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This Month's topic: Technology Planning
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Winner of the 2008 Terry McAdam
Award:
 Generations: The Challenge of a
Lifetime for Your Nonprofit
, my latest title, has been awarded the Terry McAdam Award
for Best Nonprofit Book by the Alliance
for
Nonprofit Management. I'm humbled and gratified by the McAdam
Committee's decision.
You can check out the book on the the Fieldstone
Alliance
website, by clicking on the picture of the cover or the title
link above.
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| This
Month's Topic: Technology Planning |
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Sites
of the Month
Each
month, this area provides with a number of my favorite and most helpful
sites regarding the topic of the month.
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Management Tip of the Month
Each issue, I start with a
discussion of my management perspective on the month's topic, and give
you a few hands-on ideas to consider.
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Recommended Publications
Here, I provide you with my
recommendations on the materials available that can help you
become more mission-capable in the area of Technology Planning.
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Technology
I provide you with some good
ideas for uses of tech to better your organization in the area of Technology Planning.
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Marketing Tip
So much to say, so little space to
say it.....
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Next Issue
In August, we'll
turn to an area that is close to the center of every nonprofit : Vision, Mission, Values
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Past Issues:
You can see the topics of past Mission-Based
Management Newsletters, and then view those that are of
interest to you, by scrolling to the bottom of the newsletter, or by clicking here. |
Websites of the Month
Here are my recommendations for websites
of interest on this month's topic: Technology Planning:
Back to Top
Management Tip of the Month
Technology Planning
Let's get this out of the way early: Your
nonprofit needs a technology plan. I don't care if you are big or
small, new or in business 25 years; you need a tech plan. Doesn't
matter if your service population is young or not so young, poor or not
so poor; you need a tech plan. If you get all your money from
government grants, or every dime from fund raising...you need a tech
plan.
I also know that most readers are saying, "Been there, done that, have
one." Good! But how recent is it? A tech plan should be
reviewed every 18 months since so much changes in
technology and
so, so fast. Is yours up-to-date?
I won't reiterate all the good information in the links listed above,
or in the publications noted below, but I do want to make a couple of
key management points about technology and mission.
1.
Your tech plan should support your strategic plan and your marketing
plan. As Jim Collins (the author of Good to Great)
notes: tech is an accelerator, not a substitute for good strategy, or
a viable mission, or good market identification. Make sure your tech
plan is well synced with your other plans.
2.
Tech planning is just as much a policy document as your strategic
plan---so include qualified board members when you write it.
Which leads to an important hands-on issue for your board: every board
needs a member who really understands technology. Not someone who fixes
your email server, but someone who understands tech's role in society
and can help think through how it can help accelerate your mission
provision.
3. To
implement your plan, you need a tech team---and that team needs both
geeks and non-geeks on it.
If you just have techies (geeks) on the group, you'll widen any digital
divide that exists both inside and outside of your organization. Make
sure you get representatives on the team who don't come to technology
easily. You'll have better websites, better and easier access to your
technology as a result.
Good use of technology is an essential component of good stewardship in
today's world. Good stewardship should always be planned, implemented,
measured and evaluated. If you aren't there yet, get going.
If
you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing,
and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com.
Check them out--they're free.
And,
remember to take a look at the Mission-Based
Management Blog.
Back to
Top
Print Resources
My
recommendations for texts and other
readings on Technology
Planning:
1. The Accidental Techie, by Sue Bennett
2. Nonprofit Essentials: Managing Technology, by Jeannette Woodward
4. Generations: The Challenge of a Lifetime for Your Nonprofit, by Peter Brinckerhoff. In this book there is an entire chapter on technology as it relates to
generation change in nonprofits.
Back to
Top
Technology Tip
Technology
Planning...and
Technology!
The key in this area is to make sure that your tech plan doesn't just
focus on getting new stuff---but only the equipment, software and
online presence that supports the goals of the organization. Also,
think about all the tech in your organization. This should include, but
not be limited to, the following things:
- Your email communications
- Your iPod policy for employees
- Your telephony (and who answers the
phone during business hours)
- Your website...in all its forms.
- Your asking (online and offline)
- Your fund raising (do you accept credit
cards and PayPal?)
- Your volunteers (Is everything about
volunteering online?)
- Your HR (can people see job openings
and apply online?)
If everything here (and more) is not in your tech plan....step back and
review it soon.
If
you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing,
and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com.
Check them out--they're free
Back to
Top
Training Schedule for Peter Brinckerhoff
Below
you'll see the date, location, and
topics of public
training I'm
currently scheduled to do in the next few months. For more information
on a particular speaking engagement, get in touch with the contact
person listed in the right hand column, or email me.
For
more information on my availability
throughout the next 12-18 months, available topics, sample agendas, and
fees go to www.missionbased.com/training.htm
| 7/10/08 |
Detroit |
Generation
Change in Nonprofits |
Alliance
for Nonprofit Management
Annual Conference
Samuel Weber
samuel@allianceonline.org |
| 7/17/08 |
Sarasota |
Mission-Based Management in Tough
Financial Times |
Community Foundation of Sarasota County
Susie Bowie
susie@cfsarasota.org |
| 8/14-15/08 |
Seattle |
Recruitment and Retention |
NISH
Therese Stein
Tstein@nish.org |
| 9/16/08 |
Quincy,
IL |
Mission-Based
Management |
United
Way of Adams County
Cheryl Waterman
cheryl@unitedwayadamsco.org |
| 9/25-26/08 |
San Antonio |
Intro to Marketing |
NISH
Grant Harrison
gharrison@nish.org |
Marketing Tip
Technology
Planning and
Marketing
As I noted above, your tech plan needs to include a lot of things,
since technology supports nearly every part of every nonprofit. Not the
least of these is marketing. So here are some marketing questions to
consider:
- Is some (but not all) of your asking,
your customer satisfaction and user tracking done online?
- Are you up to speed on using email,
blogging, text messaging, video and audio as part of your marketing?
- Is what you are saying online
coordinated with what you are saying in print?
- Is your marketing now so tech-centered
that you are leaving some people out, increasing the digital divide?
- Are you using your website and other
tech to find out what people want rather than telling them what they
need?
- Is access to information on your
website quick and intuitive? Do you have one or more FAQ's (Frequently
asked questions) on your site?
There are lots of these kinds of great questions listed on the websites
and in the print resources noted above. Finally, remember that, as in
other parts of your organization, tech is an accelerator of
good marketing, not a substitute.
If
you found this hint helpful, there are
lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the
"Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com.
Check them out--they're free.
Back to
Top
Future Topics for
The
Mission-Based Management Newsletter....
| August |
Vision, Mission, Values |
| September |
Budgeting
in a Recession |
| October |
Disaster
Planning |
| November |
Staff
Recruitment and Retention |
| December |
Measuring
Mission |
| Jan-2009 |
Organizational
Transparency Revisited |
| February |
Different
Generational Cultures |
| Send me your topic
suggestions at: peter@missionbased.com |
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Top
You
asked, so here they are:
Past Single-Topic Issues of the Mission-Based Management Newsletter...
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Copyright
2008, Corporate Alternatives, inc.
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