Operating costs are one of the biggest challenges for any charity. While you want to concentrate all of your efforts on your leading cause, there are always a few essentials that need to be dealt with – and paid for – first.
If they get out of hand, charity operating costs can soon begin to eat away at your budget for more important things like staffing and services to those in need. Thankfully, there are a few ways to reduce them. Read on as we look at four ways to reduce your charity’s operating costs.
1. Lower phone costs
Phones are a must-have for any charity. But with the cost of the landline, private branch exchange (PBX) and the sometimes-high cost of calls, they can soon become one of the highest charity operating costs.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a cost-effective alternative to traditional phone systems that don’t require a landline. Run through your internet connection, the service is cheaper to install and typically cheaper on a per-call basis too. For example, we offer a 5000 minute a month call bundle per user.
2. Switching providers
Whether it’s broadband, energy or insurance, switching providers is one of the best ways to keep operating costs down. It allows you to continually make the most of special offers and new customer deals, as well as avoiding the higher tariffs some companies move you to when your fixed-rate or introductory offer expires.
According to price comparison site Uswitch, you could save £387 for energy and £159 on broadband on average each year.
3. Remote working
With the average cost per person ranging from £200 to £1,400 in UK cities, office space is undoubtedly one of the biggest operating costs for any charity. Remote working can help you minimise or even eliminate these costs altogether.
Working remotely full-time means there’s no need for a permanent office space. This requires the right tools, including cloud storage, collaboration software like Teams and – as mentioned above – a VoIP phone system.
Alternatively, you can move to a smaller space by hot-desking, where workers use the office part-time and share desks. Or you could even share an office space with other like-minded charities to split the costs.
4. Paper-free
The cost of paper soon stacks up – pun intended. While it may seem like a trivial matter, the price of paper, ink and eventually a new printer will all contribute to your charity’s operating costs. In fact, Gartner estimates that paper, printing, filing and storage accounts for as much as 3% of revenue.
By cutting it out, you’ll save a bit of extra money every week, month and year. But you’ll also be doing your bit for the environment, as well as saving on space and time. It’s estimated that simply looking for filed documents can use up as much as 30% of an office worker’s time!
Reduce your charity operating costs
Whether you want to sidestep the price of conventional phones or facilitate remote working to reduce office costs, VoIP is a cost-effective solution for charities across the UK.
At VS Group, we specialise in VoIP for charity, with over 500 clients in the voluntary sector to date. If you want to find out more about VoIP and how it could help with your charity’s operating costs, simply get in touch with our team.
