It's also true that organizations need to start building their infrastructure before they need it. If they wait until they need it, they really have problems.

That make this even more challenging. At its best, a technology plan is meeting a need that the organization doesn't have yet.

Many thanks to Marnie for her reflections!

I can see how frustrating all this is for non-techies in our sector. When you buy a desk for your nonprofit, you don't have all these headaches about whether it's going to be compatible with your other office furniture in three years, nor does it need constant tweaking, maintenance, and upgrading (unless you count dusting it or filing the papers that have accumulated on it). Moreover, you don't need periodic training to use it. It's just there, and it either falls apart or keeps doing its job.

But now nonprofit professionals are in a whole new world, where the (electronic) tools of their trade are a constant challenge to the users' ingenuity.

Geez, what was it? 1989? Seems right - a meeting of the Technology Resource Consortium - one of the precursors to NTEN - in Cupertino at the Cupertino Inn and Apple headquarters.

One of the axioms we came up with at that time was "Scratch a technical problem and find a management problems underneath."

I've been thinking about that a little more recently because I think that more information management problems are the result of management deficits than flaws in the technology. I've been asked to sit on a panel this week about barriers that nonprofits face, and technology issues was self identified as a biggee. I put together the following talking points for the session:





Barriers to Effective Use of
Technology by Nonprofits

1. Lack of technology vision.

· Symptom: Not having a vision of what’s possible and knowledge of the financial and staff costs to improve operations and program delivery.

· Cure: Executive education on process improvements through more effective use of tools. Think about and use computers as more than smart typewriters.


2. No organizational knowledge that the software isn’t used well

· Symptom: Computers abound, but systems are awkward and underutilized

· Cure: Staff education, business reengineering review to determine improvement areas. Note that most improvements don’t require new hardware or software.



3. We don’t deserve the best

· Symptom: Sometimes called the Myth of Make Do, cost benefit estimates ignore long term consequences

· Cure: Board commitment of sufficient resources to create a sustainable organization. Understanding that infrastructure investments improve staff retention, productivity, and impact in the community.



4. Staff time is not valued

· Symptom: Reliance on time consuming practices and resistance to change. Example of taking 3 hours to produce mailing labels when improved coding and queries might take 30 minutes, but staff are reluctant to try new ways.

· Cure: Wouldn’t it be nice to go home at 5:00 instead of 9:00? Staff can have a life.



5. Money

· Symptom: Financial constraints are used as an excuse to avoid change

· Cure: Build information management (phone, copier, and computers) into all overhead estimates. Negotiate data collections/accountability costs with funders. Make strategic investments in infrastructure, fundraising, and evaluation that improve future funding prospects.



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Comments?



Tim Mills-Groninger
IT Resource Center, Chicago
312/372-4872 x132

Selah!

(I belong to the Cult of Tim Mills-Groninger.)