What Exactly is a Board Portal?

Board Portal

Most definitions of a board portal would state that this is complex software designed for a trouble-free collaboration of executives during meetings. However, you may confuse it with conferencing tools and other similar equipment. Unlike them, board portals have much more options.

When you rule a nonprofit organization (NPO), you may ask yourself whether you need this software at all. Here, financial feasibility may be one of the essential factors. You also may be skeptical about online board meeting options presuming that they are too complicated and user-unfriendly. However, the truth is that you can easily adapt and manage both your boardroom and business without spending much money and time-consuming training.

Board Portal Basic Functions

The key to understanding what a virtual boardroom is and how useful it may be for the governance of any NPO lies in its features. Many would take such a service as a simple tribute to the time and modern techs. However, we are ready to show how it can enhance your company management. The top options of the online board meetings are based on the following features of the soft:

  • Seamless integration;
  • High standards of security;
  • Ease of use;
  • Multifunctionality;
  • Tutorials for beginners;
  • Support 24/7.

All this is available only with those providers that comply with the up-to-date security requirements and employ top-advanced technologies. To have enough capacity, they should be properly certified as well.

Key Advantages of Online Boardrooms

Let’s overview the main benefits virtual board software can bring you. In practical terms, the above-given features will introduce changes to your management scheme like:

  1. You won’t need to print piles of paper anymore.
  2. Your company directors can get in touch from any place.
  3. You can easily prepare, store, search, review, discuss, and sign any document.
  4. From now on, you have a single system of materials, securely stored and ready to be used.
  5. You can plan agendas, build meeting minutes, etc.
  6. At your disposal are secure messengers for smooth interaction with the senior staff.
  7. Your tools include such handy options as:
  • Voting;
  • The e-Signature option;
  • D&O Questionnaire;
  • Engagement Analytics;
  • Offline Access and more.

Thus, you will be able to get the whole management of your company under control and maintain it easily and fast. Simply stated, your paperless meeting solution will save you time and costs – and it’s crucial for a non-business entity.

Which Vendor to Choose?

The board management software market is highly competitive. There are numerous vendors with top-class tools that can be easily adapted to your NPO. Which one will suit you the best? To answer this question, you should consider a number of factors.

1. Reputation

Choose only from reputable board portal software providers with a solid record. The more experienced your targeted provider is the more satisfactory your partnership with it will be. Examine its website and experts’ rates. It’s also a good practice to read the feedback of the existing customers.

2. Security Options

Pay the closest attention to this feature. The minimum requirements to vendors in this respect include having software certificates of the ISO 27001 standard and applying the 256-bit encryption to data transfers. The exact provider you need should be able to protect your sensitive documents when you store or share them.

3. Adaptability & Usability

Your virtual boardroom meeting should by no means present any difficulty for you or other members of the leadership. It should perfectly fit your governance model and even more – there should be enough instruments to improve it. The mere intention of the tool lies in simplifying the processes of collaboration and decision-making. So, all parties should feel at ease when meeting on the board portal platform and using its options.

4. Enough Functionality

Measure your company needs before you pick any paperless meeting solution. Then, explore the functional capabilities of every vendor that sparks your interest. It does not always mean that you should opt for one with the biggest number of options. When a small company is concerned, some of them may be excessive and complicate the process. Moreover, large sets of features usually impact the price, so be sure to find a compromise.

5. Free Trial Option

Free trial is essential – it allows you to try everything with your own hands and check your prospective virtual boardroom for integration and usability problems. However, not all providers offer this option, so remember to check it when comparing different software. This will be especially true for beginners who have never worked with it.

6. Support

Properly working, responsive customer support is a must for any vendor nowadays. When we speak about such complex equipment as board portal software, this factor assumes even more importance. A nice provider will offer tutorial materials and 24/7 help.

7. Pricing

For a non-business entity, a question of price is essential. However, be sensible when searching for budget-friendly board portals for nonprofits. Such solutions do exist. But do not buy too cheap services – their lack of functionality and security may disappoint you.

Thus, virtual boardroom software can take the management of your nonprofit company to a new level. The only condition is to make a reasonable choice based on the rules given in this blog.

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