A persuasive demonstration, a generous nonprofit discount and an urgent problem: this combination has led many a well-meaning organisation into a software commitment it later regrets. The tool may be excellent; it may simply be wrong for the organisation that bought it.
Over many years of guiding technology decisions, I have found that five questions, asked honestly and in order, prevent most such mistakes.
1. What problem, precisely, are we solving?
Describe it in a single sentence without naming any product. “Volunteers do not know their schedules until the night before” is a problem. “We need a volunteer management platform” is a conclusion masquerading as one.
2. What do we already own?
Many organisations already license capable suites — Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, for example — whose features go largely unused. The best new tool is sometimes one you have already paid for.
3. Who will own it, and for how long?
Every system needs a steward who understands it and keeps it tidy. If the answer is “whoever has time,” the system will decay. If the steward is a volunteer, plan for the day they move on.
4. What is the true cost over three years?
Licence fees are merely the visible portion. Add set-up, data migration, training, integrations and the staff hours required to maintain it. Then compare that figure with the value of the problem solved.
5. How do we leave?
Before entering any system, understand how to export your data in a usable form. An organisation that cannot leave a vendor has, in a meaningful sense, surrendered part of its independence.
A closing principle
The most sophisticated technology strategy for a small organisation is frequently the simplest: fewer tools, well configured, clearly owned and genuinely used. Restraint, in technology as in much else, is a form of wisdom.
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