I’ve been thinking about nonprofits and the importance of technology planning a lot lately. I strongly believe that every nonprofit organization, regardless of size or budget, should have some semblance of a technology plan. As part of my work, I’ve helped many nonprofits assess their technology usage and become better at planning for tech.
I thought it could be useful to share info on this topic, so I went digging through some materials I have handy. One of the first things I found is a handout that I pulled together for a workshop a few years back.
Note: I say “pulled together” because, unfortunately and embarrassingly enough, I honestly cannot recall if I wrote this myself or found it on the web somewhere. Sometimes I write really good stuff, forget I did it, then look back and don’t recognize my own work. Therefore, if you read this post and think “hey, I wrote that!” please email me know so I can properly credit you.
Here are the contents of the handout:
Key reasons to do Technology Planning
- To ensure technology supports mission & strategic goals
- It is danger to do technology for technology’s sake
- Need to be able to quantify how tech is to be used to achieve goals
- To improve existing processes
- Must first evaluate processes without considering tech
- If the process is flawed, technology will not improve matters and may make things worse
- To create organizational learning
- Planning process engages staff
- May uncover process inefficiencies
- Can inspire creativity – new ways of doing things
- Helps to align staff by working together to create the plan
- To focus on the “now” as well as the future
- Tie tech plan to strategic plan / ex. If do 3 yr. strategic plan, do 3 yr. tech plan
- Revisit technology plan 1x per year (or more frequently if needed)
- To adjust for organizational change (funding, structure, staff, etc.)
- To adjust for technological change
- To effectively target resources
- It’s easy to buy inappropriate equipment and software (it’s on sale, being donated, etc.)
- Tech planning reduces the potential for wasteful purchases
- To establish a framework & process for making decisions
- Provides a context for incorporating or changing technology
- Can help avoid potential difficulties that result from having made poor choices
- To create a historical record
- Documents past, present, & future thinking of the organization
- Incorporates inventories, diagrams, service contracts, maintenance records
- Cuts down on orientation time needed for new staff and external vendors
- To provide a basis for fundraising
- More & more grantors are requesting that organizations have a tech plan in place before
agreeing to fund technology - They want to ensure the agency will use it to support the mission
- They want to ensure the agency has been realistic in planning for the training and support
that will follow the investment - It’s easier to ask for & get technology you need when you can articulate those needs
- More & more grantors are requesting that organizations have a tech plan in place before
Additional Resources
And finally, I’d like to share several of my favorite books on this topic:
- Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission: A Strategic Guide for Nonprofit Leaders, edited by Holly Ross, Katrin Verclas and Alison Levine
- Wired for Good: Strategic Technology Planning for Nonprofits, by Joni Podolsky
- The Accidental Techie: Supporting, Managing, and Maximizing Your Nonprofit’s Technology, by Sue Bennett
