The cost of deferred maintenance

Just because something isn’t urgent doesn't mean it's not important.

Sure, most nonprofits have their resources stretched very thin, in both money and time.

So it's tempting to delay what can be delayed, focusing only on the things that demand our immediate attention.

But the result is deferred maintenance, a deceptively costly approach.

If you don't think it's costly, consider this real-world example:

Kansas State University recently decided to demolish 20 campus buildings, including the indoor swimming facility and the gymnasium, rather than face the expense of catching up on decades of delayed repairs and maintenance.

You’re (probably) not in the business of managing university campus facilities. But your operations do rely on maintaining accurate CRM data and effective tools to leverage that data.

So you’ll need to consider tasks like these:

• Detecting and merging duplicate contact records.
• Documenting and implementing a solid permission scheme for your users.
• Performing security updates.
• Ensuring you have a sound backup system for all data and files.
• Conducting regular trainings to keep your staff up to date with the latest system functionality.

Obviously those are all important and valuable.

But they’re nothing your board will demand that you solve right away. A major donor isn’t going to call you at 5:00 p.m. on a Friday, irate that you haven't addressed these things.

In other words, it's a can that you could kick down the road.

But unless you enjoy demolishing things that have not been properly maintained, I encourage you to make time for the ongoing maintenance.

All the best,
A.