*CSR wants to build alliances with consultants to spread the word about TSS and help them to solve nonprofits problems
*TSS customer wants to know how you’re supposed to get in touch with CSRs, and spread knowledge of problems solved
*nonprofits want you to fix their problem and then never come back, because they don’t want to pay. wants to provide consultant services that solve fundamental problems. What happens after you’ve set something up when it breaks? Without hiring you back?
*lots of firefighting, not enough planning
*challenge with nonprofits is always money. It’s a Frankenstein of technology usually, looking for the cheapest available stuff
*technology planning has to include maintenance
*business world tries to minimize cost. The difference between business and nonprofit is that prices for labor are smallest. Businesses are trying to save money for sure, and they engage in prevention because it saves them money in the long term, rather than buying the cheapest immediate solution. Has anyone done total cost of ownership studies for the nonprofit sector?
*women’s initiative, did a cost-benefit analysis, total cost of ownership plan. It was a large investment, and put them in the hole, but overall, it increased capacity and productivity hugely
*nten people doing some things on total cost of ownership. What is total cost of ownership? Amount to buy + amount to maintain for a fixed period of time. Total cost of ownership and total value of ownership are factors
*relating IT to mission is a challenge
*in the for-profit world, no one really knows how to translate the return value of networking, equipment upgrades, especially, into dollars (or bushels of apples bought, etc.)
*the cost side is easier to express because consultants have industry knowledge that informs it. The benefit side is much harder to get at, because it’s difficult to get an understanding of how technology might solve things
*there’s a huge cultural difference between non-profit and for-profit. Nonprofits don’t think of technology as an investment, they learn it as an expense. ED’s are more involved in program & fundraising. ROI, TCO – these terms mean nothing to them.
*difficult to bridge strategic program planning and technology planning. Mission driven strategic planning is not just about technology. Trying to create a situation where people are not frustrated at their jobs because of technology. Having more gets you more.
*developed a worksheet to get people thinking strategically, get everyone to get buy-in to this process
*so hard to get funders to understand that operations and technology funding is important in order for us to do our work and be more effective
*how many consultants let the initial conversation be a two-way interview.
*listening at first to see whether people really know what they want. Asking good questions about what is actually happening
*people get consultants when the ed gets some key performer mad at them because acceptance of their own recovery process.
*is it okay to apply the cost of estimate to contract? Depends on contract.
*charge for all time, give credit when make mistakes.
*often underestimate amount of hours will be needed
*do you think CBO’s (community based organizations) reach out to consultants because they don’t have IT resources already there
*for-profits and non-profits both have the same technology goals as far as maximizing productivity for the lowest cost
*nonprofits situation is because funds are often restricted to programs
*nonprofits have been under increasing scrutiny, and there’s this public perception that the lower your admin costs are the better you are
*technology is not just about increasing efficiency. Technology is the program now. It’s incumbent upon us to make that message clear in the program requests. Databases, online communities, etc. needs to go in program budget, translated into number of people served. What does success for this project mean?
*technology is funded well when you don’t have to write separate technology grants, because technology is built into each grant
*do you say go find an electricity grant? Technology is what we need to run our business, we need to convince our leaders (ED’s) that this is important
*gradethenews.org! can’t even convince ED to get CMS, nevermind blogs and wikis and things like that. Convincing the boss that this is a worthwhile process at all need some tools for explaining value technology
*how do we find each other and how do we evaluate each other?
*when you have a project, who do you go to for support for technology tasks? A: started backwards, with volunteers who put it together. Part of the process of coming up with better solutions is convincing boss that it’s important to go with a professional from the outset. The well meaning amateur is kind of dangerous.
*if there was an industry standard, a way to certify people (nten?) reputation system.
*there are certain things that you have to be sure of before hiring someone
*participatory evaluation, microenterprise development. Creating standards, best practices, best products
*implementing peer rating
*encourage a small organization to hire someone expensive to hire someone cheap
*the phased approach protects both hires. You don’t have to trust a stranger. Take two hours to find out what you need. there is no fire, there are so many resources.
*HSC training was really helpful
Solutions
*peer rating
*phased approach
*developing best practices
There’s an enormous value to best practices, but every place is unique, you don’t want to provide cookie cutter solutions. A mentoring relationship is a really great way to approach best practice following. You need someone to help you finish off the message. IT services isn’t like a copy repair person.
The return side is very difficult for both for-profits and non-profits to understand. Hearing what people are saying about non-profits it may have to pay even more attention to showing the actual return on technology. Start putting together conversations about how to do you assess the impact, how do you put that into your grant, how do you show that return. Maybe NTAP’s need to be leaders in this field.
Schools are even worse than nonprofits, no one tells anyone what’s going on.
People don’t understand what the potential can be.
Evaluator builds capacity from within the organization. How do you spin data into uses?
There’s a lack of stories in the sector. I work for a children’s nonprofit, here’s an example of how technology changed it.
One thing that needs to change is language. Nonprofits are not necessarily business oriented, they don’t want to hear about ROI. Translate it into “how many kids are you getting off the street?” Talk the nonprofit talk.
How important is it for a consultant to understand your mission?
*it’s imperative
*consultants are looking at this as more of a long term relationship
*are consultants interested in connecting to npos as npos? Yes
*consultants come in all different flavors, finding the person who bridges the gap between what you want to do in the real world and technology, and build a long term relationship with them, things will fall into place
Mentor Matching program, CompuMentor’s original program
Are there consultants who go in and do an interview?
The Tech Underground, informal collaboration, they rely on each other for skill sets that they don’t necessarily bring
If it’s mission critical, you may not want a volunteer to do it.
There are a lot of intangibles.
There’s a big disconnect, there’s a brokerage service that needs to happen. Sometimes the best person to work on your project is ethically opposite from you. There’s no translator.
Consultants can introduce new possibilities if they understand your mission.
Demos, worksheets, process toolkits, sharing tools
Some representatives from the board
Events:
N-TEN Conference, webinar
TechSoup, by the cup, by the cup bay area
NetSquared
Other stuff
If anyone’s really interested in facilitating a similar gathering, please let us know