Community IT Innovators. Established 1993. Serving social mission organizations with integrated technology services you can trust.

Are technology projects a source of frustration, confusion, or excessive cost within your organization? Are you curious about whether you’re following best practices and selecting the best tools as you apply technology in your programs and operations? Would you like to meet others solving similar problems and facing similar challenges?

Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects is an event series designed to help you better manage technology projects in your nonprofit or as a consultant to nonprofits.

Aspiration and Community IT Innovators are hosting the fourth Nonprofit Technology Project Management event in Washington, DC on Monday and Tuesday, February 8th and 9th, 2010.

Complete details are at http://www.aspirationtech.org/events/mntp-dc/2010

And you can register directly at http://bit.ly/4q1AgC

A detailed agenda for the event is also available at http://mntp.aspirationtech.org/index.php/Event_Agenda.

The agenda will continue to evolve up to and during the event, as we dialog with participants and strive to meet specific needs in the domain of technology project management for nonprofits. We invite participants to both request and propose sessions.

Informal, information-rich, discussion-based sessions will allow participants to compare processes, tools, successes, and lessons learned. We will discuss areas such as team collaboration, project planning, software selection, migration, and project roll-out, and map out the software tools – from project management packages to collaborative communication to issue tracking and more – that support successful technology projects.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The energy level was high and the expertise and experience level in the room at the Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects (MNTP) event was varied.  Some participants facilitated sessions on specialized web development project topics, while other participants relatively new to the project management field participated in interactive discussions geared towards the “accidental project manager” and talked about web redesign project tips and processes with more experienced project managers.

Some key basic takeaways for effective project management:

• Defining Scope & Goals and Managing Budget & Timetable are the primary responsibilities of the PM.  Execution is the responsibility of the technical project team members.
• Communication & Transparency are key to a smooth project where everyone is on the same page and stays abreast of inevitable changes and challenges that occur.  The project manager and team should agree right off the bat on what communication tools they will consistently use, whether simply email and shared documents, a project management tool such as Basecamp, or even a private project blog or wiki for longer and more complex projects.
• Managing Laterally and working well with colleagues starts first with being a resource for them and finding out how you can help them, then they will be ready to reciprocate when something is needed from them.  (Good advice whether you’re managing a specific project or not!)
• A Project Manager plays the role of Facilitator & Community Organizer, facilitating communication and creating a needs-driven dialogue to draw out and articulate the top common priorities and goals of all the stakeholders and users involved in a technology project.
• Connecting and Managing Resources is more important than the ability to solve and do every problem and step of the process.  Delegate tasks and facilitate conversations that lead to solutions.
• Manage Expectations: Find out up front what’s most important to key stakeholders.  Is it functionality? Budget? Timeline? If compromises have to be made to meet the most important expectations, what’s flexible? What’s the definition of a successful project from top management or the client’s perspective?

Besides some good advice for managing a successful nonprofit technology project, being at MNTP gave participants a sense of camaraderie and a network of others in the nonprofit technology management field to reach out to for support.  More notes and tips from the discussions can be found on the event wiki.  Save the date on your calendar: due to the success of this event, there will be another similar event in DC on January 11th and 12th, 2010.

Update: The 2010 event is now scheduled for February 8th and 9th, view details and register here.

If you haven’t registered yet for Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects – DC (MNTP-DC) now is the time. The event takes place next Wednesday and Thursday, July 22-23, at the Thurgood Marshall Center, 1816 12th Street, NW, Washington DC.

Complete details are at http://www.aspirationtech.org/events/mntp-dc

and the agenda has just been posted at

http://mntp.aspirationtech.org/index.php/Event_Agenda

and you can register directly at

http://tinyurl.com/lsf53z

MNTP-DC is a co-production of Aspiration and Community IT Innovators (CITI),
and will be facilitated by the inimitable Allen Gunn, aka Gunner.

Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects DC will examine the tools and
best practices that help nonprofits achieve successful technology
solutions – whether web sites, packaged software implementations, or
custom applications.

Interactive sessions and demos will allow participants to compare
processes, tools, successes, and lessons learned. We will discuss areas
such as team collaboration, project planning, software selection,
migration, and project roll-out, and map out the software tools – from
project management packages to collaborative communication to issue
tracking and more – that support successful technology projects.

Who Should Come?

This event will focus on growing the community of nonprofit technology
project managers by providing support to those currently practicing as
project managers, recruiting and offering support to those new to (or
bewildered by) this craft, and creating a space for the “accidental
project managers” to share their stories, discover their allies, and
grow into more “intentional” project managers. A significant part of the
event will be built around mentoring relationships; experienced
individuals with knowledge and stories to share will collaborate with
participants who want to learn more.

Ready to register? The 2-day event is $195 for those from organizations
with budgets under $5,000,000, $295 for those from organizations with
budgets over $5,000,000.

Don’t hold back if your only concern is resources — we have a limited
number of sliding scale and scholarship seats available as well. Contact
us for more details at mntp@aspirationtech.org.

You can Register Online via check or credit card at

http://tinyurl.com/lsf53z

Questions? Comments? Want to be added to a low-volume email list for
event reminders and key dates? Have a burning desire to be there but
just can’t afford it? Contact us at mntp@aspirationtech.org.

Are you interested in how to better manage technology projects in your nonprofit or as a consultant to nonprofits? CITI is partnering with Aspiration to host the third Nonprofit Technology Project Management event in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday, July 22nd and 23rd, 2009. The first two events in New York and Oakland were big successes and very well received by participants.

Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects DC will examine the tools and best practices that help nonprofits achieve successful technology solutions – whether web sites, packaged software implementations, or custom applications.

Interactive sessions and demos will allow participants to compare processes, tools, successes, and lessons learned. We will discuss areas such as team collaboration, project planning, software selection, migration, and project roll-out, and map out the software tools – from project management packages to collaborative communication to issue tracking and more – that support successful technology projects.

Aspiration’s skill in facilitating practitioner knowledge combined with CITI’s experience in managing nonprofit technology projects will contribute to an informal, collaborative, and information-rich event.

Complete details are at

http://www.aspirationtech.org/events/mntp-dc

and you can register directly at

http://tinyurl.com/lsf53z

What’s On the Agenda?

The agenda will be designed specifically to ensure participants interact with and learn from each other, while also providing a solid grounding in essential topics. Some of the sessions will include:

• Anatomy of a Well-Managed Technology Project: Drawing from case studies good, bad and ugly, this session will focus on key aspects of successful project management.
• What Should a Web Site Cost? Using anecdotal data and participant input, we will explore costing for different types of web sites, from simple “brochure-ware” sites to custom, database-backed applications and points in between.
• Using Wikis for Effective Collaboration: This session will map out best practices and techniques for successfully utilizing wiki technology ((see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki) for project collaboration. Also discussed will be when not to use wikis, and when more structured information sharing tools are advisable.
• Managing Consultants and Dealing with Vendors: This peer sharing workshop will invite participants to compare their processes and tactics for managing critical project relationships that fall outside of organizational boundaries.
• Software Share: Basecamp, MS Project, DreamTeam and more – Nonpprofit practitioners will provide a variety of 10-15 minute software demos to allow participants to see the packages in real-life situations and compare the strengths and weaknesses.

See the full description of the event at

http://www.aspirationtech.org/events/mntp-dc

for more sessions. Or let us know what you’d like to talk about – the agenda will be designed collaboratively up to and during the event.

Who Should Come?

This event will focus on growing the community of nonprofit technology project managers by providing support to those currently practicing as project managers, recruiting and offering support to those new to (or bewildered by) this craft, and creating a space for the “accidental project managers” to share their stories, discover their allies, and grow into more “intentional” project managers. A significant part of the event will be built around mentoring relationships; experienced individuals with knowledge and stories to share will collaborate with participants who want to learn more.

What Are They Saying?

The feedback from the first two MNTP events was quite enthusiastic. Just a few of the comments included:

• “The event was very energizing, and renewed my enthusiasm for tackling some complex issues”
• “This gathering will inform everything I do in IT from here on.”
• “I used to be super intimidated – now I feel more empowered about what I do know and how to find answers to what I don’t”
• “It was a fun, casual, open, responsive learning environment for non-techies”
• “I learned that I’m not alone, and I can learn from a rich community of people facing similar challenges”
• “I was impressed with all that happened – it was amazing”

How Do I Get Involved?

Interested in hearing more? View the full description of the event online at http://www.aspirationtech.org/events/mntp-dc.

Ready to register? The 2-day event is $195 for those from organizations with budgets under $5,000,000, $295 for those from organizations with budgets over $5,000,000. We have a limited number sliding scale and scholarship seats available as well.

You can Register Online via check or credit card at http://tinyurl.com/lsf53z

Questions? Comments? Want to be added to a low-volume email list for event reminders and key dates? Have a burning desire to be there but just can’t afford it? Contact Aspiration at mntp@aspirationtech.org.

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