A Guide to Technology Resources for Charities

Cybergifts

Application service providers have been a frequent topic of conversation on Cybergifts, an e-mail discussion list about Internet fund raising.

Cybergifts is operated by CharityChannel, a company in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., that sponsors e-mail lists on nonprofit topics. To subscribe: Go to http://charitychannel.com/forums.

“Guide for Nonprofits on Choosing and Using Application Service Providers”

With financial support from the Community Technology Foundation of California, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, a San Francisco group that provides management assistance to other charities, has commissioned two technology consultants, Michael Stein and John A. Kenyon, to write this manual, which is scheduled for release in November.

Making Advanced Technology Work for Community Serving Organizations

This Web site provides information about a May 2000 meeting of grant makers, charities, consultants, technology companies, and academics to discuss how application service providers and open-source software could benefit the nonprofit world. Go to: http://www.communitytechnology.org/asp-oss

The Nonprofit Matrix

Developed by Hewitt and Johnston Consultants, a fund-raising consulting company in Toronto, this Web site offers a directory of online technology services designed for nonprofit organizations. The site provides information about and links to companies that lease software to charities over the Internet and companies that process online donations. Visitors to the site can submit reviews of the services and read about other visitors’ experiences with them. Go to: http://www.nonprofitmatrix.com

Online Fundraising

Created by the Gilbert Center, a Seattle organization that provides technology help to charities, this e-mail forum discusses how to use e-mail and the Internet to raise money. It has included a discussion on Web-based software systems for charities. To subscribe: Send an e-mail message to autoshare@gilbert.org. In the body of the message, type the words: subscribe fundraising.

TechSoup

Created by CompuMentor, a San Francisco charity that provides technology assistance to nonprofit organizations, TechSoup provides information about application service providers designed for nonprofit groups, including descriptions of and links to companies. Go to: http://www.techsoup.org/articlepage.cfm?ArticleId=300&topicid=2