Why Growing Nonprofits Outgrow Spreadsheets (And What to Do Next)

Every growing organization reaches that moment where they have more spreadsheets than they can count.

What happened?

Things used to be so organized.

The reality is that growing organizations have fires that have to get put out and that usually results in finding a quick fix until those quick fixes create their own fire.

Below is some perspective of how a great finance leader evaluates when it’s time to invest in new technology that goes a layer deeper than “what does it cost?”

Hidden Cost of Inefficiency

When you think about cost, your first thought might be the price tag of a new software tool.

But what about the cost of not making a change?

• Is your team spending too much time on tasks that could be automated?
• Are errors slipping through because your systems don’t talk to each other?
• Is your team frustrated or burning out because processes are clunky and slow?

What if your team was able to spend more time on value add activities instead of searching for that piece of donor information in a spreadsheet?

Over time, this could create a more fulfilled team that’s focused on driving your mission forward.

This could result in staff feeling burned out or unfulfilled quicker, which is one of the most common reasons people choose to leave nonprofit organizations.

Not only that, but it could lead to feeling like you need to hire administrative team members sooner than you really need to.

If a great tool can help multiple roles save time on admin tasks then that can easily add up.

For example, if three staff members save 10% of their 40-hour workweek, that’s an additional 48 hours a month for higher-value tasks.

Your team members and organization will thank you!

Missed Opportunities

If you’re anything like me, your to-do list is longer than you have hours in the day.

Sometimes this means that the important, but not urgent things fall through the cracks.

You feel like you should be doing donor cultivation, but there have been five other fires that you’ve had to put out this week and don’t feel like you have the bandwidth.

Tech that automates processes can work in the background while you handle the fires.

The beauty of this is that it can be customized to what your approach is.

Want a more personal outreach (like a coffee or phone call) after someone’s first donation, but don’t want to have to manually keep up with all of those dates? A process can be set up to automatically send an email to invite them to a coffee or even nudge you to personally email them a few months from now if you prefer that approach.

That right there could be the difference in receiving a one-time $100 gift vs. cultivating a donor who now is giving $100/month. 

The organizations raising the most money are the ones who are very intentional with donor outreach and cultivation.

As a growing organization, you can’t always go hire another development staff member to help. That’s where working smarter, not harder can come into play. The right tech tool can achieve this.

Is It a Perfect Fit?

I’m currently on a puzzle fix. It’s something I used to do with my dad growing up and for whatever reason I decided to pick it back up as a hobby recently.

Have you ever been doing a puzzle and you slide the last piece in?

Perfect fit and it’s so satisfying!

The right tech tool will feel something like that for your organization.

Assuming the functions that you need now are included, two questions help determine if it can be the perfect fit for your organization at its current stage:

• Does it offer more tools than your organization currently needs? If yes, this is a sign that as your organization continues to grow you won’t need to switch tools for a while.
• Does it integrate with existing systems? If you need to uproot other aspects of your organization just to bring on a new tool then it might not be the right fit. That’s not true in all cases, especially if one archaic system that you’re using is causing issues.

Growing an organization is really hard to do.

The right tools let you focus on growing your mission, not sitting on endless demo calls.

There’s always a slow down period before you get more efficient when bringing on a new tool.

The less time an organization has to go through this cycle as they’re growing the more they’ll be able to focus their energy on driving their mission forward.

Stay Ahead of Your Growth

If you’re seeing any of the signs below then it could mean that your organization is reaching a point where it needs to invest in new tools.

1. You’ve spent more than five minutes looking for that one spreadsheet you know has the information you need.
2. Your reporting is always a scramble. If creating reports feels like assembling IKEA furniture, software that centralizes and automates your data is a game-changer.
3. Your growth is outpacing your systems. Tools that worked fine when you were a smaller organization may not be cutting it anymore. If your growth is creating bottlenecks, your systems need to grow with you.

Investing in software isn’t just about making things easier - it’s about making your nonprofit more effective, efficient, and ready to tackle the future.

After working with over 50 growing startups and nonprofits, I’ve never met one who regretted the decision of investing in technology sooner rather than later.

In fact, one of the most common things I hear is “I wish we would have done this sooner”...

Start exploring tools that grow with your nonprofit. Your mission, and your future team, will thank you.

About the Author

Stephen is the owner and founder of MoneyPath, a fractional CFO firm focused on serving nonprofits.

Over the past 15 years, Stephen has worked in finance roles at a variety of organizations including nonprofits, startups, early-stage companies, and Fortune 500. He has experience in a variety of industries including fintech, financial literacy, foster care, professional services, SaaS, construction, real estate, biotech & media.

When he's not working, he enjoys checking out a new coffee shop with his wife and daughter. You can always find him watching Arsenal, Cincinnati Bengals and Cincinnati Bearcat games.