What Nonprofits Can Do With Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is revolutionising businesses. There is, however, an appropriate way to implement RPA automation for suc

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is revolutionising businesses. There is, however, an appropriate way to implement RPA automation for success. Robotic bots, often known as RPA, take over regular tasks, allowing you to focus on making smarter business decisions.

As per a reportRobotic process automation (RPA) is the automation technology that was most widely used in organizations as of 2019. About 36 percent of global respondents reported to have implemented the technology in their organizations. Other automation technologies, such as robotics and AI, were also already deployed at various degree.

Nonprofits often rely on staff in either a financial or programming job. The regulatory environment isn’t always forgiving enough to keep every administrator employed, but if you think RPA automation could be a potential solution to lighten the load of your organization, read this article to find out what it can do for nonprofits!

What is RPA And What Role It Can Play?

Robotic process automation, or RPA, is an exciting new technology that can automate a wide variety of tasks across many different industries. Nonprofits can use RPA to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks such as data entry, report generation, and email management. RPA automation can also be used to improve customer service by automating responses to common customer inquiries. By using RPA, nonprofits can free up staff time so that they can focus on more important tasks, and ultimately improve the quality and efficiency of their operations.

Why Should Nonprofits Explore the Use of RPA?

A report states that “The global robotic process automation (RPA) market is forecast to grow to more than 13 billion U.S. dollars by 2030, an increase of more than 12 billion compared to 2020. RPA is a type of business process automation based on software robots or bots that perform menial business tasks to expedite enterprise operations and reduce costs.

Robotic process automation (RPA) is an exciting new technology with the potential to transform the way nonprofits operate. RPA can automate many of the tedious and time-consuming tasks that employees are currently required to do manually, freeing up staff to focus on more strategic work.

There are many potential applications for RPA within nonprofits, including donor management, financial management, event management, and data entry. RPA can also be used to improve communications with donors and other stakeholders.

While RPA is still in its early stages of development, there are already a number of nonprofit organizations using it successfully. For example, the United Nations Development Programme has used RPA to automate data entry for annual reports, saving significant time and resources.

Nonprofits that are looking to explore the use of RPA should start by considering which tasks would be most suitable for automation. Once you have identified some potential areas for improvement, you can then begin to research RPA providers and find one that best meets your needs.

Types and Examples of How RPA Can Benefit Nonprofits

RPA benefits nonprofits

There are several different types of robotic process automation (RPA), and all of them can help NGOs. Here are some examples of how a nonprofit can benefit from RPA:

Data entry

RPA automation can be used to automatically fill in online forms or input data into databases. This can save a lot of time and money for nonprofits, who often have to enter data manually.

Onboarding new employee

Organizations often overlook how much time new employees take up, in terms of back-office operations. Nonprofits need to be more flexible in such operations. Employees in today’s marketplace expect smooth and speedy onboarding process. By using Robotic Process Automation, complex tasks such as filling out employment forms, HR paperwork and automated notifications can be performed. This frees up staff members from routine paperwork to focus on activities other than simple but necessary daily tasks.

Existing employee data management

Keeping up with staffing records is a labour-intensive task, and it can be a headache to maintain. Even in a company with multiple departments, data change requests come in from various systems and departments. If you want to create immediate change in an existing process, RPA should be considered the lead choice.

HR processes can be improved through RPA’s ability to bridge gaps between siloed systems, trigger notifications based on certain pre-set actions, and create additional workflows as when required.

Donor management

RPA can be used to automatically manage donor information, including contact information, donation history, and pledge amounts. This can help nonprofits keep track of their donors and ensure that they are doing a good job of stewardship.

Accounts Payable

With accounts payable, it can be difficult for some organizations to handle requests. These issues are often seen at nonprofit organizations where the task could fall on one person. Automating a Non-Profit’s accounts payable process can allow a single employee to process 10 times more invoices than if the organization has not automated their workflows.

Automation in the Accounts Payable department eliminates the data entry required by manual processes and results in high quality invoicing. Once you have the basic RPA in place to automate the invoice process, bots can be used to validate and submit the invoices. This frees up the finance team for more important tasks.

Accounts Receivable

In a financial sense, this is one of the most vital departments in any organization.  It can often be very time consuming and require human input, which is why robotic process automation seems like a logical solution

Nonprofit organizations operate differently when it comes to collecting money. However, broadly speaking the process is typically divided into order processing, order fulfillment, invoicing, and cash allocation.

With RPA, you can eliminate the risk of human error and process payments faster. With a faster cash flow, your Non-Profit organization can grow.

Email marketing

RPA can be used to automatically send out mass emails, such as newsletters or fundraising appeals. This can save a lot of time and money for nonprofits, who often have to do this manually.

Fundraising Campaigns management

Before a new fundraising campaign, the person at the charity will need to pull past donor records, generate new marketing materials, contact both past and new donors, collate expected donor payment info and enter it in the accounting system so they have all of the relevant information.

Businesses can use a layer of artificial intelligence called robotic process automation to improve their processes and potentially achieve new levels of efficiency.

Some More RPA Advantages

These are just a few examples of how RPA can benefit nonprofits. There are many other ways in which RPA can be used to save time and money for nonprofits. RPA is suitable for both non-profit and for-profit organizations as it is designed specifically to cater to their needs. For example, a non-profit organisation also strives to deliver quality services, which can be helped by finding ways of minimizing the costs. Let’s look at some more ways in which RPA benefits nonprofits:

  • RPA can be deployed in a few weeks, unlike most other technologies. Deploying RPA may increase process efficiency and does not add any operational cost.
  • In addition to being time efficient, RPA accuracy and quality will be high. RPA can perform the same task more accurately than a human.
  • It’s easy to change the configuration of RPA to meet the changing needs and requirements of your business. It is scalable, meaning you don’t have to hire humans to tweak the software – it’s capable of improving itself automatically.
  • Software and technology can allow employees to take on new tasks, boost their morale and make them more productive.
  • By using RPA automation, employees will be able to easily get back and forth between donor information from now and past. This will help improve fundraising campaigns.

Important Considerations When Implementing Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

When implementing Robotic Process Automation (RPA) within a nonprofit organization, it is important to consider a few key points in order to ensure success.

  • First, Nonprofits should consider the potential benefits of RPA and how it can help them achieve their mission.
  • Secondly, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of what processes will be automated and how they will be integrated into current workflows.
  • Thirdly, it is essential to define and document the standards and governance around the RPA program to ensure compliance with internal policies and external regulations.
  • Lastly, it is important to establish a robust change management plan to help people adapt to the new way of working.

By taking these considerations into account, nonprofits can set themselves up for success when implementing an RPA automation.

RPA Use Cases for Nonprofits

The Challenge

Many nonprofit organizations use valuable time to manually compile and send 501c3 acknowledgement confirmations, when they could be better using that time as investments in their donor relationships.

Solution

Building an RPA infrastructure for your non-profit with bots to:

  • Donor transaction data extraction
  • Autofill donation acknowledgement letter

Result

Your nonprofit can digitally transform their operations through RPA, which includes time efficient acknowledgement and delivery of receipts for donor convenience, improved regulatory compliance process and more time spent on raising funds.

Concluding Thoughts and Guidance

Robotic process automation (RPA) can be a powerful tool for nonprofits seeking to improve their efficiency and effectiveness. As with any new technology, however, there are some important considerations to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to implement RPA within your organization.

RPA can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks, freeing up staff to focus on more strategic work. It can also help improve data quality and accuracy and reduce processing times for donor contributions and other transactions.

With these potential benefits in mind, nonprofits should also be aware of the risks associated with RPA.

  • As with any new technology, there is a learning curve associated with implementing RPA.
  • Nonprofits should make sure they have the staff and resources in place to effectively train employees on how to use the new technology.
  • Additionally, RPA can present security risks if not implemented properly. Organizations should carefully consider these risks before implementing RPA and take steps to mitigate them.

Overall, RPA can be a valuable asset for nonprofits looking to improve their operations. When deciding whether or not to implement RPA, nonprofits should carefully consider the potential advantages of RPA.

Adopting any new transformative technology represents a significant step forward. Webuters is here to help you every step of the way. We’d be delighted to hear from you, whether you have an idea in mind, a specific concern, or whole project to discuss.

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