Nonprofit Budget Season Begins – Where to find savings!

Most nonprofits will end their year on June 30th and should be in the midst of their annual budgeting process.  The 2025 year has begun with a whirlwind of uncertainty and the economy is feeling the effects of:

• Uncertainty in funding sources

• Labor market instability

• Governmental cuts

• Rising costs

• Availability of supplies and equipment

• Threat of recession and consumer pull back

• Higher demand by people dependent on nonprofit resources

Organizations which are highly dependent on government funds or related sources are

Nonprofit boards often avoid areas they don't fully understand and leave savings on the table.

speechless.  Even organizations with private funding from individuals or foundations will potentially see a pull back if the economy drifts into recession.   This is particularly a double edge sword for organizations providing social services since the demand for services increases during these times and the availability of funds decreases.  

We clearly can’t predict what the future holds, but we can plan for contingencies and look for potential savings while serving the organizations mission effectively and efficiently. 

Along with risk management and planning, technology is one of the best tools to gain greater efficiency in an organization’s operations.  However, when technology is not leveraged properly, it can be a drag on the organization and often increases the cost of operations.  This especially becomes the case in an environment of increased cyber risks and protecting people and their data.  In the case of nonprofits, that don’t identify as “tech savvy” that is especially true.  Often organizations are leaving “money on the table” when it comes to planning and because they are so close to the organization, they are unaware of the potential benefits that may be available.

In our experience, the most common areas of savings which get overlooked include:

1. Are you paying for off-site storage of data when you could be using Microsoft’s Nonprofit grant of $2,000/year Azure usage?

2. Are you paying for Google or Microsoft licenses that can potentially be free or heavily discounted if your non-profit status is not properly reflected on your account?  In addition to allocating different license types based upon the user needs.

3. Are employees expensing software licensing for various applications like Zoom when you already have in-house conferencing solutions available? Often called SaaS creep where you are paying for software with similar functionality, multiple times over.

4. Advance security solutions have become very affordable, have you considered improving your data protection and incident response capabilities.  This lowers your costs and risks to the organization.

5. Have you considered the cost/benefit of outsourcing your IT support through managed services where you pay for services as you use them rather than having in-house full-time staff?  Organizations we work with typically see a 17-28% savings through managed services.

6. If you already outsource your technology support, when was the last time you competitively priced your services? 

7. Have you leveraged nonprofit discounted pricing for services and application software?

8. Managing and repurposing technology assets can extend their useful life? On the advent of material costs rising this will be essential for all organizations to optimize their purchasing and management of assets.

Often when organizations either have in-house technology support or have been using a third party for an extended period, a rationalization of the costs and services has not been performed.   Nonprofits are also unique in they demand a high level of service since their employee base is typically not technical, but they are also encumbered by limited funds.

Sagin operates a 24/7 IT Managed Services practice of which 40% of our client base are nonprofits, foundations, schools and associations.  Some of which are as small as 10 employees up to 1,000+.  Small organizations with internal technology staff often have few resources who need to be a “jack-of-all-trades” and the organization is often held back by their limited knowledge.  It is also difficult for these organizations to recruit new talent because they lack a solid career path for the future.   Sagin is unique because we can offer clients the option of hiring your employees and providing them with greater career opportunities while lowering your operating cost and supporting you locally.  Most IT service providers use off-shore call center operations which are highly inefficient and lower levels of customer service.

Let us give you a complimentary benchmarking assessment of your specific operations as you plan your budget for the new year.   You can reach us at info@saginllc.com or call us at (312) 481-7968.