Conducting a Technology Audit for Your Association

Technology can play a key role in your association’s success, with the right solutions enabling you to streamline operations, track important metrics, and improve your processes. You may have already seen the benefits of using tools like a member management system, financial management software, or fundraising solutions to streamline your operations.

However, as your association grows and evolves, your technology needs to evolve along with it. If you find that your organization is ready to make positive changes to its technology stack, the first step is to conduct a thorough technology audit.

A technology audit evaluates your organization’s digital maturity. It gives you the chance to critically assess your organization’s technology and how you’re using it so that you can make informed improvements that will have a ripple effect on all of your association’s operations.

In this quick guide, we’ll walk you through the steps of conducting a successful technology audit. Let’s begin.

Is it time for a technology audit?

Before understanding how to conduct a technology audit, you must determine when you need one. If you aren’t experiencing blatant technology roadblocks, you may be asking yourself whether an audit is even necessary.

An audit helps you identify areas of potential improvement in your existing technology stack, meaning it can highlight pain points your team isn’t currently aware of or opportunities to maximize your association’s efficiency. This means there are numerous reasons you might conduct a technology audit. Ask yourself these questions to narrow down your audit needs:

Do you want to see organizational growth and progression by utilizing technology with more capabilities? For example, does your association use disparate systems for member management, fundraising, and program-specific functions? An audit can highlight opportunities to consolidate these tools, like transitioning to Results at Hand Event Management Software or transitioning to Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud.
Does your association need to cut costs? Perhaps your current technology investments account for a large portion of your budget. With a technology audit, your association can reveal cost-saving opportunities.
Is your association receiving the expected benefits from its current technology stack? If your association is falling short of any of its goals, it’s time to identify the culprit. Whether a solution should streamline administrative tasks or improve member engagement, make sure your technology delivers the benefits it promised when you implemented it.

By asking these critical questions, you can determine whether your association needs a technology audit and get a head start on identifying areas of focus.

A Major Benefit of Regular Audits

Conducting regular technology audits can provide your organization with a wealth of benefits, including reducing technical debt.

Technical debt refers to the time and money required to maintain and rework a technology strategy after cutting corners or not keeping up with it, which can put a lot of strain on your team. By staying on top of your technology, you can keep your operations moving forward instead of spending all of your time and effort trying to make your technology work well.

5 Steps to a Successful Audit

Just as your association’s events involve a planning period beforehand and post-event evaluation afterward, there are many steps that take place before and after your technology audit. Here are the five essential steps your audit will involve.

1. Outline your technology audit goals.

Start by defining your main goal for the technology audit, and list out any specific objectives you want to achieve. Some potential goals might include:

Improving efficiency. This might involve reducing manual tasks, integrating core systems, optimizing internal communications, evaluating duplicative technology, and determining whether any solutions can be used cross-departmentally.
Increasing member engagement. Consider setting objectives around your event promotion strategies, member experience, and data-driven engagement tactics.
Tightening data security. Evaluate how your software can help you protect member data and comply with data privacy regulations.

As you narrow your goals, check their alignment with your association’s long-term strategy. For example, your member engagement goals should include hybrid or digital marketing objectives if your association aims to shift to a completely virtual engagement model in the future.

2. Budget for the technology audit.

There are numerous costs associated with technology audits, and they could span from well before the audit begins to far beyond its conclusion. For example, you might incur additional consulting fees if you choose to improve any of your current systems or fees associated with staff training once your new technology is up and running.

Determine a realistic budget up front by estimating the costs you’ll potentially incur, such as:

Consulting fees
Investment in new software, technology upgrades, or custom-built solutions
Data migration costs

According to Jitasa, the best way to estimate your expenses is to examine your past expenses and gather quotes for new ones. So, let’s say you’ve never hired a consulting firm, but you’re familiar with the costs of implementing a new association management system. Reach out to potential consulting firms for a quote, and use financial data from past technology investments to estimate the cost of necessary technology upgrades.

3. Hire a consulting firm.

Hire an external consultant for your audit to tap into their expertise in association technology. A consultant’s experience and specialized knowledge will ensure you identify your association’s technology needs and receive tailored recommendations for meeting them.

When searching for a consulting firm, look for a technology expert with relevant certifications. Your association can rest assured that a certified consultant is credible and reliable.

For example, if your association needs guidance in Blackbaud or Salesforce product implementation, development, and maintenance, partnering with a certified consultant ensures you’ll receive their expertise in your specific technology needs.

4. Make adjustments to your technology stack.

Once the audit is complete, review its findings and identify gaps in your current technology stack. Your team may receive recommendations to replace, consolidate, or upgrade certain tools. For example, let’s say you identified gaps in your event management software. Making necessary adjustments might involve:

Replacing the software with a solution with more robust features
Consolidating tools with similar functions by choosing one comprehensive platform to be utilized cross-departmentally
Upgrading the tool to access new features, like badge printing or venue maps

If multiple adjustments are needed, prioritize them according to the value they’ll bring to your association. Some improvements are more vital to member engagement and mission fulfillment than others.

5. Outline procedures for using new technology.

Once you’ve determined the steps you’ll take to address technology gaps and developed clear procedures for implementing these improvements, outline guidelines for maintaining and troubleshooting new systems. Ensure that these changes are easy for all necessary team members to access.

Then, walk through these procedures in thorough staff training to ensure your team knows how to use new tools and processes. Offer various learning experiences and materials, including videos, manuals, and workshops, to accommodate different learning styles. You may want to partner with an experienced technology consultant who can help take your training efforts to the next level by guiding your training lessons and materials creation. Also, implement a schedule for refresher training to ensure staff members stay proficient over time and remain up-to-date with your technology’s latest functionalities.

A technology audit is a critical step in your association’s move toward enhanced efficiency, growth, and long-term success. However, the audit process doesn’t end once your team receives a report full of recommendations. It’s up to you to implement the necessary changes and keep an eye on your tech stack as your association’s needs grow.

Working with a consultant can ensure you don’t miss a beat, remaining vigilant in evaluating your resources and making adjustments where necessary. Partner with a consulting firm and set up a technology audit to start assessing and improving your association’s processes.

Author Bio:

Carl Diesing, Managing Director – Carl co-founded DNL OmniMedia in 2006 and has grown the team to accommodate clients with ongoing web development projects. Together DNL OmniMedia has worked with over 100 organizations to assist them with accomplishing their online goals. As Managing Director of DNL OmniMedia, Carl works with nonprofits and their technology to foster fundraising, create awareness, cure disease, and solve social issues. Carl lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife Sarah and their two children Charlie and Evelyn.