come up most here
These building blocks come up most often at charitable organisations.
Looking further
Recognise the picture but work in another industry? Have a look at the other sectors.
Tell us what is currently being left
Name who does IT on the side and where the data about donors and participants sits. We build a short list around that of what really has to come first.
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