Managing and Staffing Nonprofit Technology

A New Approach

• Typical Tech Needs of Nonprofits• Changing Times• Planning for Technology• Moving from In House to Cloud• Managing Data Systems• Wrap Up

ABOUT US

Providing high impact services to nonprofits since 2003

Tech Impact Philosophy & Team

OUR MISSIONEmpower communities and nonprofits to use technology to better serve our world.

• Just like you, we are a 501c3 Nonprofit

• Capacity building organization

• Workforce development in technology for at-risk-youth

• Providing IT Services to Nonprofits since 2003

• Serving 100+ NGO’s with Managed IT Services nationally

• Network engineering and implementation nationally

• 600+ Office365 Assessment & Implementations globally

• VoIP Phone Services nationally

• Data Analytics and Support Services

Solutions.Integration.Support.

DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

Linda Widdop

I manage all aspects of client relations for Tech Impact including

educating nonprofits about technology solutions. I work with

local, regional and national partners to provide the nonprofit

community with increased knowledge of technology through

speaking engagements.

I have been using Office 365 since it was first introduced and

have helped over 600 nonprofits get on board with it.

I’m an obsessed birdwatcher and head coach for a women’s ice

hockey team when I’m not helping nonprofits get on board with

cloud computing.

linda@techimpact.org

Typical NeedsSolutions for Nonprofits

Basic Productivity

Email and file sharing, managing calendars and services

Communications

Unlimited voice over Internet, unified communications, remote office

Raising Funds

Donor and contact management, reporting, telling your story

Tracking Outcomes

Intake, case notes, reports – all available from anywhere

Changing Times

Changing Attitudes of Funders and Community

Way Back

“we do good”

Recent

“we served 60”

Yesterday

“we now serve 84”

Now

“helping those 84 also …”

Way Back Technology

• Desktop computers– Running old software, expensive to replace

• Server– Expensive to purchase, needs maintenance, backup and replacement/upgrade

• Networks– Connecting offices, providing VPN access to servers (which never works when you need it)

• Databases– Installed locally, outdated, expensive to purchase/upgrade

• Phone Systems– Don’t get me started – expensive to maintain, limited functionality,

• Support– The IT guy working in the server room, keeping old equipment running, trying to keep the network

connected

Way Back

“we do good”

Supporting the Mess

• IT Staff or Outsource “IT Guy”

–Provides mostly reactive support

–Mainly keeps the hardware running

– Spends a lot of time chasing down issues

–Relies on grants to upgrade systems

–Never gets ahead

Outcomes and Performance

• Mobility – users are on the go – need access to information

• Agility – programs are changing – need systems to be flexible

• Metrics – org, consumer and community – need reports and dashboards

Now

“helping those 84 also …”

Board and Funders want to support high performing orgs

How Does Tech Help? (Hint: it’s in the sky, puffy and looks like this )

• Mobility – users gain access to information hosted on cloud, accessed by wifi or mobile device

• Agility – subscribe to cloud systems, onus on vendor to upgrade and adapt to customer requests. Do not need to wait 5 years to replace in-house server and systems.

• Metrics – data systems tuned to provide dashboards and flexible reporting

Nonprofit IT Support – Changing Roles

• Moving to Cloud eliminates/reduces servers

• Cloud software never needs upgrades

• Simple Broadband Internet connection replaces VPNs, WANs

So what does this guy do now?

New Support Needs

• Data drives your business – it is your money maker

• Data systems require a different kind of expertise

• Users need constant training

• Systems require changes

• Someone needs to understand business, billing, metrics to turn data into information

What Does All of That Mean?

• “Struggling” organizations reporting more FTE “IT”

• “Leading” organizations reporting a significantly larger number of “Data” staff than others.

Significant increase

Focus on the basics

1. Create a Plan

2. Use the Cloud

3. Focus on Data

#1 - Technology Planning

Aligning Technology to Mission and Business Goals

• The IT guy/gal/vendor has a lot of technology experience but doesn’t “get” the business ( not true of all IT guys/gals )

• Management under pressure to make every dollar count

• Users need to be more productive than ever

• Program and services are being performed outside of the office

Focus on Assessment and Design

Focus on Security and Availability Focus on the User

Shift Gears

How much of this do you need? Do you need to improve this?

Evaluate IT Staffing and Support

• Assess Cost

• Assess Value

• Calculate ROI

• Make a Change

Managing IT for the Organization

Shifting Focus

What Gets Outsourced?• Outsource the support that is a commodity

– Managed IT Support contracted for maintenance and Help Desk– Move to Hosted VoIP– Use Cloud!

• Provide In-House support for areas that rely on business understanding– Planning– Data Management– Systems Integration

• Bring in Subject Matter Experts when necessary– Planning– Reporting– Systems Integration– Moving to Cloud

# 2 – Use the Cloud

Grow & Transform

Run

Focus on evolving the business

Focus onmaintaining the technology

Maintain Evolve

Reduce TCO

Extend Capabilities

Reduce Time to Market

= Increased IT ROI

ITROI

Benefits of Cloud Computing• Availability

– Access from anywhere– Host provides SLA– Business Continuity and Disaster recovery

• Security– Provider responsible for physical hardware, operating

system, application security– User/group permissions set by admin– All information stored in one location – not emailed

around

• Reduces Capex– No more server purchases!

• Scalable– Add users and data on the fly

32

Benefits of Cloud Computing• Eliminates or reduces maintenance costs

– No more servers!

• Better collaboration– Work on the same doc/data with coworkers

• Agility– Ease of adoption

– Pay as you go, move when something better comes along

• Access to Cutting Edge Technology– Vendors are faster to market

– Competition drives down pricing

– Initial investment is reduced 33

IT Expense Example

Expense IT Support Hosted Cloud

Server Purchase $2,000+ $0 $0

Server $100+ per month $300+ per month $0

Server outages Varies Rare Never

Email Exchange support $100+ per month, spam filter $2/mailbox/month, backup $100+/month

Exchange support $100+ per month, spam filter $2/mailbox/month, backup $100+/month

$0

File storage $0, plus backup costs $1/GB/month $0 - ?? Depending on volume

Defining ROI for Nonprofit IT

• Costs – pretty straight forward. Don’t forget staffing

• Benefits – not so straight forward.

– Obvious cost savings – no hardware, reduced maintenance, no backup, reduced security

– Often overlooked – increased revenue realized by providing better metrics to funders/donors, providing more services remotely, decreased expense related to inefficiencies,

http://www.idealware.org/blog/measuring-return-investment-technology

Getting There

• Outsource implementation

• Provide extensive end user training

• Provide more end user training

• Include training for all new hires

• Contract for support or provide training and allocate time for IT staff to support internally

#3 - Data Systems

Non Profit Data Needs• Development

– Donors, Funders, Events, Volunteers– Often include online components for donations and event registration

• Finance– Accounts Payable / Receivable– Grant management

• Productivity– Document management– Task / Project Management

• Programmatic– Service delivery tracking– Impact/outcomes analysis

We Surveyed 200 Organizations

• % of Survey takers that said “Yes”

• 51% - You, and other employees, often enter the same data in many different places

• 50% - You often see errors in entered data

• 46% - It’s difficult to train new employees to use the database(s) or systems

• 20% - You’re unable to make changes to your database internally

17% of these organizations do not currently use a database

We Surveyed 200 Organizations

Often there are complaints

about ease of use and ability to report, but

people use the same database

Most give up on using the database and instead use their own tools

Everyone is happy with and frequently uses the database

No one uses a database

How have you observed colleagues’ approach to using the database?Only 12% of

survey takers said they were happy with how the organization currently manages and uses data.

Outcomes and Performance

• Mobility – users are on the go – need access to information

• Agility – programs are changing – need systems to be flexible

• Metrics – org, consumer and community – need reports and dashboards

Nonprofits need data systems to support and report on their work!

Board and Funders want to support high performing orgs

Data Management, Training and Support

• Data drives your business – it is your money maker

• Data systems require a different kind of expertise

• Users need constant training

• Systems require changes

• Someone needs to understand business, billing, metrics to turn data into information

Wrap Up

Importance of Oversight

• Create a CIO Role if possible

• IT must report to someone who understands who technology can help the mission and business

• Invite IT to the table

• Continue to adjust plans

• Outsource when it makes sense

• Hire to support your money maker (data)

How Tech Impact Can Help

• Strategic Technology Planning – work with your team to create a plan that aligns tech with mission/business goals

• Tech Consultation – specific to cloud solutions available through Techsoup

• Implementation

• Ongoing Support

• Analytics and Report Generation

Questions?

Thank You!

Contact Linda Widdop, Director of Technology Services for more informationlinda@techimpact.org | (215) 557-1559 x 111

Data Visualization Using Tableau

Who cares about pretty charts and graphs?At this point, everybody. Here’s why you should…

• Visualizations can help you quickly evaluate the efficacy of your work, and identify both areas of success and areas for growth

• Visualizations can help you be more strategic, targeting efforts towards times/places/populations in which they are likely to have the greatest impact

• Visualizations are very compelling tools for telling people about your work

Tool Excel Pivot Tables + Maps Power BI Tableau

Cost Part of higher-end Officesubscriptions

Free $58/2 years for non-profits

Ease of Use Fair Poor Excellent

Ability to manipulate data Excellent Good Poor

Mapping Good Fair Excellent

Dashboards Fair Good Good

PowerMaphttps://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38395PowerBIhttps://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/Tableauhttp://www.techsoup.org/products/tableau-desktop-professional--2-year-subscription--G-49474--

Resources

http://techimpact.org/services/data-management Learn more about our Assessments, Solution Recommendations,

Support and Analytics Services

http://techimpact.org/our-resources/

TechSoup.org (Tableau training, software donations, cloud products, cloud report, etc.) Many Tech Impact offers are listed here

Idealware.org (Articles, training, buyer guides)

Nten.org (training, conference, articles)

How Tech Impact Can Help

• Strategic Technology Planning – work with your team to create a plan that aligns tech with mission/business goals

• Tech Consultation – specific to cloud solutions available through Techsoup

• Implementation

• Ongoing Support

• Analytics and Report Generation

Questions?

Thank You!

Contact Linda Widdop, Director of Technology Services for more informationlinda@techimpact.org | (215) 557-1559 x 111