Next up in our Small Business Inspirational Series is Matt Slaga, Co-Founder of IT4Nonprofit, a non-profit organization helping equip other NPOs with technology decisions, roadmaps, assessments and tech spend efficiency. Matt shares 9 pieces of advice he has learned through his years helping NPOs make great tech decisions.
"For over 17 years, I have been a technical volunteer for various non-profit organizations. In 2017, I decided to make it official and started a 501c3 nonprofit organization with two like-minded individuals. Our organization’s mission is to help other nonprofits focus on their mission and not information technology – we provide all consulting, design, planning and implementation pro-bono. I know the question to answer is ‘what is the best piece of advice I have received’, but I’d like to provide to other nonprofits – whether in business today or still being formed in minds – what I have learned in over 17 years of nonprofit technology consulting.
Be strategic when choosing your board members – you need to consider your mission first, and choosing your board members for your nonprofit can be instrumental and influential for achieving it.
When it comes to choosing technology – whether computers, applications, productivity tools and databases, always check with the available nonprofit aggregation sites such as TechSoup.org, or Microsoft, Salesforce, and Google to see what is available at low or no cost. Be very conscientious of the tools you choose, especially when it comes to customer relationship databases, as they can be very difficult to change later. Many companies offer donated or heavily discounted products.
When choosing computers, I strongly recommend choosing a single vendor, such as Lenovo, as it makes managing warranties and support much easier. Having a single account to view all your support and warranty options is a significant time saver and efficient.
When there are shiny new software packages being marketed to you, consider carefully and completely several items: 1) how much time or money will this software actually save, 2) what is the tangible benefit that will be gained, 3) who are the competitors, 4) who offers nonprofit discounts and 5) request a 60 or 90 day demo to really test out the product. If you can’t tangibly show a return on investment, or if the product doesn’t meet all your needs, or provide a significant improvement to your daily processes, you may want to reconsider.
When you do purchase a new productivity tool, don’t underestimate the power of adoption and training. You can purchase the best software at the best price, but if nobody uses it or knows how to use it, it is still a stale purchase. Spending a little extra for the training, or creating ‘how-to’s yourself in-house has exponential gains in usage and achieving the most out of the product to maximize the value of the purchase.
If you find yourself saying ‘this is how we’ve always done it’, it’s time to reconsider your game plan. Sometimes there are better ways to do things, and it is always smart to listen to new ideas. Reward those who crave improving on proven processes.
Minimize application sprawl – if you have multiple products that achieve the same result, you are spending money that can be better used in other areas of your organization.
Look for ways to simplify processes for your volunteers. Volunteers are significant part of every nonprofit, and keeping them happy and feeling valued goes to great lengths to them becoming long-term partners in your organization. Allow ways for them to provide feedback, and act on reasonable suggestions.
Look for help – my organization is not the only one out there that assists nonprofits through their technology journey. We help nonprofits daily in planning, vendor discussions, finding cost savings and enhancing productivity.
These nine pieces of advice are the most common I get asked to assist with. I truly hope you find value in this article. I would love to see every nonprofit succeed in their mission!
My father told me when I was young, ‘if you enjoy what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life’. I wholeheartedly agree, I love to see the nonprofits we support grow and achieve their missions every day. But the journey is never over. Thanks!"
-Matt Slaga
Thank you for sharing the valuable advice you gained over your years of experience helping NPOs Matt.
🔗 Connect with Matt on LinkedIn
💙 Learn more about IT4Nonprofit
📽️ Watch "Using Your Tech Skills to Benefit Your Community" OND
🖱️ Learn more about Matt in this featured article interview
Please share your thoughts, comments, questions, encouragements or congratulations with Matt and the community below!