How to Choose Webconferencing for Your Nonprofit

  

  

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No matter where your nonprofit is headquartered, employees, volunteers, and funders can be anywhere in the country or the world. While email and phone are helpful communication tools, they pale in comparison to the power of audio, Web and video conferencing technology.

Email and telephone only allow partial communications. Time elapses until recipients can read and respond to emails. Many times, decisions made by one party will be dependent upon the decisions made by other parties. Even instant communication by telephone cannot provide communication as efficiently since it often limits the number of parties who can be included in a single conversation. Decisions and goals are accomplished more efficiently when all the stakeholders meet in one place at one time.

That meeting does not have to take place in person. Conferencing, whether by audio, Web or video, accomplishes the same tasks, without depleting your budget from vital funds. Those funds are better used to help those individuals that your organization supports.

Most Web-conferencing services have very similar features and capabilities, but not all services are equal. Choosing the right service for your organization will depend on cost, support and ease of administration.

Cost is a vital consideration in the current climate of tight budgets and dwindling donations. More people need your services, yet you have fewer funds with which to provide those services. For this reason, you must choose an affordable provider. By choosing a plan that charges only for the minutes you use, your organization will save money and be able to track the costs of each initiative more easily.

Customer service and support are also very important when choosing a conferencing provider. Make sure you can talk to a live support person at any time of the day. Good providers will even have a customer service representative call you and ask if you need any help navigating the system or if you have any questions that need answering.

Ease of administration is the third critical issue. Make sure your conferencing provider does not require you to download any software to be up and running. Check out the user dashboard to ensure you and your organization members can navigate it quickly and easily. Look at how the features function and be sure you can access the functions easily when you need them. Once you have checked out these three major factors, you can be confident you are choosing a conferencing provider that will serve your needs.