CFHIs Business Needs and Those of a For-Profit Organization - Case Study Example

Explain the similarities between CFHI’s “business” needs and those of a for-profit organization. All organizations, whether for profit or non profit, exist for a basic objective or mission. In order to achieve this mission, organizations have to cater to number of internal as well as external needs. Non profit organizations exist for the purpose of providing some kind of a service to their community or country and this is their main objective. Similarly, CFHI has a number of needs and some of these are like those of a for-profit organization (Christopher Scott, 2007). Due to its expansion, CFHI has observed an increase in its operational needs and tasks which are similar to those faced by expanding for-profit organizations. For the expansion to be successful CFHI would have to reach as many donors as possible and this would be made possible due to speedy and efficient website techniques. Another need of CFHI is the limited efficiency of it`s IT department which hinders the growth of the organization as a whole. These limitations are often faced by for-profit organizations due to their expansion plans and strategies. Another need of CFHI is to improve its communication process with its customers, the donors, which can be done through immediate update of its website as soon as any disaster happens. These needs of CFHI are quite similar to those faced by for-profit organizations. 2. Compare donor loyalty to customer loyalty. The customers of CFHI are its donors who contribute funds which are further processed by the organization for relief works. Therefore, it is essential for CFHI to maintain good relationships with its customers who are the donors. Just like for-profit organizations, it is really important for non-profit organizations to keep a strong clientele and maintain good relations so that the customers are loyal with the organization. CFHI should also keep the donors satisfied because without their donations the organization would not be able to carry out its operations and thus, achieve its objective (NON-PROFIT: Donation loyalty, 2013). In order to keep the donor satisfied and hence, loyal with the business, the organization needs to maintain strong relationships with them and provide more opportunities to them (Building donor loyalty, 2013). The organization can do this by keep itself updated with the level of technology in the market. Customer loyalty is when the customers keep buying the products from one supplier instead of buying it from different suppliers. The purpose or the main motive of customers is to get the maximum benefit from their purchasing power (Customer loyalty and retention, 2013). However, the main motive of donors is to contribute their funds for the betterment and benefit of not themselves, but for the people living in disaster affected areas. Therefore, the major factors affecting donor loyalty include how well the organization makes use of the funds and their experience in providing relief work. The organizations need to make as much information available for the donors as possible so that donors can make proper and well-thought decisions about their donations. 3. Why does real-time data matter to donors? The customers of CFHI are its donors and without the support of its donors, the organization would not be able to achieve its mission and objectives. It is extremely important to keep the donors satisfied by regularly updating the website and providing real time information for the donors (Alan Cole, 2012). This is because donors would only help by contributing money if these donors trust the organization and believe that the organization would use the funds for the maximum benefit of the people residing in disaster struck regions. The donors need to know the current statistics as to how the organization used its past funds and donations. The donors need to know the current funds required by the organization and the ways through which the donors can help depending on the disaster involved. Without real time information, the donors would not know if their help is needed or not. This information would also give answers to different queries of the donors related to the funds and any king of help that the organization needs for immediate relief activities (Ian Hayes, 2012). Therefore, in order to create long lasting relationships with the donors as well as to provide opportunities to the donors of helping, it is extremely important for the organization to keep updating real time information on its website. Through speedy real time information, donors would also know the different ways through which can help can be provided. 4. What are the benefits of NetSuite’s architecture? For smooth functioning of the operations after expansion, CFHI selected NetSuite which proved to be a fruitful decision. The implementation of NetSuite helped the organization to achieve its objectives and mission. The decision also resulted in a number of benefits for CFHI. The greatest benefit for CFHI was the flexible nature and operations of NetSuite. It has a number of qualitative and unique features which made the task operations of CFHI quite simple and effective. These features included immediate posting of links for donations on the website of CFHI. NetSuite posts these links immediately after the natural disaster which makes it easier for the organization to collect and receive funds for the relief works. Due to the implementation of NetSuite, the organization was able to collect funds and donations the very next day of the disaster. This increase in the receipt of donations help the organization achieve its mission of people living in impoverished disaster-struck areas. As soon as the organization receives the donations, it can use these donations to arrange the supplies and other requirements for the relief work (Benefits of an Integrated Business Software System, 2013). Another huge benefit provided by NetSuite is that the employees of CFHI can access their system via the web from anywhere, other than their office and their workplace. This results in increased employee productivity as the employee can view live data related to the donations from anywhere via the web. The employees at the call centers also get extensive information about the callers which gives a touch of professionalism to the jobs of the employees and further, motivates the employees 5. Why are dashboards important to performance? There are a number of factors which increase the productivity of employees and improve their performance. With innovative and unique developments in technology, employees can be given incentives in order to keep them motivated to their job. With the implementation of NetSuite, the employees at CFHI are more motivated and attached with their jobs. With the dashboards, employees can receive live data on their handhelds and are updated with any changes and new donations (Net Charts Performance Dashboards, 2013). As a result, the employees also get an insight on how well their organization is operating and whether the employees are focusing on their key objectives and mission. The employees can also see their current operations of work as well as their future endeavors. Employees can see how many people are being helped and if their relief works are actually helping people or not. The employees can even check on the donations and the increase in the number of operations. Another important advantage of dashboards is that employees can compare their current performance with their past performances and find their areas of strengths and work on their weaknesses. Through this, the employees can even keep themselves updated with their work while on vacations. The managers can also keep a check on the employees to see if they are working on their assigned tasks. 6. What other enhancements might improve the mission of CFHI? The mission of CFHI is to provide help to the people residing in disaster struck areas. In order to fulfill this mission, CFHI needs full support of the donors because without the help of the donors, the organization would not be able to achieve its objectives. Apart from the implementation of NetSuite, CFHI can further improve donor loyalty by printing bi-monthly or yearly magazine of the relief works and past statistics of the number of disaster areas covered. Through this way, the organization`s relation with its donors would also improve and the donors would also get to know about the operations of the organization and the use of their donations. The organization could also maintain its relationship with its donors by sending messages of gratefulness and by actually showing them the way their funds have been used. Through this way, the donors can become more motivated to further provide funds for the help of other affected people. The organization could keep in mind that in order to fulfill its mission, it needs full support of the donors because without the donations, the organization would not be able to help people residing in disaster struck areas. Works Cited: 1. Benefits of an Integrated Business Software System - NetSuite. (n.d.). Cloud ERP, Business Accounting Software, CRM, Ecommerce — NetSuite. Retrieved January 26, 2013, from http://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/software-system.shtml 2. Breakeven Are You Thanking Your Donors In Real-Time? It Is Possible... — Breakeven. (n.d.). Breakeven — helping those who help others. Retrieved January 26, 2013, from http://www.breakeveninc.com/are-you-thanking-your-donors-in-real-time-it-is-possible/ 3. Building Donor Loyalty: Chapter 4 | Fundraising Non-Profit Fund-raising Resource - Tony Poderis. (n.d.). | Fundraising Non-Profit Fund-raising Resource – Tony Poderis . Retrieved January 26, 2013, from http://www.raise-funds.com/2003/building-donor-loyalty-chapter-4/ 4. Charity News: NON-PROFIT: Donation loyalty - Donor loyalty key to long-term success in the non-profit sector? (n.d.). Charity Giving Online: Global Charity Fundraising: Xperedon. Retrieved January 26, 2013, from http://www.xperedon.com/news_1372 5. Customer Loyalty & Retention. (n.d.). Customer Loyalty & Retention. Retrieved January 26, 2013, from http://www.customerloyalty.org 6. Nonprofit Management Major | Nonprofit Management Careers, Education. (n.d.). Online Degree Programs from Online Colleges & Universities | WorldWideLearn.com. Retrieved January 26, 2013, from http://www.worldwidelearn.com/online-education-guide/business/nonprofit-management-major.htm 7. Turban, E., Volonino, L., Sipior, J. C., & Wood, G. R. (2011). Information technology for management: improving strategic and operational performance (8th Ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley. 8. Wiley: Building Donor Loyalty: The Fundraiser's Guide to Increasing Lifetime Value - Adrian Sargeant, Elaine Jay. (n.d.). Wiley: Home. Retrieved January 26, 2013, from http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-078796834X.html 9. Net Charts Performance Dashboards | Business Analytics and Performance Management Software. (n.d.). Visual Mining | Business Intelligence and Performance Management Dashboard Software. Retrieved January 26, 2013, from http://www.visualmining.com/netcharts-performance-dashboards.php 10. Read More