Going digi­tal as a foun­da­tion board

Im Zentrum einer Board­ma­nage­ment-Soft­ware stehen meist die Doku­men­ten­ver­wal­tung und das Termin­ma­nage­ment. Die Soft­ware ermög­licht das sichere Able­gen und Abru­fen wich­ti­ger Unter­la­gen sowie eine über­sicht­li­che Planung von Sitzun­gen, Aufga­ben und Fris­ten. Da hier­bei oftmals sensi­ble Infor­ma­tio­nen ausge­tauscht werden, spie­len verschlüs­selte Spei­che­rung und ein rollen­ba­sier­tes Berech­ti­gungs­ma­nage­ment eine entschei­dende Rolle.

New possi­bi­li­ties, new processes

The digi­tal docu­ment filing system helps foun­da­tion board members to work effi­ci­ently and in a struc­tu­red manner and to find the right meeting docu­ments quickly. It replaces tradi­tio­nal paper archi­ves and provi­des a relia­ble over­view of histo­ri­cal decis­i­ons and minutes.

With the tran­si­tion to digi­tal working methods, new proces­ses are also being estab­lished in the foun­da­tion sector. Dossiers and appli­ca­ti­ons recei­ved can now be asses­sed and commen­ted on digi­tally before the meeting. Indi­vi­dual tasks are distri­bu­ted among the commit­tee members and the status can be viewed centrally and in a trans­pa­rent manner. More and more commit­tees are disco­ve­ring the advan­ta­ges of hybrid or even comple­tely virtual meetings. The trend is towards more frequent but shorter meetings, which also signi­fi­cantly redu­ces the proces­sing times for inco­ming enquiries.

Over­co­ming digi­tal scepticism

Expe­ri­ence has shown that the intro­duc­tion of a digi­tal board manage­ment solu­tion is best done gradu­ally and with enough room for indi­vi­dual needs. If a member is comple­tely oppo­sed to working digi­tally, the soft­ware should make it possi­ble to conti­nue sending meeting docu­ments by post without any compli­ca­ti­ons. Expe­ri­ence shows that this is usually only a short-term tran­si­tio­nal measure – as soon as the scep­tics have expe­ri­en­ced the bene­fits of the intui­tive and user-friendly inter­faces, they quickly accept the digi­tal way of working. Natu­rally, youn­ger members often have a head start when it comes to using digi­tal tools. But expe­ri­ence proves that intui­tive usabi­lity is inde­pen­dent of age and even convin­ces tradi­tio­nal users – not straight away, but all the more so with a little more time and no rush. More and more board manage­ment solu­ti­ons are rely­ing on arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) to auto­mate routine proces­ses and reduce admi­nis­tra­tive effort. The appli­ca­ti­ons range from the auto­ma­tic crea­tion of prepared minu­tes docu­ments based on the agenda to summa­ri­sing preli­mi­nary decis­i­ons and analy­sing the content of exten­sive meeting docu­ments. The bene­fits of such AI-supported features are often overe­sti­ma­ted in indi­vi­dual cases. In the long term, howe­ver, the trend towards using AI in a targe­ted and careful manner is unstoppable. It ther­e­fore remains crucial that solu­ti­ons are highly flexi­ble, allo­wing appli­ca­ti­ons to be used indi­vi­du­ally and as requi­red. What is really prac­ti­cal remains to be discovered.

Costs, bene­fits – and stumb­ling blocks

Board manage­ment solu­ti­ons are rarely free tools. Anyone looking for a solid, secure and relia­ble plat­form should expect to pay well over CHF 1,000 per year. Ambi­tious plat­forms with a wide range of func­tions, support and secu­rity archi­tec­ture can quickly reach five-figure sums, depen­ding on the provi­der and number of users. It is ther­e­fore worth not only looking at the price tag, but also consciously distin­gu­is­hing between the neces­sary core and optio­nal add-ons. Because in prac­tice, many so-called premium features are rarely used or not used at all. What is always in use, howe­ver, are the two corner­sto­nes of every solu­tion: docu­ment manage­ment and sche­du­ling. They not only enable orga­ni­sa­tion, but also create trans­pa­rency, tracea­bi­lity and fast decis­ion-making proces­ses. If you alre­ady use a digi­tal appli­ca­tion or funding manage­ment system or have estab­lished a plat­form for exchan­ging infor­ma­tion with project part­ners, you should think carefully about whether it makes sense to set up a comple­tely new infra­struc­ture. After all, every new solu­tion also brings with it new user inter­faces, addi­tio­nal logins and new sources of error.

Small step, big impact

The initial imple­men­ta­tion effort may seem high to some – but looking back, the results are gene­rally posi­tive. Hardly anyone who has taken the step to digi­tal orga­ni­sa­tion of meetings wants to go back to email as a ‘repla­ce­ment’, to poorly coor­di­na­ted tasks or even to moun­ta­ins of paper. On the contrary: many foun­da­tion board members and mana­ging direc­tors report that, in retro­s­pect, they should have made the switch much earlier. This is because digi­tal board manage­ment solu­ti­ons not only create effi­ci­ency, but also reli­eve the burden on commit­tees in a way that puts the focus back on what phil­an­thropy is really about – looking ahead and taking bold, effec­tive action.

Board manage­ment with StiftungSchweiz

Simple, secure and tail­o­red to real-life prac­tice: The inte­gra­ted board manage­ment on stiftungschweiz.ch has been deve­lo­ped speci­fi­cally for non-profit orga­ni­sa­ti­ons – with a focus on the essen­ti­als.

Docu­ment and meeting manage­ment
Meeting docu­ments can be stored centrally, orga­nised in folders and made available to the members of the foun­da­tion board with clear permis­sion manage­ment and secure access. Meeting manage­ment enables plan­ning and invi­ta­ti­ons to physi­cal, hybrid or online meetings – without addi­tio­nal soft­ware and inclu­ding remin­der func­tions, agenda entries and direct docu­ment links. The system ther­e­fore focus­ses on those func­tions that are needed in prac­tice on a daily basis. A centra­li­sed commu­ni­ca­tion func­tion – compa­ra­ble to Micro­soft Teams – faci­li­ta­tes exch­an­ges between members and gradu­ally redu­ces email traf­fic. In addi­tion, a media radar is available that auto­ma­ti­cally bund­les rele­vant news in the subject areas proces­sed by the foun­da­tion. An inte­gra­ted, secure AI assistant helps with the prepa­ra­tion of meetings, the evalua­tion of dossiers or the prepa­ra­tion of agenda items – directly in the work context and without swit­ching plat­forms.

Seam­less inte­gra­tion
The board manage­ment is not an addi­tio­nal tool, but part of the stiftungschweiz.ch plat­form – and is ther­e­fore seam­lessly linked to appli­ca­tion and funding manage­ment as well as other func­tions. All rele­vant modu­les can be acces­sed with just one login, such as the decis­ion view for prepared appli­ca­ti­ons. Navi­ga­tion and opera­ting prin­ci­ples remain the same throug­hout, which makes fami­lia­ri­sa­tion easier.

A fair calcu­la­tion
The fewer resour­ces that have to be inves­ted in IT tools, the more is available for actual funding acti­vi­ties. This is why the board manage­ment on stiftungschweiz.ch is deli­bera­tely kept lean, func­tional and cost-trans­pa­rent. The basic func­tions inclu­ding 10 GB of storage space are alre­ady included in the part­ner level (CHF 1650/year) – with no hidden addi­tio­nal costs. This makes the solu­tion ideal for small and medium-sized orga­ni­sa­ti­ons that are looking for a relia­ble and tried-and-tested board tool without unneces­sary comple­xity or high entry barriers.

Webi­nar: Board manage­ment in prac­tice, 25.8.25, 11.00
The webi­nar provi­des an intro­duc­tion to board manage­ment. The focus of this one-hour format is on prac­ti­cal appli­ca­tion – and on the parti­ci­pants’ questions.