It takes very special people to devote themselves to the service of others through participation in a nonprofit organization. I have been fortunate in working with some extraordinary leaders of mission-based organizations.Whether Syd Miller, who has saved countless dogs through her work in the local Pet Connection, or the volunteer librarians who bring a love for books to the farthest, windswept corners of Wyoming, they have all served as inspiring examples. I am also grateful to my son-in-law, John McBride, for his technical expertise and to the other members of my family for their enthusiastic support and encouragement.
In recent years, successful nonprofit organizations have used computers to become more effective in nearly every way.They have learned how to enhance the productivity of both staff and volunteers, so they can achieve more with limited resources. Because competition for funding dollars has become so aggressive, organizations that have ignored the computer revolution or use computers as expensive typewriters are at a serious disadvantage.
What makes some organizations successful while others flounder, losing membership lists in hard drive crashes or going over budget because of computer-generated errors? The answer is neither more generous funding nor more hightech expertise. Successful nonprofits have learned to manage technology.That means that computers and software programs have been absorbed so completely into the missions and goals of these organizations that they are inseparable from them.Technology isn’t a frill or a toy. It is a tool used by all group members to achieve their shared vision.
This book is intended to help nonprofit leaders become not only more effective as administrators, marketers, researchers, and fundraisers, but also more responsible custodians of limited funds.When every penny counts, computers can help to make it possible for small, committed groups to perform the routine tasks that once required a small army to accomplish.Technology in nonprofits is most useful when it frees both human hands and human imagination.
Where once technology costs were so high as to be beyond the reach of all but large organizations, even the smallest nonprofit can now design and implement a basic technology plan.There is no question, however, that technology isn’t always a faithful servant. As many groups can attest, failed technology can actually interfere with an organization’s effectiveness. Instead of easing the workload of staff and volunteers, freeing their time for more meaningful work, technology becomes a handicap and a source of conflict.This is not usually the result of equipment failure but, like so many other organizational breakdowns, more the result of human failings like the unwillingness to learn, to share information, and to cooperate.
Failures happen when technology is someone else’s responsibility, when group members view the computer system as some other member’s brainchild that exists chiefly to complicate their lives.This tends to occur when technology is imposed from on high. One or more members of the organization become a sort of technical elite and seek to impose their plan on the organization.
Although this book will describe some of the “nuts and bolts” of setting up computer systems, its real emphasis will be on people rather than on machines. It is not intended for computer pros but for people who care deeply about their organizations and will do what it takes to help them succeed. Everyone can use technology effectively no matter what his or her level of technical sophistication. It’s great to have computer gurus among our ranks, and we have much to learn from them. However, the real secret to success lies not in high-tech achievements but in incorporating basic computer literacy into the goals of our organizations.
Computers, when used effectively, tend to move an organization toward greater structure, since responsibilities must be formally assigned. Unlike business enterprises, a formal division of labor is difficult for nonprofits that depend heavily on large numbers of volunteers who each contribute a few hours of their time. Effective use of computers depends on developing habits, and this is difficult when so much time elapses between work periods.This means that written instructions are needed to standardize procedures, another difficult adjustment for organizations accustomed to “flying by the seat of their pants.” Routine and uniformity are essential, not because of a power-seeking individual’s whim, but because that’s the way computers work. Thus, changes in the organization are essential, but they must arise from the common consent of the group, not from the command of an elite group.
This book is intended for all mission-based organizations. In other words, it may be useful to both staff and volunteers of charitable, faith-based, advocacy, professional, and even government-funded organizations like schools and libraries.
A special need, however, exists for a book that can speak specifically to smaller and midsize nonprofits that may employ few paid staff members and carry out much of their work with volunteer labor. For such organizations, there is a lack of professional literature to guide their forays into technology planning. Policies and practices that work well for businesses with technology departments and full-time staff are often impractical where any computer may be used by a dozen or more volunteers and where no technical support staff is immediately available to deal with crises. This book, therefore, is intended to make the basics of technical planning intelligible and even enjoyable to board members, administrators, and volunteers who have found the subject intimidating in the past. All these organizations depend on a special kind of synergy that enables ordinary people using limited resources to move mountains.
To Laura, Chris, Lowell, and John with much love.
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Woodward, Jeannette A.
Nonprofit essentials : managing technology / Jeannette Woodward.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-471-73838-1 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-471-73838-7 (pbk.)
1. Office practice—Automation. 2. Nonprofit organizations—Management. 3. Information technology—Management. I. Title.
HF5548.2.W648 2006
004.068—dc22
ISBN-10: 0-471-73838-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-471-73838-1
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Jeannette Woodward is a founder and principal of the Wind River Nonprofit and Educational Consulting group. She is also a nonprofit board member, volunteer, and battle-scarred veteran of bake sales, wine tastings, and rubber duck races too numerous to mention.
Before becoming involved in the Wind River Nonprofit and Educational Consulting Group,Woodward was a library administrator with many years’ experience in public and academic libraries. It was her responsibility to supervise the library’s technical staff and plan for the development of a variety of computer systems. She was also instrumental in obtaining grant funds for technology and assisting other libraries and nonprofits to obtain technology resources.
As an active member of many community groups, she realized that nonprofits experience even more computer crises than comparable, for-profit business organizations. Vital projects like fundraising campaigns are not as effective as they should be because of inadequate information. Since a group’s mission should guide its use of technology, she decided a book that addressed the unique needs of these organizations was badly needed.
Woodward’s books published by the American Library Association, Creating the Customer-Driven Library (2004) and Countdown to a New Library (2000), include chapters on technology planning and management. She has also written a number of journal articles dealing with technology and is the author of a chapter in the Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (American Society for Information Science, 1996). Among her other publications is the college writing textbook Writing Research Papers: Investigating Resources in Cyberspace (McGraw-Hill, 1999).
Woodward holds a masters degree in library and information science from Rutgers University with further study in higher educational administration at North Carolina State University. She is the mother of two children: Laura, a social psychologist, and Christopher, an attorney who is presently working on the Pacific island of Saipan.