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!

There are a lot of interesting nonprofit technology events coming up in DC in the next few weeks:

• Wednesday, Jan. 27, InsideNGO Technology Update: Inside NGO will be presenting a full day course detailing four technologies. CITI’s Matthew Eshleman will be presenting on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).  Virtual collaboration and training, Windows 7 deployment, and WAN optimization will also be covered.

• Wednesday, Feb. 3, CITIzens’ Forum: The Value of a CIO Perspective: The second forum in our series asks, who is managing technology at your organization? Do you have one person  who takes a big picture view, or are different people responsible for managing your network, website, databases and applications?  What’s the difference between a CIO and a CTO? Join in an open discussion to share what you’re doing and how other organizations address similar challenges.

• Monday-Tuesday, Feb. 8 – 9, Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects: Our second conference partnering with Aspiration to help you better manage technology projects in your nonprofit.  See this post for additional details

• Wednesday, Feb. 10, NTEN Webinar: Greening Your Nonprofit’s IT: Find out what all the green IT buzz is about and get practical information for greening your IT infrastructure.  Matthew Eshleman will be presenting with Peter Campbell on virtualization; other breakout sessions will cover green IT strategy, hardware and software, case studies, and sustainable design and printing.

• Friday, Feb. 12, Nonprofit 2.0: This unconference will let participants shape the agenda around how nonprofits use the latest technology to communicate, fundraise, and organize and advocate for their issues.  The event is already sold out, but there is a waiting list, and there may be a conversation or two to follow on Twitter…

• Wednesday, Feb. 17, CITIzens’ Forum: Salesforce: Learn how organizations are using Salesforce as a powerful CRM to manage contacts, campaigns, and related data; find out how Salesforce could be helpful for your organization, and share your story if you’re already using it.

When I was at Aspiration’s Nonprofit Dev Summit 2009 in Oakland, I heard about All for Good, which is a relatively new volunteer opportunity aggregator. They roll up opportunities from many of the biggest volunteer opportunity listing services out there, and you can also submit opportunities directly, via an XML feed. If your organization is looking for volunteers, you should definitely investigate the various routes to adding your listings to their feeds.

Dave Deal and I recently returned from the Groundwork Group 2009 Nonprofit IT Conference: Sustainability through Technology. The theme that nonprofits need to think strategically about technology and have a CIO role came up in several ways. There was one panel discussion in particular, presented by Groundwork Group, that addressed how IT has helped small, medium, and large nonprofits build capacity or become more efficient.  Some of the take-aways from this panel discussion include:

• Technology can really make a difference
• Nonprofits have very limited time, resources, and money, so it is imperative to streamline operations and use technology to deliver services as efficiently as possible
• Capacity planning requires technology planning
• Get technology experts on your Board
• Get an IT plan
• Create an IT Task Force Committee focused around projects
• Do a better job of sourcing computer hardware
• Pay more attention to the security of sensitive information
• Financial audit costs can increase if there is a lack of standardization
• Document everything
• The farther behind you get the more it’s going to cost

It’s also worth mentioning that the morning keynote given by Mike Brevard, Enterprise Solutions Director, Microsoft Heartland District was about how organizations can reduce IT costs by refining the organizations business processes.

A recent article from CIO Insight, “Increasing IT Capability While Cutting Costs,” described research findings from Jeanne G. Harris, Allan E. Alter and Michael K. Nieves. According to the authors:

“Reducing IT costs while improving IT capabilities may appear to be a paradox. But by focusing on fixed IT costs and following a strategy of sustained cost reduction, organizations can invest in new capabilities and innovation and prepare for future growth, even as they tighten their belts.”

Funny thing is, nonprofits have been doing more with less for years! Guess we should be glad that the rest of the IT world is finally having the same conversation we’ve been having with our clients for over 16 years.

NTEN’s annual Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) brings together nonprofit technology staff and consultants (loosely defined – if you use a database, social media, or send mass email, you’re an nptechie) for conversations, networking, learning, and having a great time.  NTEN has opened up the planning process for the 10NTC, April  8-10 in Atlanta, to the nonprofit tech community.   You can rate and vote for your favorite sessions, submitted by the community.

Community IT Innovators has submitted a batch of session ideas that we hope will provide some great information and discussion for the nonprofit community.  Follow the links below to see more details and rate each session individually.  Feel free to also tweet about and otherwise spread the word about your favorite session ideas! Voting closes October 16th.

THE 21ST CENTURY NONPROFIT: THE UNLIMITED POSSIBILITY OF THE FUTURE
What does the new, 21st Century Nonprofit look like? This session will explore the new ways in which cutting edge nonprofits are using technology to advance their cause and what these trends mean for the nonprofit sector.

RESEARCH FINDINGS: IT BUSINESS DRIVERS AT NONPROFITS
CITI is partnering with the Groundwork Group (OH) to determine the IT business drivers that will give smaller social mission organizations the ability to use IT more strategically. What conditions are changing and how are organizations changing to take advantage of evolving circumstances?

THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER: WHY YOUR NONPROFIT NEEDS SOMEONE IN THE CIO ROLE
What does it mean to have a fully developed CIO capability at your organization? This session will discuss what the CIO role looks like and how taking a strategic, holistic approach to IT can help an organization by opening up new opportunities for efficiency, operational integration, and mission success.

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO INTEGRATING CLOUD SERVICES INTO YOUR NETWORK
We’ll look at some of the most popular cloud services such as Salesforce, Google, Amazon S3 and others. Through case studies and sharing from audience members, attendees will get a sense of how to setup policy and procedures that ensure that an organization understands where its data is and how to manage it effectively.

REDUCING ENERGY CONSUMPTION
What does it take to reduce your organization’s energy footprint? This session will cover implementing green IT practices that can lead to a reduction in energy consumption from a leadership perspective.

GREEN IT FROM PROCUREMENT TO IMPLEMENTATION TO RECYCLING
This session will cover how choices about your IT infrastructure can reduce your direct hardware/software costs, lower your carbon footprint and improve staff productivity. We’ll also discuss how your old computer equipment can continue to provide value to others when the technology has reached the end of its useful life to you.

PERSONALS FOR PROFESSIONALS: HOW TO WRITE A WEBSITE RFP
You want a new website (who doesn’t?). You’ve got some ideas for the website and you’ve got (maybe) a budget. Now what? How do you communicate what you need to the community of developers? And how do you choose among all the potential firms and freelancers?

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF YOUR WEBSITE?
In this session we’ll propose and examine a model for assigning monetary value to website outputs. This model helps frame decisions to invest in user testing, marketing, and other methods of increasing website usage and conversions.

GROUPS OF GROUPS: THE FUTURE OF ORGANIZING
The Powershift Conference drew over 40,000 participants who gathered in DC to tell their representatives that Climate Change was the most important issue the U.S. – and the world – was facing and to demand immediate action. We’ll look at the Zanby organizing platform they used, the plan for rolling it out to the masses, how the platform performed and what lessons to draw.

Of course, there are a lot of great session ideas in addition to ours, so please take a look at the other sessions and rate your favorites!  Session materials from the conference will be online afterwords for everyone to access, so even if you’re not sure if you’ll be attending 10NTC, you can tell NTEN what topics will most help you and your organization.

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.

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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