Technology
Because of the rapid evolution of new technology, almost every organization is in need of some degree of some technology enhancement. Computers, office equipment including telephone systems and printing and scanning equipment, software and support services to maintain all of t his are becoming a necessity in most nonprofit organizations. Enhancement of technological capacity is a complicated process that requires an assessment of needs, determination of what is required to satisfy those needs and realistic identification of the costs of equipment, software and the services required to utilize the equipment most effectively.
Resources
A detailed overview of the issues to consider in developing a technology plan, which includes consideration of why you need a technology plan, what it is, how to do it (alone or with help), and what to do once you have a plan.
Techsoup- Techsoup is a source of low-cost software. It has become the mechanism by which many software companies make charitable donations to nonprofits. In most cases you should turn to Techsoup and not directly to the software companies when you seek free or low-cost software. Not only is Techsoup a source of low-cost software that has been donated by software producers, it is also a good source of timely articles on issues related to computer use and support.
The Power of We Consortium developed a list of expected costs for the purchase of some common technology items (in 2009). It is out of date but does include some useful things to consider in the purchase of these items. We hope to update this.
An annotated list of links to resources on technology. (Foundation Center)
Volunteers
Volunteers are the heart and soul of many nonprofit organizations. How you attract volunteers may be the first thing that comes to mind, but equally important is how you retain and utilize volunteers effectively. In addition, keeping track of volunteer efforts provides a valuable resource for acknowledging those efforts as well as demonstrating the commitments of your volunteers to others.
Resources for Finding Volunteers in the Mid-Michigan Area
A great resource for the mid-Michigan area is the student population at Michigan State University. Many are interested in public service and seek opportunities to volunteer their services, either as part of their formal educational experience or as a way to participate in the broader community. The MSU Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement coordinates opportunities for students to become volunteers. Information about how to become a community partner is available on their website. Students Consulting for Non-Profit Organizations, an organization in the Broad School of Business, volunteer to consult on technical and business issues of non profits.
Another source of local volunteers is the Capital Area United Way Volunteer Center. This site lists volunteer opportunities for mid-Michigan residents. Non profits are able to register their opportunities with the site and then potential volunteers can find opportunities that interest them.
General Resources:
A number of sites have annotated lists of resources for finding, retaining, effectively utilizing and tracking volunteers. They are listed below:
- Techsoup
- Foundation Center
- Northsky Nonprofit Network
- Alliance for Nonprofit Management (select Volunteer Management from the left-hand menu)
Legal Resources
There are a variety of legal issues that non profits must be concerned with, including obtaining and maintaining 501(c)(3) status, filing an annual tax returns, and, if your oganization has employees, many issues related to employment.
Resources
Community Legal Resources‘ (CLR) mission is to support and empower nonprofit organizations in Michigan that serve low-income individuals and communities, with an emphasis on community economic development, by providing pro bono legal services and technical assistance. CLR has opened its Lansing office at 107 E. Grand River in Old Town. Contact Justin Sheehan at JSheehan@clronline.org .
The Center for Non-Profits serves organizations in New Jersey. But its website has information about a broad range of legal issues of interest to a non profit, (as well as services available only to New Jersey organizations.)
Livestrong (the Lance Armstrong Foundation) has an annotated list of websites for information on a variety of legal issues of relevance to nonprofits.
Law for Change is a unique legal resource for people and organizations dedicated to improving lives and bringing about positive social change. LawForChange offers: practical legal tools and information to help you run your organization and fulfill your mission, topics in-depth that are in-depth examinations of critical topics and challenges faced by social sector organizations, and blogs and forums, information and commentary from legal experts and thought leaders and exchanges with social sector peers. The site includes a list of specific links for Michigan organizations. Because state laws differ, state-specific information is important.
Databases for Tracking Donors, Supporters & Volunteers
Most non profits begin life as a collection of a small number of like-minded people attempting to accomplish a social good, and without a serious plan for infrastructure. Part of the early growth often consists of the development of a simple method for keeping a list of people and organizations in a simple form (3 x 5 cards in the past, a word processing or spread sheet document now) and that suffices until the organization begins to grow. Then people begin to realize that they are not able to things that would be helpful to the organization, such as quickly find volunteers with a special skill, or donors from a given geographical area, for example. That leads to the consideration of a more formal database program to keep track of this information in a more useful manner.
Selecting or changing a database can be one of the more serious undertakings of an organization because it ultimately can involve a significant investment of resources. To be done properly it also requires both a technical understanding of what is involved and a good understanding of what the organization is and what it would like to become in the future. All of this makes the task of selecting and implementing a database an imposing one. The resources below will be helpful in several phases of this undertaking; deciding whether a new database is needed, understanding that is involved in selecting and implementing a database, and actually making the selection. One possible outcome of this evaluation for many organizations is that this is an area in which having a consultant, either a skilled volunteer or someone who is paid, is the best way to proceed.
Resources:
Do We Need a New Donor/Volunteer/Member Management System?
The first step in the process is to evaluate the current database used by your organization to determine whether you should even be considering making a change. Techsoup, the source of much useful information for non profits, has an article to help you decide whether you new a new donor management system. The article includes a link to a downloadable workbook to go through to evaluate your present situation.
What System Should We Choose?
If you determine that you should consider a new donor/volunteer management system, the next step is to determine what system is best to meet your present and future needs. There are many dimensions to consider in making this selection, including but not limited to: single user vs. multiple user; web-based vs. network based vs. single computer based; up-front-cost; long-term operational cost; available support; sustainability of the organization that created and supports the database; and personnel requirements to operate and maintain the database.
The list of database systems that are available is ever-changing. An extensive (but not exhaustive) review of existing database programs (in 2011) provides information about many currently available systems and can be downloaded without cost. Information about many other systems can be found in the general references below.
How Should We Prepare for the Transfer of Data to a New System?
Moving your data from your present system to a new system is a sizable undertaking. There are multiple issues to consider that require both a detailed understanding of the data that you are currently tracking as well as a technical understanding of the current and future database systems. Techsoup has a helpful article to help you plan for a data move. The one issue that this article does not discuss in detail is the need to “clean” your data before you move them. In virtually every existing database you will fine “errors” that make the data less useful, such as listing the same donor with different variations of their name (and thus appearing to have more donors than your really have); referring to a program or campaign by more than one name, making it difficult to search to find all of the information related to that program or campaign, etc. If you are moving your data from one system to another, that is an exceptionally good time to look closely at your data and “clean” it up. One technique that is useful is to move the data into a spreadsheet and clean it up there before reorganizing it to move it into the new database.
Database Consultants:
If all of the information about databases has seemed overwhelming, it might be the time to consider utilizing a consultant for some or all of the process of evaluating your database needs, examining your present data, selecting a new database (if that is in order), transferring your data to a new database, establishing procedures to utilize the database effectively, and/or actually operating and maintaining your database. Review the section on selecting and utilizing a consultant as you consider involving a consultant to help you solve your database problems.
General Database References and Resources:
Techsoup has an excellent annotated list of links to information on databases. In addition their database archive has a number of older articles that may contain some outdated information about specific databases but still contain useful information about general database issues.
Robert Weiner is the host of TechSoup’s Technology for Fundraising online forum, and the contributor of several articles to Techsoup’s Learning Center. The website of his consulting firm has a large number of useful links as part of his Fundraising Technology Resources list.
Idealware, a non profit created to help “non profits make smart software decisions” has links to a number of useful articles on databases in their website section focused on fundraising.
Consultants
Hiring a consultant may be the next step when you realize that your organization lacks expertise in an area. There are many issues to consider when hiring a consultant, and Techsoup identifies many of them in a series of articles on hiring a consultant in their resource library. The Free Management Library also has a series of articles on various aspects of utilizing a consultant. While these articles deal with generic issues, it is helpful to know about consultants who are available locally (although on some occasions a consultant can work with you at a distance). [We hope soon to have a list of consultants in this area. Watch this space for further information.] The first step in considering a consultant from the list (or, for that matter, any consultant) is to ask if there are any nearby organizations for whom the consultant has worked, and for the name of a contact person at that organization. Then contact them to find out how successful their use of the consultant was.
Resources:
The Michigan Nonprofit Association has a searchable database of Michigan consultants that can be searched by geographical area as well as topic area.
Michigan State University is a rich resource for non profits. In addition to faculty members who consultant in their areas of expertise, there is a student organization, Students Consulting for Non Profit Organizations who provide consulting in a number of areas, although they only take on new projects once each semester. You can find out more about them and obtain an application at their website.