Report: State of the Nonprofit Cloud

NTEN just released a new report for the nonprofit technology sector, "The State of the Nonprofit Cloud," which found that out of 780 nonprofits surveyed, 91% use some of kind of cloud-based software solution. The most commonly used cloud-based systems were staff email solutions, at 69%, followed by broadcast email 57% and office software 44%. Over 37% of nonprofits were using two to four cloud solutions and 42% were using five or more cloud solutions.

Why are Nonprofits Using Cloud Solutions?

42% of nonprofits said that “remote access” was an advantage, and nearly 24% said it was due to “ease of maintenance.” Over 50% also said that  “cost” was a factor. However, many organizations simply choose software that will work for them based on the feature-set, ease of use and cost over time; the fact that it was cloud-based either didn’t factor into their decision, or it was secondary, said the NTEN report.

Nonprofits Say Security Is An Issue

Many nonprofits said that they are concerned about the security of cloud solutions. 59% of survey participants who volunteered information about disadvantages of the cloud cited some variation of data control, security, privacy or access, and about 61% felt that “unauthorized access” and “reliability of access” were major concerns when choosing software. But nonprofits were comfortable using other hosted systems for equally sensitive information, such as business email.

Cloud Solutions Reduce Burden on IT Staff

The majority of nonprofits said that cloud solutions have been helpful to their organization by reducing the burden on IT infrastructure and staff. 

You can the full study here.