Realizing the Significance of Inventory Management for Nonprofits

If your company carries inventory or assets of any kind, by now, you probably know that it’s of utmost importance to keep up with them. The significance of inventory management makes a difference in how companies track and manage their inventory – jobs, budgets, and even the future of the company can depend on it. The significance of inventory management is becoming more necessary for nonprofit entities.

Nonprofits are keenly aware that their best bet for meeting goals is to spend as much time as possible focusing on their charitable missions. They would rather not spend endless hours on administrative tasks like looking for missing assets or guessing what items are in their organization’s inventory. But with only so much staff to go around, it can be a tricky balance.

Often, there are many valuable assets in a nonprofit association's inventory that need to be tracked and managed.

Here are just a few items that nonprofits regularly use daily with a higher price tag that you may want to manage:

• Computers
• Tablets and mobile phones
• Organization vehicles
• Collection receptacles
• Signage
• And much more

So when one of them is lost, stolen, misplaced, or out of service, it can significantly impact the nonprofit and those it assists.

The Importance of Nonprofit Inventory Management

According to the Nonprofit Finance Fund, a survey of more than 5,000 nonprofit organizations revealed that most operate on small budgets in proportion to their total fundraising efforts. Additionally, it found that nonprofits frequently list financial sustainability as one of their three most significant concerns. With limited funds at their disposal, nonprofits have to keep track of every penny they spend and are always looking for ways to save money so they can allocate it towards the beneficiaries of their efforts.

Inventory management for nonprofit entities offers an easy-to-use solution that can help with a number of tasks beyond just basic asset tracking, and it’s even helping to save time and money. The world has changed, and so has the old-school way of tracking assets. Gone are the days of error-filled electronic spreadsheets that are most likely inaccurate and contain inconsistent data to what’s held in reality. Nonprofits are looking for systems that their employees will actually use that require very little to no training and can be rapidly deployed across an organization.

Technology and Inventory Tracking

Technology is playing a significant role in the nonprofit sector when it comes to inventory management for nonprofits. Technological advances allow nonprofit organizations of all sizes to communicate more effectively, educate, and engage on a grander scale than ever before—at little cost. Because the issue of transparency is crucial for staff, the board, and donors, inventory management technology is giving nonprofits the ability to show where the money goes and how it’s being used.

Mobile Asset and Inventory Tracking on the Rise

Many nonprofits are recognizing the benefit that mobile technology provides when it comes to operating their organization. Who would have thought that with one click, donors can send their financial support to the nonprofit of their choice right from their smartphone or tablet?

The significance of inventory management with mobile capabilities gives nonprofits freedom that they previously haven’t experienced. They can move from event to event and still have an accurate knowledge of what assets are available, who has an item at any given time, and what condition they are in. No more going back to the office and logging in from your desk or making a guess as to where a particular item might be. Users can view the entire lifecycle of every item in inventory right from their phone or tablet, no matter where they are, 24/7.

Nonprofits face some significant challenges if they are to survive. Inventory software platforms such as Asset Panda are helping nonprofit organizations be more accountable to their donors while allowing staff to save time and money and concentrate on what they care about doing most.

Asset Panda's Inventory Tracking Software

Cloud-based Asset Panda offers numerous benefits as part of our inventory management software for nonprofits, such as:

• Low cost
• Minimal training required
• Central view for executives to see all assets across all departments
• Auto-reminders/email notifications of upcoming maintenance needed
• Reports showing and filtering for asset types, assignees, ages of an asset, last maintenance performed, etc.
• Quick implementation
• Simple for employees to learn/use

Want to learn more? Hear what nonprofit organization Team Gleason has to say about the significance of inventory management and how Asset Panda has saved their organization time and money.

Give Asset Panda's inventory management software a try with a free 14-day trial (no card required)! You’ll receive full access to user guides, video tutorials, free mobile apps, and call-in and live chat support from our helpful support team.