{"id":2040,"date":"2015-07-07T13:53:48","date_gmt":"2015-07-07T13:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/new\/?p=2040"},"modified":"2023-10-12T17:20:22","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T17:20:22","slug":"creating-a-tech-savvy-nonprofit-culture","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/?page_id=2040","title":{"rendered":"Creating A Tech-Savvy Nonprofit Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"2040\" class=\"elementor elementor-2040\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b1b1a2b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b1b1a2b\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b379c28 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"b379c28\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-71cb0e5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"71cb0e5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3c30a81 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3c30a81\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">Creating a Tech-Savvy Nonprofit Culture<\/h1>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dd34428 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"dd34428\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c54fa07 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c54fa07\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>This article was originally published in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nten.org\/change-quarterly\/june2015\/#creating-a-tech-savvy-nonprofit-culture\">NTEN Change Magazine<\/a> in June of 2015.<\/p>\n<p>What kind of challenge does your organization have supporting technology? Below are several scenarios to choose from:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-af02198 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"af02198\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-25725a2 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"25725a2\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6a691de elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"6a691de\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"670\" height=\"446\" src=\"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/TechSavvy.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-2041\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/TechSavvy.jpg 670w, https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/TechSavvy-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/TechSavvy-624x415.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-362edc8 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"362edc8\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6437d48 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6437d48\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:list --><\/p>\n<ul><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Little or no tech staff or tech leadership: We buy inexpensive computers and software and rely on consultants to set it up.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Our IT support is outsourced: there is no technology plan or any staff training.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>We have a tech on staff who does their best to keep things running: no staff training, no technology planning.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>We have a tech on staff and an IT Director, but no technology plan: IT is swamped and not very helpful.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>We have staff and IT leadership, but strategic plans are often trumped by budget crises. Training is minimal.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>IT Staff, Leadership, budget, and a technology plan, but executive support is minimal. IT projects succeed or fail based on the willingness of the departmental managers to work with IT.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><\/ul>\n<p><!-- \/wp:list --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6277d01b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"6277d01b\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1065d61 elementor-widget__width-auto elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1065d61\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>What do all of these scenarios have in common? A lack of a functional technology plan, little or no staff training, and\/or no shared accountability for technology in the organization. While it\u2019s likely that the technical skills required in order to successfully perform a job are listed in the job descriptions, the successful integration of technology literacy into organizational culture requires much more than that. Here are some key enabling steps:<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Technology Planning: <\/strong>If you have a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/annanten\/12-nt-cttpl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology plan<\/a>, it might not do more than identify the key software and hardware projects planned. Technology planning is about much more than what you want to do. A thorough plan addresses the \u201cwho,\u201d the \u201cwhy,\u201d and the \u201chow\u201d you\u2019re going to do things:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2554566 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2554566\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:list --><\/p>\n<ul><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>A mission statement for the technology plan that ties directly to your organizational mission. For a workforce development agency, the tech mission might be to \u201cdeploy technology that streamlines the processes involved in training, tracking, and placing clients while strategically supporting administration, development, and communications\u201d.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>A <a href=\"http:\/\/project-management.com\/understanding-responsibility-assignment-matrix-raci-matrix\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RACI matrix<\/a> outlining who supports what technology. This isn\u2019t just a list of IT staff duties, but a roadmap of where expertise lies throughout the organization and how staff are expected to share it.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>A \u201cWhere we are\u201d assessment that points out the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities in your current technology environment.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>A \u201cWhere we need to go\u201d section that outlines your three to five year technology vision. This section should be focused on what the technology is intended to accomplish, as opposed to which particular applications you plan to buy. For example, moving to internal social media for intra-organization communication and knowledge management\u201d is more informational than \u201cpurchase Slack\u201c<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Finally, a more technical outline of what you plan to deploy and when, with a big disclaimer saying that this plan will change as needs are reassessed and opportunities arise.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><\/ul>\n<p><!-- \/wp:list --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fae31e7 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"fae31e7\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d89acea elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d89acea\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Training: <\/strong>Training staff is critical to recouping your investments in technology. If you do a big implementation of a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_relationship_management\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CRM<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Enterprise_resource_planning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ERP<\/a> system, then you want your staff to make full use of that technology. If you\u2019re large enough to warrant it (50+ staff), hire an in-house trainer, who also plays a key role in implementing new systems. This investment will offset significant productivity losses.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Smaller orgs can make use of online resources like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Khan Academy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/learning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Linkedin Learning<\/a>, as well as the consultants and vendors who install new systems. And technology training should be part of the onboarding process for new hires, even if the trainers are just knowledgeable staff.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>In resource-strapped environments, training can be a hard sell. Everybody likes the idea, but nobody wants to prioritize it. It\u2019s up to the CEO and management to lead by policy and example \u2013 promote the training, show up at the training, and set the expectation that training is a valued use of staff time.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Organizational Buy-in:<\/strong> Don\u2019t make critical technology decisions in a vacuum. When evaluating new software, invite everyone to the demos and include staff in every step of the decision-making process, from surveying them on their needs before you start defining your requirements to including staff who will be using the systems in the evaluation group. When staff have input into the decision, they are naturally more open to, and accountable for, healthy use of the system.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:html --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:html --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Executive Sponsorship:<\/strong> With technology clearly prioritized and planned for, the last barrier is technophobia, and that\u2019s more widespread than the common cold in nonprofits. Truly changing the culture means changing deep-rooted attitudes. This type of change has to start at the top and be modeled by the executives.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>True story: At Salesforce.com, every new employee is shown the \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/chatter\/overview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chatter<\/a>\u201d messaging tool and told to set up a profile. If a new user neglects to upload a photo, they will shortly find a comment in their Chatter feed from <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marc_Benioff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marc Benioff<\/a>, the CEO of Salesforce, saying, simply, \u201cNice Photo\u201d. That\u2019s the CEO\u2019s way of letting new staff know that use of Chatter is expected, and the CEO uses it, too.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Play!<\/strong> One more thing will contribute to a tech-savvy culture: permission to play. We want to let staff try out new web tools and applications that will assist them. The ones that are useful can be reviewed and formally adopted. But locking users down and tightly controlling resources \u2013 a common default for techies, who can trend toward the control-freakish side \u2013 will do nothing to help establish an open-minded, tech-friendly atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Overcoming Tech Aversion:<\/strong> We all know, now, that technology is not an optional investment. It\u2019s infrastructure, supplementing and\/or taking the place of fax machines, printers, photocopiers, telephones, and in more and more cases, physical offices. In the case of most nonprofits, there isn\u2019t an employee in the company that doesn\u2019t use office technology.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>But there are still many nonprofits that operate with a pointed aversion to technology. Many executives aren\u2019t comfortable with tech. They don\u2019t trust it, and they don\u2019t trust the people who know what to do with it. A whole lot depends on getting tech right, so enabling the office technologist \u2013 be it the IT Director or the accidental techie \u2013 is kind of like giving your teenager the keys to the car. You know that you have to trust them, but you can\u2019t predict what they\u2019re going to do.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Building that trust is simply a matter of getting more comfortable with technology. It doesn\u2019t mean that management and staff all have to become hardcore techies. They just have to understand what technology is supposed to do for them and embrace its use. How do you build that comfort?<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:list --><\/p>\n<ul><!-- wp:list-item --><\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d74a75d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"d74a75d\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b4d201d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b4d201d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul>\n<li>Have a trusted consulting firm do a technology audit.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Visit tech-savvy peers and see how they use technology.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Go to a NTEN conference.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Buy an iPad!<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><\/ul>\n<p><!-- \/wp:list --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bbcbbba e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"bbcbbba\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3341ee9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3341ee9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Building a tech-savvy culture is about making everyone more engaged, accountable, and comfortable with the tools that we use to accomplish our missions. Don\u2019t let your organization be hamstrung by a resistance to the things that can propel you forward.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Creating a Tech-Savvy Nonprofit Culture This article was originally published in NTEN Change Magazine in June of 2015. What kind of challenge does your organization have supporting technology? Below are several scenarios to choose from: Little or no tech staff or tech leadership: We buy inexpensive computers and software and rely on consultants to set<br \/><a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/?page_id=2040\">+ Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2804,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2040","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2040"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2859,"href":"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2040\/revisions\/2859"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcafeteria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}