Must-Have Technologies for Nonprofits
Here’s the curent draft of a description for my upcoming session at the 2010 Axelson Symposium on Thursday, May 13, 2010, at North Park University:
Must-Have Technologies
What does every nonprofit really need these days, technology-wise? When is a website not enough — or at least, the website you have right now? Can you get away without social media like Facebook and Twitter? Perhaps most importantly, what technologies are your donors and partners expecting from you these days? This session will give you advice you can implement now to improve your website, your social-media presence, and technologies like email, online giving, and video.
I’d love your thoughts on this (all-too-brief) description — and especially your two cents about what the short-list technologies for nonprofit organizations are. Or at least, what can I plausibly cover in a one-hour session?
Here are the technologies that I’m currently planning to explain and suggest first steps for:
- A mobile-friendly website
- Social media
- Email list and campaign management
- Online giving
- Online video
Good news: the Axelson Center has offered me a discount to pass along to you! Use the code FD when registering, and you’ll save $105 off the Symposium registration fee.
Additional resources accompanying my talk are available online.
April 16th, 2010 at 9:04 am
Jon:
When you say “technology” I don’t think web, I think desktops and servers. Is there a better word for what you are talking about? Must Have On-line Tools?
In my mind, the tools you list are a pyramid, easy to use/navigate web site is the foundation (incl mobile), then email campaigns, then online giving, then social media, then video. Sort of a Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Also, these all predispose that you have a clear message about why people should care about your organization and a clear definition of the type of people who will be most likely to engage your organization. How do those people want to engage?
Brad
April 16th, 2010 at 9:47 am
Brad makes a good point. I’m not sure what the state of the industry is now, but I know that, for many years, a major stumbling blog for nonprofits was lack of investment in good computers.
There’s also the other major resource: people. It’s one thing to sign up for a Twitter account, another thing entirely to update it on a regular basis. My suggestion would be to tie it into their existing communications/development habits. Most nonprofits have some sort of newsletter whose content could be reused for online purposes.
Last thought: I’ve seen nonprofits with a very “top-down” approach to communication, where everything has to go through the executive director before it gets published. That might be OK for a quarterly newsletter or annual report, but it’s not a good way to approach social media.
April 16th, 2010 at 10:06 am
Love it, guys! Thanks for the good thoughts. (On the “old computers” issue, see this great post from Chas Grundy.)
I particularly like your Maslow’s hierarchy analogy, Brad. And amen, amen, amen on your “it’s another thing entirely” remark, Mike.
April 16th, 2010 at 10:27 am
I’ll chime in with Mike: I served as a volunteer web editor for a Seattle non-profit that—it turned out—was really struggling with technology, but the problem wasn’t necessarily computers or software, it was people: they didn’t have enough experienced people to do the job or set the strategy, and when they lucked into a good person they had trouble holding onto him or her.
Now I work for a massive, high-profile non-profit, and the problem is still people. When the urgency to get the message out/spread awareness is so great, your ambitions will always outstrip your capabilities, I think, and it’s particularly acute for non-profits who always (to an extent) feel a little guilty about spending money internally instead of sending the money out to address problems in the world.
So before you answer the technology question, you need a clear sense of what the technology is supposed to accomplish. If you’re on Twitter, why? If you feel like you need a Facebook page, why? What do those tools allow you to do that you can’t do (or do as well) through other means? Once you have a clear answer to those questions, it’s easier to see why you need to dedicate personnel to maintaining and advancing things like Twitter streams that don’t feed starving babies in Africa.
Along Brad’s point, there is a pyramid aspect to these things. Every org needs a website, for the same reason it needs a phone number. Once you have the site, you need online calls to action: here’s how to volunteer, here’s how to donate. You need a mobile-optimized site if (and only if) your mission and online presence give people a reason to access your site while on the move, rather than simply waiting until they get home — I haven’t seen many non-profit sites that satisfy this requirement. You should step into social media only if you’re prepared to be social in doing so: Twitter and Facebook are conversation platforms, and don’t function very well if you try to use them as broadcast media.
Video? Do it if you can do it well. Don’t build out a YouTube channel just because you can.
And to bring this back to the people question, given that most non-profits are going to be chronically short on resources and personnel, it’s better to focus on a few things and do them well than it is to try to check every box on the Web 2.0 checklist. The question of which things you should focus on gets back, ultimately, to strategy and institutional identity.
April 16th, 2010 at 11:28 am
Jon,
Great post and a great topic.
Mark’s right on – the problem is usually people, and technology is rarely the solution. The best [ website | social media plan | software | hardware ] won’t necessarily help if you don’t have people who can use them, maintain them, feed them, and benefit from them.
That said, some tactical tools that I would recommend to a non-profit who feels like it’s in the stone age and wants to improve:
Think about the problems facing non-profits – being understaffed, overworked, underfunded, poor efficiency, lack of leadership, lack of vision, etc. and how the tools can help them fix or address those issues. Sometimes a little improvement can free up significant time or resources that can pay off elsewhere.
April 16th, 2010 at 11:47 am
Hi Jon
What a good conversation so far. On the board of a local pantry we have just taken the ability to update the website in-house. The website needs to be easily navigable, clearly set out the vision/mission, provide other background information and contact details, clear call to action and simple secure online giving. Two thing that can get overlooked are the ability to update the website easily and analytics which will help to refine the site.
With limited resources the holistic approach is essential. E-mailing lists are important for communicating newsletters and specific news with your supporters but they also contain material that can you used for conversation within social media such as Facebook and Twitter. I totally agree that there is no point in introducing social media to an organization unless you are prepared to engage in a conversation and have something to say on a regular basis.
One thing I have observed more recently is that some corporation CSR efforts are increasingly via voting. Both CITCO and Pepsi have taken this approach. If an organization chooses to go after this money they need to build their fan base and thus their fan pages.
Providing examples of how not-for-profits use social media would be helpful to organizations – with good and bad examples. It is a great way of keeping in view with your supporters on a regular basis but you need to have something worth saying.
April 16th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
You are surrounded by a group of very astute and insightful people. All comments are extremely valid. The obvious constant among the comments is the perpetual shortage of both PEOPLE and FUNDING for initiating, monitoring and updating this high tech/high maintenance type of out reach.
Perhaps this is oversimplifying the problem, but it worked for us.
When I was at the Illinois Department on Aging local NFP chapter in a tiny County of Northern IL, we were faced with exactly this problem.
We found the best solution for us among our Board members.
We advertised for a Board Member that was tech savvy in all above mentioned areas. The gal we took on was fabulous.
We saw a turn around within less than 3 months. She had the time to monitor the re-vamped web site daily-contacts with direct e-mails to staff that was also routed to their mobiles were implemented-and links to other social media.
She did such a fabulous job; we eventually became the busiest IDOA NFP office in Northern IL. We had the most presence, served people from counties 7 times our size, and had to establish evening and weekend hours.
We became eligible for more grant money-and deeply broadened our donation base.
Great subject Jon.
April 16th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Wow! Fabulous comments, friends! I’m just going to read this comment thread out loud on May 13, and that’ll pretty much do it for my presentation, I think. :) Seriously, many thanks for so many great ideas here, which are definitely going to make their way into the seminar.
April 17th, 2010 at 7:42 am
Jon – another suggestion I’d make is about professional development. A feed reader is a great tool for keeping up with all the blogs and ideas out there. Spending 20 minutes a day skimming the blogs should pay off with at least one new idea or lesson learned each day. How’s that compare with your usual day?
Start by following the blogs you find interesting here:
http://nonprofit.alltop.com/