WOW! We’re still grinning about the fantastic crowd that turned out last night for the Techtacular. We ate, we drank, we laughed, and we gave - all to support the powerful role that technology plays in creating the greater good.

I want to personally thank all of our sponsors for their generous support, without you this would not have been possible. It was so fun to see Jane Meseck from Microsoft laugh when we told the story of how NPower got started on a cocktail napkin in a bar; It was great to share a moment of improv with our friends from the Gates Foundation. I know we’ll all remember how Point B, Liquid Planner and Deloitte brought their A game to our True/False trivia game. And could the Accenture and West Monroe Partners attendees be any nicer?

We are lucky to have such dedicated friends, and it is because of you that we were able to raise over $100K to support our mission of strengthening the nonprofit sector by catalyzing innovation and driving adoption of technology solutions.

Now that this event has come and gone, we’re on to thinking about what’s next. The development of nonprofit IT Best Practices, a technology theory of change, a pro bono community engagement program, more discovery solutions…. But first, we’re going to have a restful weekend.

Thanks again!

- Alison Carl White

We’ve had a very exciting start to the week, launching our brand new website www.npowernw.org, unveiling our new logo, and finalizing plans for what promises to be a fantastic event this Thursday. If you haven’t purchased your tickets for the Techtacular Variety Hour, there’s still time. Click here to learn more, and here to buy tickets.

If you already have tickets, we can’t wait to see you there. The fun begins at 6:00pm and there will be lots of entertainment, so don’t be late. Click here for a map to EMP.

-Mandi Moshay

Our good friends at Jacobson Jarvis and MarketFitz hosted a gathering of nonprofit thought leaders to talk about Source Sharing: Banding Together to Save Money. We thought the NPower community would enjoy reading a summary, some terrific points to ponder. Thanks to Carolyn Hojaboom for providing!

Introduction

On March 30, 2011, Seattle-area nonprofit leaders gathered to engage in a thought-provoking discussion about sharing resources with other organizations in order to improve operational efficiency. Panelists included:

• Susie Burdick, Executive Director of the Hearing, Speech and Deafness Center, as moderator
• Heather Fitzpatrick, President and CEO of MarketFitz, Inc,
• Kevin Maifeld, Founder and Professor in the Master of Fine Arts in Arts Leadership at Seattle University
• Debbi Lewang, former CFO of Pacific Northwest Ballet and now a financial consultant to not-for-profits

The panelists shared their firsthand experiences with several different source sharing arrangements, as well as their recommendations for implementation.

Examples of Source Sharing

Source sharing arrangements can vary in size, structure and scope. As representative examples, the panelists discussed their experiences with the following models:

1. Outsourcing: One of Washington’s largest healthcare organizations sliced a double-digit percentage off the cost of running its communications team by engaging MarketFitz to reengineer and manage the department
2. Combined Resource Purchasing: Five competing arts organizations (including Seattle Children’s Theatre, led by Kevin Maifeld at the time), banded together to purchase software that streamlined operations but was too expensive for any one organization to purchase independently
3. Shared Services Coalitions: Eight non-profits with non-aligned missions formed a coalition (facilitated by Susie Burdick and the Hearing Speech and Deafness Center), to share training, resources and information
4. Shared Executive Personnel:Three not-for-profits in Tennessee share a single CFO, allowing them to tap top talent at a fraction of the cost, a model currently being championed in Seattle by Debbi Lewang

Benefits

Panelists described the financial and non-financial benefits of the source sharing arrangements with which they had experience. Highlights included:

• Reduced operating costs through sharing of staff that would not be fully utilized in a single organization
• Peer coaching partnerships wherein “best practices” regarding other operational concerns are shared
• Shared training opportunities
• Increased employee retention rates as a result of improved diverse career paths and/or the ability to maintain employment during economic downturns
• Greater negotiating power with vendors
• Improved accountability and tracking of progress against plan
• Increased opportunity for directors to be strategic while holding a vendor responsible for execution

Potential Obstacles to Implementation

Because these types of solutions are not yet commonplace, panelists noted that a strong internal champion is required. That individual may experience resistance from their board and/or employees, often due to a fear of loss of management control, concerns about whether competing organizations may have access to closely guarded donor information, fear about job losses and/or upsetting team dynamics.

While these obstacles exist, they are not insurmountable. Panelists advised participants to:

• Clearly define the need or issue, and the desired outcome
• Consider competitive concerns and hand-select collaborators accordingly, whether they are peers or vendors
• Partner only with organizations you truly trust
• Gain support within your staff and your board by educating both groups about the benefits
• Establish ground rules, roles and performance expectations early in any source sharing partnership
• Identify a leader who will serve as coordinator and fiscal agent when collaborating with other not-for-profits
• In the case of a coalition, carefully consider succession issues and the impact transitions might have

Getting Started

The panelists emphasized that the models outlined were not mutually exclusive. Not-for-profits who are interested in reaping the benefits of these models can start with something very simple, such as teaming with other organizations to share the cost of training, or jump in to address a more substantial need, such as trimming the cost of IT, HR, or marketing. To get started, panelists recommend:

• Identifying needs and objectives
• Determining whether to partner with non-competing or mission-aligned organizations, or with a vendor
• Carefully assessing potential outcomes and risks using formal analysis techniques such as time & motion studies, resource reviews and financial assessments, particularly the project is a substantial change
• Formalizing the engagement, including roles, responsibilities, and expected outcomes
• Get buy-in from the board
• Considering labor and tax laws in your vendor requirements, especially relative to independent contractors
• Look for someone with solid experience that matches your needs, if using an outside vendor

Conclusion

The current economic downturn has been hard on the not-for-profit community, but the situation has a silver lining. It has encouraged organizations to search for creative ways to streamline operations so that they can continue to deliver – and even increase – services in our community.  The panelists concluded the discussion by encouraging organizations to think creatively about how to band together to save money, support one another, and improve results.

- Alison Carl White

We’re thrilled to recognize West Monroe Partners as the most recent sponsor of the Techtacular Variety Hour! Founded in 2002, West Monroe Partners provides business management and technology consulting. In the last seven years, they have grown quickly and now have offices in six locations in the US and Canada, including a local office in Seattle.

We’re thankful for West Monroe Partners’ support and excited to celebrate nonprofit technology with their team at our event next week.

For a complete listing of event sponsors, and a link to buy your ticket, see our event page.

-The NPower Northwest Team

As I write this post, Amazon’s EC2 cloud storage service is experiencing a severe outage that has affected high profile websites and services including Reddit, Hootsuite, and Foursquare. As more nonprofits bring mission-critical programs and services up to the cloud, it is important to plan ahead for events like this to make sure that your nonprofit can remain functioning during outages.

Things to Consider Before Uploading

Cloud computing definitely has the potential to provide greater efficiency while reducing hardware and maintenance cost for nonprofits. Here are some key things to consider before making the switch to ensure that things will go well for your organization:

• Do your research into your service provider’s reliability. Look into what guarantees your service provider offers as to uptime. Make sure to choose providers that include guarantees of high levels of availability in their service level agreement to make sure that you can rely on your investment. You should also review your service provider’s policies regarding downtime and if any compensation is provided for outages.
• Make sure that your nonprofit has enough bandwidth for your staff to reliably access cloud-based services. Not all service problems with cloud computing are the fault of your hosting providers. Some common cloud-based programs take a fair bit of bandwidth, and you will definitely need a reliable, high-bandwidth connection to work effectively, especially when many staff are accessing multiple cloud-based systems. Make sure that you take the cost of increased internet access into account when doing cost comparisons of cloud vs on-site solutions. Also, much like it’s important to research the reliability of your cloud service providers, make sure to choose internet service providers that also have high rates of reliability and good reliability guarantees in their service agreements.
• Be aware of the necessary security for the data you are bringing to the cloud. Certain kinds of data, in particular medical and legal information, have additional security needs and/or requirements. Make sure that any cloud service that you use provides the necessary level of security. You also need to keep up-to-date on any service agreement changes that your provider may give you - as hard as it can be to read those agreements, they will include changes to important policies that could otherwise go unnoticed.
• Understand the needs of your staff. Make sure to review the practices of your staff to ensure that the choices you make will work well. In particular, keep in mind how many staff will be using each of these programs/services. Review how many staff work regularly in the office and which work from home, as they will have different needs from your systems.

After You’re in the Clouds

After you’ve moved your services to the cloud and ensured that you have a good internet connection for accessing these programs, you should follow these steps to ensure that your staff will be able to continue working through outages:

• Setup offline access whenever possible. For cloud email services such as hosted Exchange and Gmail, this means having your staff members’ email and contacts sync to a workstation-based email tool such as Outlook. While you will not be able to send or receive new emails until your access is restored, you will be able to access your existing emails and contacts. Many online databases and other programs will have options for working offline as well, and you should follow their instructions to set up offline access.
• Run your own backups regularly. Cloud-based programs will typically run very good backups, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t run your own as well. In addition to giving you access to your data during outages, these backups will come in very handy in case someone accidentally deletes important files or if you want to move to another service provider.
• Document your support contact information. During an outage, it may become difficult to find the support contact information on your service provider’s website. Make sure to keep up-to-date contact information offline to ensure that you can find it in an emergency.
• Document your staff policies regarding outages. Much like how many nonprofits and businesses have policies regarding severe weather or disasters, you should create policies regarding internet outages. If staff will be prevented from working, will they still be expected to come in? How will closures and outages be communicated to staff if they can’t access their email? Document your policies and inform staff on what they should do before the outage occurs.
• Test it and try it before you need it. The best policies, backups, and recovery plans are only as good as their last successful test. Whatever policies and procedures you put in place for service outages, make sure that they are tested regularly to ensure that they work as intended in critical events.

As always, you can reach out to NPower’s consulting staff if you would like assistance in assessing whether the cloud is best for your nonprofit or if you would like help developing good technology policies and procedures.

- Elaina Buzzell

Yesterday charityhowto.com offered a free webinar on mobile giving hosted by Artez Interactive. I was excited to learn more about this emerging technology, how it is being used, and what the future holds.

In general, we know that mobile tech is growing fast – smartphone sales surpassed PC sales in February, smartphones are anticipated to soon account for half the mobile market, and you can’t throw a stick without hitting an article about the growing popularity of tablets.

So, has the emergence of mobile technology created opportunities for nonprofits to engage supporters and raise funds? Indeed – and there are three main areas to pay attention to:

Text to donate: We’ve all seen this technology come into play in the face of natural disasters across the globe. The Red Cross received over 4.1 million texts to donate $10 in response to the Haitian earthquake last year. While this technology can generate a lot of money in a short period of time with little work on the part of a development professional, it doesn’t give much access to donor information or allow for growing a relationship. In the future, look for text message campaigns to be used to drive traffic to nonprofit websites, provide mobile reminders, or send day-of details for fundraising events. You can plan ahead for mobile campaigns by collecting mobile numbers from your constituents, and asking their permission to contact them via text message.

Mobile web: With widespread use of smartphones and tablets comes internet browsing via mobile device, and it’s estimated that the mobile web will exceed traditional web in size by 2013. This means that it’s important to ensure that websites and e-newsletters are viewable on small screens as well as large, and that having a mobile version of your site will soon be a must. Luckily, web platforms like Wordpress include plug-ins to easily create a mobile version of a website (perhaps with less video or images in order to decrease load time). It’s the same URL, but the device recognizes the need to display the mobile version. The benes of mobile web over text to donate are numerous: there’s no limit on donation amount or the gateway through which funds are collected and you can gather more donor data via a fully branded site.

Mobile apps: Apps are basically software programs developed for mobile devices. The most common example would be the over 200,000 apps available in the iTunes App Store for use on iPhones, iPods, and iPads. Because apps store data on the native device (translation: the gadget it’s loaded on), they generally run faster than browsing via mobile web, and also integrate easily with contacts, calendars, and mapping apps on the device. As of right now, Apple does not allow donations to nonprofits via apps (what gives, Apple?!) but Google’s Android phones do.

Implications for Nonprofits
There you have it. Now what should you do with all this information? Keep it in mind as you plan for the future. Consider these action steps:

1. Start testing your website and electronic communications with smartphones in mind (try viewing things across the variety of devices that your co-workers and friends are using).
2. Start collecting mobile numbers from your constituents and start asking your supporters how they prefer to be communicated with.
3. Most of all, remember that no one channel of communication is a magic bullet for fundraising success. Try integrating mobile strategies as one piece of your multi-channel communications, marketing, and fundraising strategies.

For the slides from this presentation, click here. You can also download Artez Interactive's Mobile Giving White Paper here.

- Mandi Moshay

The NPower staff was treated to a training session on change management this week by Point B consultant Kathleen Goodman. There were several “ah ha” moments as Kathleen reviewed the four steps of the change process cycle and we discussed how each step relates to our process of coaching clients through the changes that technology introduces. The four steps are:

1. Acknowledge
2. React
3. Investigate
4. Implement

Kathleen outlined optimal roles for leaders or coaches as a group navigates each phase:

1. In Acknowledge, give information
2. In React, give support
3. In Investigate, give encouragement
4. In Implement, give reinforcement

The NPower team is delighted to have a framework for working effectively with clients to navigate change. Thank you to Kathleen for a great presentation, and to Point B for loaning Kathleen to us for a couple of hours this week (and for the next three months as our staff training series continues).

-Peg Giffels

This year’s Techtacular Variety Hour on April 28th is presented by Microsoft, a valued corporate partner that has been with NPower since the beginning.

Microsoft was part of the original team that gathered around a brave new idea in 1999 when the notion first emerged to form a nonprofit to serve the technology needs of other nonprofits in the Puget Sound region. When the idea worked in Seattle, and the even braver idea emerged to go national with a network of NPower affiliates, Microsoft was there with millions in seed money to support the national expansion experiment.

Over the years Microsoft has contributed over $3 million in grants and over $1 million in in-kind support to NPower Seattle, enabling us to help thousands of nonprofits in our community use technology to broaden their impact. In addition, many of our valuable volunteers come from the Microsoft community, allowing NPower to connect these technologically savvy employees with nonprofits who can benefit from their expertise.

Microsoft’s commitment to improving the communities where their employees live and work is truly inspiring. You can tune in to Microsoft’s voice as a community leader in multiple ways:
•    The Microsoft Unlimited Potential Blog
•    Microsoft Citizenship on Facebook and on Twitter @msftcitizenship
•    The Microsoft Corporate Citizenship website highlighting investments in workforce development, strengthening NOG’s, disaster and humanitarian response, and community engagement at home in Washington state

We are proud to have Microsoft on board as the presenting sponsor for this year’s Techtacular event, and offer our highest thanks for the support they have provided over the years. We can’t think of a better partner to work alongside to focus technology on mission in ways that advance both individual nonprofits and the sector as a whole.

-The NPower Northwest Team

Originally posted on community.npowerseattle.org/npowering on April 14th, 2011.

Our Techtacular Variety Hour is just two weeks away and we are so excited to be able to celebrate years of great service and our excitement for the future with our friends in the nonprofit and technology fields. You don't want to miss this evening of fabulous food, fun, and entertainment! Tickets are still available!

All this celebrating would not be possible without the support of our fabulous sponsors. Thanks so much to the following groups for their generous support:

Microsoft: Most of us are familiar with Microsoft's products and services. In fact, it is likely that we all know someone who is a current or former employee of Microsoft! But, what some people may not know is how committed the company is to giving back to the community. As a founding investor, Microsoft has been an invaluable supporter of NPower, partnering with us to help nonprofits utilize technology effectively in order to make a greater impact.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The Gates Foundation is arguably the most well-known charitable foundation in the world. While their grantmaking programs have a global reach, their Seattle headquarters means their impact is felt locally as well. They have been a supporter of NPower for years, helping us to provide local nonprofits with the technology they need to improve the lives of Northwest residents.

LiquidPlanner: LiquidPlanner is an online project management software that can help organize, assign, and track work quickly and easily, all while keeping you sane. The NPower team has been excited to start working with LiquidPlanner to manage our projects internally, and we're already thinking of ways that this tool could be beneficial to the nonprofit community and we're happy to have their support at our event.

Point B: Point B is a management consulting firm that provides organizations with unbiased leadership to transform their business initiatives into reality. They make significant contributions of time, talent and money, and remain actively engaged in dozens of organizations across their service area. We're proud to call a Point B employee our Board President, and to have one of their bright Chief Information Officers on our CIO Council. We're thrilled to have the support of the entire company for our event.

Accenture: Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. Accenture has been a partner of NPower for a while, lending more than just their name and financial support, but also providing their invaluable technology and management expertise via employee representation on the NPower Board and CIO Council.

Deloitte: Deloitte is the largest private professional services organization in the world. Deloitte is the brand under which tens of thousands of dedicated professionals in independent firms throughout the world collaborate to provide audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, and tax services to selected clients. We've got one of their bright employees serving on our Board, and we're so excited to have the support of the firm for this year's event.

Pop: POP is an interactive agency that blends marketing strategy, design, and technology. They have done work for several large, recognizable brands including Target, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, and local favorite the Seattle International Film Festival. We've been fortunate enough to have one of their technology whizzes on our CIO Council and appreciate the support of the agency for the Techtacular.

-Mandi Moshay on behalf of The NPower Northwest Team

Originally posted on community.npowerseattle.org/npowering on April 12th, 2011.

There are more options than ever for smartphones now, but which is the best one (or ones) for your nonprofit? It's important to determine your needs and wants in a new phone before you purchase one instead of hoping that the one that you purchased does everything you need. Start by taking note of the most important phone features for you, so that you can make good decisions to meet your needs.

Email and Calendar - For most business-use phones the top priority is access to your work email, calendar, and contacts, so it’s very important to spend time making sure that your phone will connect well and easily with your network. Most of our Managed Service clients use Microsoft Exchange to handle their email, and all of those nonprofits will want to make sure that their smartphones support the ActiveSync feature. Phones that have this feature will be a breeze to setup in order for your staff to access their emails and calendars on the go. If your nonprofit uses Exchange and you choose a smartphone that doesn’t have ActiveSync, you can expect to spend more time and money to get your phone connected and to maintain that connection. Which phones support ActiveSync?

• Windows Mobile – As you may expect, all versions of Windows Mobile have ActiveSync, and will work very well in Exchange Environments.
• iPhone – All but the first generation of the iPhone have included ActiveSync, and so these can also be a very good option for your staff looking to access email on the go.
• Android – The new versions of Android (2.0 and later) include ActiveSync support, but you still need to double-check for this feature on each device. As each carrier and hardware manufacturer can make changes to the Android operating system, this feature may not be on all models. Due to the differences between devices, we recommend that you read some reviews regarding ActiveSync for a model that you are considering purchasing, as it works better on some phones than others.
• Blackberry/RIM – We do not recommend Blackberry phones to our clients, because they don’t provide ActiveSync support. There are some third-party applications now to connect newer Blackberry phones to Exchange, but they have some significant costs associated with them.
• For more details on each platform's ability to use ActiveSync well, check out this comparison chart from Microsoft TechNet.

For nonprofits that are using Google for their email, the Android phones will be able to sync with Gmail very well, as will a Blackberry and any phone with ActiveSync.

Cellular Network - After email, the most important consideration is the phone's network. You will definitely want to make sure that your phone will work everywhere that you need it to, and that their data connections will be fast enough for your needs. While most carriers provide coverage maps to tell you if your neighborhood is covered, you'll need to do a bit more research to make sure you don't have a coverage black hole in your office. Check if any of your co-workers have issues getting connected in the office, or just make sure you test thoroughly in the first few days with your phone (when you can still get out of your contract). If you travel for work (or pleasure), check to make sure that you will have coverage at your typical destinations. International travelers should also familiarize themselves with prospective carriers' call and data costs outside the U.S.

You may also want to look into additional policies that your carrier may hold. For instance, some carriers allow tethering (using your phone's data plan to access the internet on your computer) and many do not. Of course, you'll also want to look into finding a plan that will give you the minutes, data, and texts that you need for a fair price.

Other Features and Programs - Once you are sure that your phone will easily be able to connect to your nonprofit's email, the other features are going to be dependent on your personal preferences. Here are some to consider:

• Physical or on-screen keyboard - Those that frequently write long text messages and emails may prefer using a physical keyboard over the on-screen ones common on touch screen phones. Many newer phones with physical keyboards also offer the on-screen keyboard to give users more options. On the downside, the addition of the physical keyboard adds to the weight and size of your phone.
• Screen Size and resolution - Most phones hover between 3.5 and 3.7-inch screens, but there are new devices, especially on the Android platform, with screen sizes of 4 inches or more. If you are looking at a device with a larger screen, make sure to get some hands on experience using it to be confident that you will like working with it day to day.  As long as you are buying a new, current generation phone, your screen resolution should be high enough to display movies, images, and small text well.
• Apps - All four major smartphone players provide a market place with both paid and free apps to help you do more with your phone.  While we may instantly think of games when we hear "app", there are many out there that could help you do your work more effectively on the go. Look into the programs that you use frequently at the office, such as your database, email marketing tool, or social network monitoring tools, to see if they have a smartphone app, and if it's available on one phone platform over the others.
• Battery Life - Battery life has improved considerably over the last couple of years, but you should still check on this. This is especially important if you do a lot of web surfing (or game playing), use a  bluetooth device, or tether your phone to your laptop.

We hope that this helps you as you choose a new smartphone for your organization. Our Managed Services clients can also ask their consultant for advice in choosing phones that will work best for their needs.

- Elaina Buzzell