The Problem: Limits of Traditional Service Delivery Models
Today’s nonprofit organizations almost always utilize in-person methods to deliver services to their constituents. Although millions of nonprofits exist to serve diverse needs, vulnerable populations are left trapped in their circumstances in part due to the limitations of in-person delivery models. Because these barriers affect nonprofits as well as those they serve, nonprofits simply can’t serve all of the people who need their help.
For instance, more than one in five impoverished Americans live in rural areas, but nearly 90% of nonprofit service providers are located in cities as far as 250 miles away. Even in urban areas, where nonprofit density is much higher, people with mobility issues face barriers traveling to receive nonprofit services.
In cities without robust public transportation options, people without access to personal transportation often cannot attend meetings or classes, and single mothers, half of whom live below the poverty line, typically do not have access to the childcare they need to leave the house and go to a meeting.
Marginalized and underserved populations are unable to access the services that they need, and as a result, they remain trapped in cycles of poverty, hunger, and poor education. Meanwhile, nonprofits are limited by physical capacity and the related high cost of delivering services in person.
The Solution: Virtualized Service Delivery Model
Nonprofits can reach these populations with barriers of distance and income by adopting Internet-based, virtualized service delivery models. According to a report by the Pew Research Center, 72% of American households earning less than $50,000 annually have Internet connectivity at home. Likewise, Internet-based applications have become exponentially more capable and user friendly, enabling organizations to work in ways that were previously impossible.
Nonprofits now have the opportunity to begin offering services online that could only be delivered in person previously. To support this process, Powered by Action created a mobile-enabled collaboration platform that enables nonprofits to deliver services to anybody, anywhere as though they were in the same room.
Now is the time to evolve your organization into a 21st-century service organization equipped with the tools you need to reach a greater number of people in need and scale your impact.