6 Ways Training Software For Nonprofits Can Benefit Compliance
When you’re on the receiving end of compliance rules, things tend to get stressful. Mandatories are so minute that you might feel they were implicitly designed to frustrate you. They weren’t. The aim was to ensure standards of quality, accountability, security, and safety. This means even for organizations that aren’t driven by corporate gains and capitalism, compliance must be maintained. In fact, some NGOs must follow even more strict policies and protocols to keep their nonprofit status. How can a nonprofit LMS facilitate this and help you measure results?
1. It Allows You To Maintain Licensing
Levels of compliance vary, as do their requirements. Some are internal, just for your organization. Some are regional or global, whether it’s an industry-wide specification or something more geographical. External regulations require organizations to take a standardized test or an exam issued by a governing body. If they pass, they receive universal compliance documents that cut across companies. However, you don’t have to wait for the annual rush. You can ensure that your team is up to speed and send them reminders ahead of time via LMS notifications. For example, invite them to retake a course so that they’re ready for the upcoming exam.
2. You Launch Your Own Certification Courses
Some online training software for nonprofits allows you to create internal compliance courses that mirror the national one. You can launch certification courses at will, offering them to your staff and volunteers. It takes the pressure off because, at the psychological level, it’s not as intimidating as external exams. And when your trainees do have to take “the big test,” they’ll be a lot more relaxed when they spot familiar questions. Plus, they get an extra certificate, so that’s good. They can show off their achievements, which also reminds peers that they need to brush up on their knowledge too. Don’t just stop at compliance certifications. Use the same approach to hone skills and develop in-house specialists. For example, members of your team can train to become volunteer mentors who help new recruits learn the ropes.
3. You Can Monitor Engagement
Online compliance training gives you so much more data than traditional training. In the conventional system, trainees sit in class for a set period, and courses last a specified duration. But you can’t tell for sure that trainees are absorbing or retaining proffered knowledge. They may pass the final written test, but do they really understand the ideas, or have they just temporarily memorized the basic policies? Compliance software has multiple tools to evaluate student attention and knowledge transfer. For instance, heat maps can show when a trainee’s focus dwindles. Or you can rely on performance reports to tell you how long it took to complete the course and identify areas for improvement.
4. It Helps With Structure And Time Management
Subtle screen timers can show you how long a trainee took to complete a page, unit, or course. You can see what study times (and locations) they prefer, and where they dropped out. You can even go high-tech by using trackers to see which content sections they read through and which ones they skimmed. This helps you spot the style that works, and you can adjust your structure to hold learners’ interest. You can also tell which content areas need to be simplified or beefed up.
5. It Enriches Data Analysis
For a while now, Big Data has been considered a powerful tool. But it’s largely a buzzword because every day, we see how underutilized it is. The data exists, but we’re all so hung up on its potential that we don’t actually use it. The true strength of data isn’t in volume; it’s in application. For example, your nonprofit LMS can capture clock-ins, drop-offs, test results, study duration, assessment hesitation, and even device location. But what will you do with it?
6. It Lets You Tailor Your Reports
Customizable nonprofit LMS reports can help you sift through that data, classing it into exactly what you need. You can even automate data sets to show correlation. This helps you spot areas that need improvement. A report that combines time, place, and duration of study can help your organization gauge the ideal lesson length. You can determine which areas of your “territory” need a Wi-Fi boost, and which hardware you should invest in for volunteers. And your software can allow you to collect, collate, format, and mail/print these reports automatically. You can also specify who receives which reports and when. For instance, your volunteer liaison gets their relevant reports via email every week before the weekly check-in meeting.
Conclusion
Online training is among the most popular methods of guaranteeing compliance. And it’s just as effective and essential in a nonprofit setting. It ensures the products and services your organization offers are up to par. After all, just because it’s voluntary, subsidized, or free doesn’t mean it should be bad. But how exactly do these LMS for nonprofits help you comply and measure results? They keep your licensing up to date and assess trainee involvement. You can monitor their level of investment and how much time they’re taking on each aspect of the course. You’re also able to collect way more data and use customized reports to format metrics in a practical, meaningful manner. All these combined functions will boost the efficiency of your operation and stretch your resources.
Our guide offers more tips and tricks to train your team on a limited budget. There’s also our online directory, which features the top LMS for nonprofits, complete with ratings, reviews, features lists, and pricing options. You can even see which vendors offer free trials in order to test-drive the tool, as well as contact them directly to get a free quote or consultation.
