IT Development for Nonprofit Organizations

Increasing productivity is a key driver for social innovation that can be successfully achieved through technology development. As organizations with small staff and budget sizes, nonprofit organizations could benefit greatly from these productivity increases, but often lack the technological capabilities to make them happen.

Reading the McKinsey Special Report What Happens Next? Five Crucibles of Innovation That Will Shape The Coming Decade, made me think about this problem. While discussing the need among US businesses to increase productivity, the authors (Bisson et al.) mention that “…[c]ompanies spend, on average, 5 to 10 percent of their total revenues on IT. Yet reliable estimates suggest that upward of 70 percent of server capacity goes unused, and even more at midsize and small companies, since they can’t achieve scale” (45). However, companies that are able to “do it smarter” utilize technology in an effective way that can both increase their productivity and better utilize IT resources. The report also mentions that industries such as health care, education, and government are traditionally the “less productive” (46) sectors, and thus could benefit most from such improvements.

Nonprofit organizations are classified among the“less productive” and, in my opinion, are among those that would benefit most from increased productivity due to stronger IT practices. In my own experience in the nonprofit sector, I have seen that IT resources can be extremely limited. Many smaller organizations do not even have an IT specialist on staff.

As this need gains more visibility, new programs are being launched to help address it. This August 12^th article from Fosters.com highlights New Hampshire’s “Cause We Can” program, which pairs volunteer technology professionals with local nonprofit organizations. 30-40 volunteers worked in teams of about 8 to develop solutions for IT needs identified by each of the five participating nonprofits.

However, the boost offered from this type of program is only temporary. To truly help resolve nonprofit organizations’ IT deficiencies, more long-term solutions are needed. In 2010, Philanthropy.com addressed this issue in an article titled “A Wealth of Technology Talent Offers Opportunities for Charities.” The article illuminates that, even with a large number of technology professionals applying for jobs with nonprofit organizations, salary restrictions and over-qualification prevent needed talent from joining nonprofit staffs.

Of course, nonprofits cannot rely on assistance from other organizations or job candidates with flexible salary requirements to meet their needs. Re-evaluating priorities and creating strategies that address IT development specifically are within the organizations' powers. Consider this statement from the Philanthropy.com article:

With so many abundantly qualified applicants available, Mr. Ishaug of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago is trying to figure out the best ways to take advantage of their skills. He cannot hire them all, despite a new, $210,000 grant his group received from the Michael Reese Health Trust, in Chicago, to help bolster its technology efforts and improve its database systems.

One solution, he thinks, might be to ask some of the rejected but highly skilled job applicants to help the organization as volunteer consultants. The charity is in the middle of putting together a strategic plan for its information technology.

“And we have qualified people in the office to do it,” he says. “But to have the leadership of someone with a lot of experience, I think that would be fantastic.”

With an ever-increasing need for effective use of technology, a volunteer consultant might not be enough to achieve the kind of productivity and success described in the Five Crucibles of Innovation report.

What strategies do you think nonprofits can employ to increase productivity through technology?