Make Me Wanna Holler

And not in a nice, soulful way, like Marvin Gaye over there, but in a frustrated, tear-my-hair out kind of way.  What's the source of this anguish?  A man I'll call Mr. F., the Director of Planning at a New England nonprofit.  I'm sure Mr. F. is a perfectly nice guy, but today he almost gave me an aneurysm.  Here's an excerpt from a post of his on the Information Systems Forum*:

I agree [that] any new web site should include a content management system that lets you interact with readers, donors, members, or what have you. But for many organizations, a static web site--a brochure on the Internet, if you will--is a tremendous step. It makes them visible to all the technically savvy and socially inept types who only recognize that a group exists if they can find it on the web. Let's try not to be those types ourselves...and let's remember that nonprofits exist to make social change, not to show that they can play with the newest and coolest toys.

Arghhh!!!  Where to begin?

Now I agree that you have to walk before you can run.  No point in pushing sophisticated systems on an organization that's not ready to make effective use of them.  But if you're not walking already--if your nonprofit isn't making effective use of technology--you better get started.

It's rapidly becoming true that for all practical purposes, you do not exist if you can't be found on the web.  That's an exaggeration today, but not for long.  According to Pew's latest Internet Status Report**, 63% of all adults and 81% of all teens are online.  On a typical day in 2004, 70 million Americans logged on, up 37% from 2000.  Sixty million people have broadband at home.  The growth curves have flattened, but they're still headed up.  And we're already seeing the impact on the nonprofit sector: Michael Stein recently reported that $350 million was raised online in the aftermath of the  December 2004 tsunami--$280 million in the very first week after the disaster. 

Life is moving online, and nonprofits who can't keep up will find themselves at a significant disadvantage in raising money, communicating with stakeholders, and delivering services.  This is no time to make snarky cracks about the "socially inept."

And let me make it very clear that my interest in technology has nothing to do with the "newest and coolest" toys.  I want to see nonprofits succeed at accomplishing their missions, and I'm convinced that they'll do a much better job if they're using technology effectively.  In the five years I've spent working in the nonprofit technology field--most of that time as Executive Director of N-TEN, our de facto industry association--I've met exactly one person who left the field because he wanted to work on more technically challenging projects.  The vast majority of people in this field are here because they're passionate about the organizations they serve--not because they're interested in technology for its own sake.

Every day there are more reasons for nonprofits to be online--more money to be raised, more advocates to be mobilized, more innovative ways to deliver services--and every day, the tools get cheaper (is free cheap enough?) and more user-friendly.  There are simply no excuses anymore.

* The Forum is the largest nonprofit technology email group, some 3,000 strong, and it's moderated with care by Deborah Finn, who deserves a shout-out for her efforts.

** The Pew Internet & American Life Project is an incredible resource.  Many thanks to Associate Director Susannah Fox and the rest of the crew.

nptech

Comments

[Deborah Elizabeth Finn]

Dear Ed: Thanks for the kind words! I also want to say that Mr. F. is indeed a perfectly nice guy, and has also been a strong supporter of one of my favorite nonprofit technology assistance providers here in New England. Naturally, I don't entirely agree with him on this, but I wouldn't classify him as a Luddite either. Warm regards from Deborah

[Ed]

Thanks, Deborah--I didn't want my comments to be interpreted as a personal attack on Mr. F., which is why I confined them to my site. (As you well know, it's easy for civil disagreements to devolve into shouting matches in email groups.) But I wanted to use his comments as a jumping-off point, because I think they provide an instructive example of how even a tech-friendly, non-Luddite can still get it wrong. Keep up the great work with the Forum!