The nonprofit sector in India is increasingly turning to digital technology to scale its impact. A recent study by India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS) reveals that 87.5 percent of nonprofit leaders are actively seeking structured mentorship to navigate digital adoption, highlighting a possible gap in strategic guidance. From streamlining operations to expanding outreach and donor engagement, technology holds immense potential. Yet, in practice, many well-meaning digital initiatives fall short. This is often not due to lack of effort, but because of how the problem was framed to begin with.
At 10x Impact Labs, we have seen this pattern emerge time and again. One nonprofit we worked with had invested in a data platform meant to support more than 200 grassroots nonprofits. On paper, it had all the right features. But on the ground, nonprofit teams found the platform slow, unintuitive, and hard to navigate. Tasks such as logging visits or entering data involved too many steps, and the platform relied on internet access that many field sites did not have. We spent time with users, interviewing staff, visiting field locations, and mapping their workflows to understand what was getting in the way. We then redesigned key user journeys, simplified the interface, and proposed offline capabilities. These changes made the tool faster, easier to use, and far more aligned with how frontline teams actually work, leading to stronger adoption and more meaningful use of data in day-to-day decision-making.
This is a familiar story. Many organisations build dashboards or data tools to meet immediate reporting needs. But they often do so without factoring in long-term usability, sustainability, or what the community truly needs.
Why product thinking matters
These gaps rarely stem from a lack of intent. More frequently, they reflect the absence of a product mindset—one that focuses on real users, not just technical requirements.
A product mindset goes beyond launching tools that merely function. It means asking: who are we building for? What problem are we solving? Will this still be useful a year from now? It focuses on long-term value and real user needs, rather than internal goals or donor reporting requirements.
Product thinking prioritises not only features but also outcomes.
We have seen this shift happen on the ground. In one livelihoods project focused on persons with disabilities, the leadership team initially asked for a dashboard to track regional programme metrics. But as we spent time with field teams and community members, it became clear that the real need was more immediate and different. Frontline staff were struggling to collect basic data consistently due to the lack of a proper structure for data collection.
Instead of building an advanced analytics visualisation tool, we designed a simple monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system focused on mobile data capture, offline access, and visual summaries that made sense in local contexts. A small team built the first version in under a month using open-source tools, with minimal infrastructure demands. Because it was designed for the ground, it was adopted quickly and used meaningfully from day one. That small shift in how the problem was framed led to a very different solution and one that saw much higher adoption. That is what a product mindset looks like in action.
It starts with understanding what users, such as community members or field teams, really need. Product thinking prioritises not only features but also outcomes and treats tech as something that should grow and improve over time. It brings together different teams to build solutions that are practical, easy to use, and aligned with the organisation’s mission.
Not thinking through the lens of product management can lead to more than just poor tools; it can mean a loss of trust from the community, wasted donor resources, and missed opportunities for scale. Without product thinking:
- The needs of communities are routinely sidelined.
- Adoption rates remain low due to poor usability.
- Solutions fail to evolve with changing realities.
- Internal teams struggle with fragmented tech and unclear roadmaps.
These are not hypothetical risks. Organisations invest heavily in tools that look great in presentations but are abandoned in the field simply because they were not designed with real users in mind.
Programme lens vs user lens
A programme lens, employing which is common practice throughout the nonprofit ecosystem, asks what we want to build. A user lens, on the other hand, asks what the community needs and how they will use the tech product. As a result, tools developed with a programme mindset end up serving internal teams but failing the people they were meant to help.
For instance, imagine a helpline platform that allows staff to log calls, tag issues, and generate reports for funders. Internally, it works well. But for the community members, long wait times, complex IVR menus, or language mismatches can make it hard to access support. The system reports progress, but the people it is built for still struggle to get help.
Technology is often seen as a side activity to support reporting or operations, rather than as a long-term product that evolves with the organisation. This leads to isolated projects that are rarely updated or adopted.
These are some of the reasons why nonprofits struggle with tech implementation.
1. External vendors: With limited in-house tech expertise, nonprofits usually rely on external tech partners who are more focused on deliverables than sustainable impact. Requirements may be defined through informal conversations or broad ideas rather than clear roadmaps, leading to missed expectations, delays, and waste. Attracting experienced tech talent, particularly product managers, is also difficult. Many nonprofits rely on volunteers or consultants who are not embedded in the mission or aligned with programme goals. Without strong internal leadership, even the best developers cannot build the right solution.
2. Costs: This poses another challenge. Some organisations overspend on complex custom tools that are hard to maintain. Others under-invest in overly basic platforms that don’t grow with their needs. In either case, long-term impact suffers. For instance, despite numerous free, open-source alternatives readily available, one nonprofit spent two years and substantial resources developing a custom data collection tool after initially using simpler tools such as Google Forms and KoboToolbox. Many nonprofits default to custom-built solutions instead of exploring existing, adaptable alternatives, inadvertently increasing long-term costs.
Most of the time, technology choices are driven by leadership preferences or funder expectations, not by the people who will use the tools. This disconnect results in low adoption and solutions that serve the system more than the community. These recurring patterns point to a deeper need for internal leadership and strategic clarity, which is exactly where product managers can make a difference.
How product managers can bridge these gaps
Product managers (PMs) help nonprofits design and deliver tech that works. They bring structure, clarity, and a deep focus on the end user.
PMs start with user research. This includes talking to frontline workers, observing how tools are used, and checking whether the organisation’s assumptions about user requirements hold true. They create roadmaps that reflect real needs; set achievable goals; and coordinate between tech, programme, and data teams.
When working with vendors, PMs act as translators, ensuring that what’s being built aligns with the organisation’s long-term mission. They reduce dependency on external execution and help nonprofits own their product strategy.
Even nonprofits with tight budgets can benefit. Hiring fractional PMs—part-time professionals who support multiple organisations—can bring in focused expertise without having to bear the cost of a full-time hire. Fractional PMs can help structure tech decisions, coordinate across teams, and ensure tools stay aligned with real user needs. Alternatively, training existing staff in product thinking can build in-house capacity to ask the right questions, manage tech partners more effectively, and keep the organisation in control of its digital roadmap. Regular feedback loops, testing, and inclusive planning sessions help tech stay responsive and relevant.
PMs also help organisations make smarter decisions about when to build custom tools and when to adapt existing ones. They advocate for flexible, modular designs that can grow over time, rather than one-off platforms that quickly become outdated.
Most importantly, PMs ensure that tech is not only functional but also meaningful. They put user experience at the centre and continuously incorporate feedback to create solutions that people actually want to use.
PMs are more than just a new role in a nonprofit; they represent a shift in mindset—one that moves technology from being a back-office tool to a frontline enabler of impact. Without product thinking, nonprofits risk building tools that no one uses, making decisions in silos, and investing in tech that is not scalable. But with the right mindset and the right people, technology can become one of the most powerful drivers of social change.
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Know more
- Learn how nonprofits can build robust data management system.
- Read more about why nonprofits should consider hiring product managers.
