I'm always looking for good rules of thumb for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations that want to use information and communication technologies to support their missions. 

Alas, there's a long list of frequently asked questions for which there are no generic answers.  It all depends on unique needs and wants of a specific organization.

For example, a question that frequently comes up in the Information Systems Forum is "what fundraising application do you recommend to nonprofits, and what's a reasonable amount to budget for it?"

Responding to this question, Robert Weiner mentioned an application that one of his clients chose, and very wisely added:
However, just because it was right for them doesn't mean it will work for you.  Like all donor databases, (the products chosen by the client) have their strengths and weaknesses.  You need to make sure the strengths match what you're looking for, and that the weaknesses won't get in your way.

I chimed in by saying:
In fact, it's a lot like answering the question, "I need to rent an apartment; can you tell me where a good one is, and how much I should pay for it?"

Unfortunately, this is a question that tends to lead to a thousand other questions.  ("How many people will be living there?  Any young children?  Animals? People with wheelchairs? Do you like the city, the suburbs, or the countryside?  Do you need to connect to public transportation?" Does everyone need his/her own bathroom...?")  In other words, there's no generic answer,  because a development team is a lot like a household with needs that are not necessarily identical with every other group's needs.

Alas, it's impossible to generalize about some of the technology choices that mission-based organizations must make.  A useful choice can only be made on the basis of a detailed needs assessment that takes into account the organization's mission, strategy, tactics, budget, culture, and current capacity.

However, I can offer a slightly different kind of generalization:  a list of questions asked by nonprofit professionals that almost never can be answered successfully without a careful needs assessment:
  • Should we use PCs or Macs? Or both?

  • Should we use open source software?

  • What operating system is best?

  • What fundraising software is best?

  • What case management software is best?

  • What accounting software is best?

  • What printer is best?

  • Do our staff members need personal digital assistants?

  • Should we host our web site in-house?
I wish that there were generic answers to these questions, but there aren't.  One size does not fit all.

However, all is not lost.  Consider the question:
  • Should we back up our electronic files every day?
I'm  pleased to announce that the answer is virtually always "YES!"