Level 1
B-BBEE contributor
IT for nonprofits: NGO management system software and support
NGO management system software keeps donors, grants, programmes and board governance in one auditable place. Arke Technologies, in Johannesburg, helps South African nonprofits and NGOs choose and run it, account for every grant, make full use of nonprofit software offers, and protect donor and beneficiary data, under one SLA.
What nonprofits need from IT
Nonprofits run on trust, and funders test it. A foundation, trust, faith-based organisation or public benefit organisation must show where every grant went, keep donor and beneficiary data private, and give its board the reporting King IV and the funders expect, usually with a small team and no IT department.
Managed IT services for non-profits close that gap: one team runs the service desk, devices, email, security, backups and the systems that hold donor and programme data, under an SLA with a monthly report the board can table. We deliver them remotely first, from Johannesburg, across South Africa.
Accounting software for NGOs
The accounting software for an NGO must do more than a company's ledger. Before you choose Sage, Xero, QuickBooks or Pastel, or change how you use them, check that the set-up handles:
Fund accounting by donor and project. Each grant tracked as its own project or cost centre, with restricted and unrestricted funds kept apart.- Budget against actual, per grant, in the funder's reporting format, period and currency.
- Statutory reporting. Registered nonprofit organisations submit annual narrative and financial reports to the NPO Directorate within nine months of their year-end, under the Nonprofit Organisations Act.
- Tax-deductible donations. Public benefit organisations approved under section 18A of the Income Tax Act issue receipts that must reconcile to their donation records and SARS reporting.
- An audit trail from donor receipt to expenditure, with segregation of duties between capturing and approving payments.
We implement, integrate and support accounting software, and our comparison of Sage and Xero sets out the trade-offs.
Microsoft for Nonprofits pricing, and Google's equivalent
Microsoft for Nonprofits pricing is a common first question. Microsoft runs a nonprofit programme that gives eligible registered organisations donated or discounted Microsoft 365 plans, and discounted nonprofit staff pricing on enterprise plans such as Microsoft 365 E3 and Enterprise Mobility + Security E3, which adds identity and device protection. MS Office nonprofit pricing now sits inside the same picture, because the Office desktop apps are licensed through Microsoft 365 plans that include them, such as Business Premium and E3. Google Workspace for Nonprofits offers a no-cost edition, and discounted paid editions, to eligible organisations.
The offers, eligibility rules and Microsoft non-profit pricing change, so we check each vendor's current terms when we write the proposal, rather than publish figures that date. Our part is confirming eligibility, choosing the right mix of plans for staff and volunteers, setting up security and devices properly, and managing licences monthly or annually. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace licences are available from us, and where an offer is granted through the vendor's own nonprofit programme, we guide you through the application. Read more on Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 plans and what they cost to run.
Email security and donor fraud
Nonprofits are phished like everyone else, with extra exposure: a fake email that changes a supplier's or beneficiary's bank details, or one that impersonates a donor or a funder. Good email security layers SPF, DKIM and DMARC, filtering, multi-factor authentication and a rule that changed bank details are confirmed by phone.
Some organisations still route mail through an older email security gateway, such as a Cisco IronPort appliance, a product line Cisco now sells as Secure Email. We check whether it is still licensed and supported, and whether the protection in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, configured properly, can replace it. See email security.
Audit-ready IT for funders and boards
- IT audit. External auditors and large funders test IT general controls: user access, changes, backups and segregation of duties in the accounting system. We keep that evidence ready.
- POPIA for donors and beneficiaries. Donor and beneficiary records are personal information; health details and records about children carry stricter conditions. See POPIA compliance.
- King IV. The King IV supplement for nonprofit organisations applies Principle 12: the board governs technology and information in support of the organisation's objectives.
- GDPR. Funders or donors in the European Union may require GDPR-aligned handling of their data.
- Service-level agreement. Incidents are prioritised from P1 (critical outage) to P4 (low-impact request), with response and resolution targets matched to the impact of downtime and agreed in your SLA, with a monthly service review, change control and a written escalation path. Monitoring checks each computer every 15 minutes and logs faults as tickets.
- Continuity and exit. Delivery is remote-first on our own tooling, by a certified team under one contract, with your systems documented as we go, so the service does not depend on a volunteer or one staff member. You own your data, credentials and documentation; when a contract ends we hand over in an orderly way.
Field programmes and cross-border work
Programme staff often work where the signal is weak. We build offline-first mobile apps that capture data with no connectivity and sync when it returns. For impact reporting, we build reporting platforms such as ESGnet, which collects ESG performance data and reports it against GRI and SASB.
What nonprofit IT costs
Last reviewed: September 2026.
We price managed IT per user per month, set after an assessment, and quote projects such as a system migration per project. Published South African managed IT rates run from about R180 to R400 per user per month (matnet.co.za, September 2026). What drives the price is the number of staff and volunteers who need accounts, the number of offices, the state of devices and backups, and the systems to integrate.
Buying from Arke
135% procurement recognition
Arke Technologies (Pty) Ltd, a registered company since 2017, is a Level 1 B-BBEE contributor (sworn affidavit available on request), which gives measured buyers 135% procurement recognition on their B-BBEE scorecards. Company documents, a bank confirmation letter, our Central Supplier Database number and SARS tax compliance status are available on request for your funders' due diligence. You can buy through a proposal and signed SLA, a purchase order or a tender response. Nonprofits sit beside education, healthcare and the public sector among the industries we serve.