Tag Archive for 'research'

Nonprofit? Use Technology? Do This Now!

Joe Brown ▪ November 15, 2010 ▪ 0 Comments

NTEN, the Nonprofit Technology Network, has announced that its 2010 Nonprofit IT Staffing Survey is now open for submissions. Now in its fifth year, the survey collects benchmarking information in areas including how IT is structured and situated within organizations, staffing and responsibilities, budgets, training, salaries, and retention.

I had the opportunity to ask Holly Ross, NTEN’s Executive Director, a few questions about this year’s survey. With information technology evolving so rapidly, I was particularly interested in any changes to the survey in response to changes in the technology landscape. Holly responded: ”The most significant change is in the area of outsourcing. Instead of simply asking if you manage a function in-house or through outsourcing, we also give you the option to choose the cloud. I hope this will allow us to understand how nonprofits are using the cloud in a more meaningful way.”

What about social media? “Obviously, the NTEN crowd loves to talk about social media, but it’s only a small piece of the overall technology puzzle”, says Holly. (This author couldn’t agree more!) ”We’re definitely interested in how folks are staffing social media, and how much time they spend on it versus other technology initiatives. That said, it won’t be a primary focus of this report. We have a Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report that we publish annually for folks that are more interested in that.”

“A great tool to take to management when making the case for IT investments.” The results of the survey are made available at no charge to the entire nonprofit committee. As a consultant to nonprofit organizations, many of whom grapple with the role and management of technology, I have found the results very useful. In particular, last year’s results — reflecting input from over 1,000 respondents — provided me with insight into the factors that organizations consider most important when hiring IT staff, as detailed in my post A Look at Nonprofit IT Staffing. Holly points out that the survey is “a great tool to take to management when making the case for IT investments. Of course, every organization has to make decisions like that in the right context, but it can be helpful to know what others can doing.”

As Holly says, “the report only works when we have good data from across the sector, so please take the survey!” Need added incentive, participants in this year’s survey can also choose to enter to win a $250 Amazon gift card.

So what are you waiting for? Help yourself, help your organization, and help the sector — take the survey now!

Photo credit: Alan_D

Putting Data to Use in Education (and Beyond)

Joe Brown ▪ November 12, 2010 ▪ 0 Comments

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of “listening” in on a Twitter chat focused on the use and sharing of data to improve educational outcomes for kids. My interest in the conversation was two-fold. For one, it offered me the opportunity to learn more about educational effectiveness and measurement, topics about which I am increasingly curious. Additionally, and more relevant to this post, it occurred to me that the ideas and lessons shared might be of value not only to those involved with education, but also to those interested in the application of technology and data in the broader nonprofit and social services communities.
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The Power of Why

Joe Brown ▪ November 10, 2010 ▪ 0 Comments

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

This exchange, perhaps a staple of parent/child relationships, has no place in management. In fact, communicating to employees the why of their work — the context, value, and relevance of their work — is vital to both training efforts and effective coaching. Further, recent research, including a study conducted in a nonprofit fundraising environment, suggests that employees who know how their work positively impacts others are more productive than those who don’t.
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What’s Up With New Jersey’s Nonprofits?

Joe Brown ▪ April 2, 2010 ▪ 4 Comments

For the past year or so, Saturday Night Live‘s Fred Armison, in his depiction of New York Governor David Paterson, has hurled a series of outrageous insults at New Jersey.

Like most residents of the state, having lived here for nearly two-thirds of my life, I’m kind of used to that. We tend to turn a deaf but knowing ear on the “what exit?”, “Joisey”, and “bada bing” references, while taking pride in the knowledge that there’s so much more to the state than what many visitors see as they travel the New Jersey Turnpike between Philadelphia, Newark Liberty International Airport, and New York.

But you know what does hurt? Perusing the report “New Jersey Non-Profits 2010“, recently released by the Center for Non-Profits, which paints a grim picture of the recession’s impact on the state’s more than 31,500 nonprofit organizations.
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Mission Connected: The Power of Why

Joe Brown ▪ March 30, 2010 ▪ 0 Comments

My new post on the Mission Connected Blog,“The Power of Why”, stresses the importance of communicating to employees the context, importance, and relevance of their work in order to maximize the effectiveness of training and coaching and to increase employee motivation and productivity.