How charities can reduce operational costs through IT

Managing a charity’s budget is not an easy task. Relying on donations, whether they come through regular or irregular subscriptions, events or legacies, makes large budgets difficult to control and in many occasions the small ones too.

To put it in simple terms: the money that goes into a charity has to be split in two parts; one part covers the operational cost (like staff salaries, infrastructure, technology, etc.) and the other part goes to support their causes. The lower they can keep their operational costs, the more they can direct to their mission.

With limited budgets, most charities don’t have the ability to do everything they need and want, especially when it comes to technology.

For example, if the IT equipment is too old and no longer passes security requirements, the charity can allocate a small amount of the budget to fix that specific problem by purchasing a few new devices (most likely of entry level and not future-proof). Months later, they’ll get another problem and get another small amount goes to fix it. Each time, they’ll probably end up acquiring different brands, models and product specifications according to the current budget and needs of the charity. Over time this leaves no consistency in the way their fleet is acquired or managed.

If we analyze what big corporations do, we often discover they do the opposite: They tend to go for a specific manufacturer, model or standard product specifications for the simple reason that is so much easier to manage a homogenous fleet where all the updates, drivers, patches, cables and “the feeding and watering approaches” are all the same.

We know what you are thinking…big corporations have large budgets that allow them to do this. And although that is correct, it doesn’t cancel out the opportunity for charities to standardize their IT equipment.

Introducing:

The Mary Ward: Blackfriars settlement experience

We started working with Blackfriars Settlement 3 years ago, right when they were moving offices and back when their IT equipment was composed of loads of different makes and types of old IT kit.

In 2020, Mary Ward was able to standardize their fleet using our range of refurbished computers; called “2nd Life IT”. These are devices refurbished to a large corporate standard, available at up to half the price of new. It is then rented under subscription to clients and supported throughout the life of this subscription by InnoVent.

This year, following our recommended refresh cycle of 3 years, the charity has renewed their fleet choosing our 2nd Life IT products again and our subscription model for easy budgeting.

We’ve deployed 54 HP 800 G4 Mini Desktops that the charity now uses for their staff and for their IT Suite where they offer IT courses to their charity customers. All the devices are the same: the same model, the same operating system (Windows 11 Pro), and the same specifications and connections to peripherals. These PCs will comfortably run for the next 3 years and, like we mentioned before, are supported by InnoVent. That means trouble free usage for them since if anything goes wrong with a device we repair/replace it free of charge.

Learn more about our In Life Support services for both 2nd Life IT and new equipment here.

At the same time, our subscription model allows charities to acquire peace of mind. A fixed payment per Quarter spreads the cost of the IT over its useful life, adds a fixed support solution, keeps the technology up to date and most importantly: gives the charity a single point of contact to solve all their problems and address new requirements. This is something our clients IT departments really appreciate.

In the words of Liz Ranger, Director of Services at Blackfriars Settlement:

“Working with InnoVent has been brilliant for us. It enables us to upgrade our IT that the staff can use and that students are using. We are able to offer a better quality IT experience, particularly when we are focusing around employability skills with students is really important.

For us it has delivered an element of predictability around the cost of the IT and makes sure that we can troubleshoot and solve problems quickly. We are able to budget much more easily knowing exactly what it is going to cost us for the coming few years and that our IT software and hardware will be kept up to date.”

About Blackfriars Settlement

Blackfriars Settlement is based in London. For over 130 years it has aimed to create and provide community services and support for South London residents. Whether they want to learn new skills or to have fun and make friends, they have something to suit.

They offer a wide range of services and activities, supporting people of all ages to achieve their goals and improve their well-being.

For more information about Blackfriars Settlement click here