Technology for Non-Profits

In today's fast paced world, many Non-Profit organizations are struggling to keep up with the current technology trends.  Whether it be managing their constituent database, maintaining and expanding their web presence or simply communicating with their constituents; each organization takes their own unique approach to satisfying their technology needs.

Exploring and selecting a new technology product can often times be a daunting task.  There are a few key elements which should be addressed to successfully find a fitting solution:

• Understand. Always understand the need of your organization when exploring new technology products.
  ..... Do not ask the salesperson to fit their product to your organization, fit the organization to the product.
• Cut to the chase.  Often times the sales team will inundate you with features which may or may not fit your specific needs.  Skip the features I like to call 'gimme' features, those of which are extremely common and found in every similar products.
  ..... Feel free to skip the boring basics, hey... time is money.
• Research.  Make a list of all similar products in the industry.  Explore them all.
  ..... The more options you explore, the better understanding you will have of what is widely available.  Give it a shot, what do you have to lose.
• Take notes.  Not all software is created equal.  Make sure to take notes with every demo and talk with the salesperson.
  ..... No, I didn't mean doodle.  Pictures aren't always worth a thousand words and they won't help you when comparing products down the road.
• References.  Use all network resources to find out what other organizations use and get their opinion.  Often times, this will turn out to be quite valuable.
  ..... If Google is your friend, then references will be your BFF.  Need to build up your network of resources (BFF's), try me on LinkedIn.

This definitely is not a complete list, but it can be a good start.

Jerry Martin, Jr.