How to Boost Nonprofit Stakeholder Collaboration

Nonprofit Stakeholder collaboration is an essential component for achieving the organization’s mission. Staff, volunteers and Board of Directors all need to pull together to achieve objectives.

However, collaboration inside the organization can be hampered if the tools supporting this effort are weak or nonexistent. Among the types of tools supporting collaboration are:

Messaging

While e-mail shoulders the greatest communication load in an organization, Nonprofit Stakeholder collaboration benefits also from internal messaging. Often carried on in near-real-time, messaging can handle short, immediate-need communications. Coupled with the ability to attach files, messaging bridges the gap between longer e-mail exchanges and voice phone calls.

Task Management

Nonprofit Stakeholder collaboration frequently centers around getting tasks done. When multiple people are jointly responsible for a task or set of tasks, efficient communication and coordination are essential. That means the organization must provide a way for sharing all the necessary information about the task including who is involved, their task responsibilities, deadlines and progress status.

Project Management

Organizational projects like events and fundraising campaigns clearly benefit from effective Nonprofit Stakeholder collaboration tools. The many moving parts of a project demand close coordination to ensure all responsible parties execute their assignments as specified and on time. This cannot happen unless there are tools to allow all parties to share complete information about the project and communicate effectively from start to finish.

Team/Committee Management

Organizations form teams or committees to get essential work done. Providing physical and virtual gathering places for these groups enhances their ability to achieve their assigned objectives. In the virtual version, the ability for the group to have a central storage place for documents and other files improves their coordination capability and efficiency. Nonprofit Stakeholder collaboration success is achieved when these groups are set up for success.