California Charities Share Their Technology Tips and Frustrations

Wired for Good, a project of the Center for Excellence in Nonprofits,

in San Jose, Calif., has asked local charities to share their technology experiences and advice. The project has compiled the stories under the heading “Technology Lessons Learned” on its Web site, http://wiredforgood.org. The following are excerpts from those lessons.

Family Services Mid-Peninsula: Find Partners to Share Costs

Family Services Mid-Peninsula, in Palo Alto, needed to replace its eight-year-old software with a customized billing and general ledger system similar to that used in medical offices. The software they wanted, along with its implementation, was very expensive for this medium-sized organization.

Rather than abandon the project or choose inferior software, Jeanne Labozetta, C.E.O., decided to find other organizations with the same needs and see if they could share expenses.

A few phone calls and a fortunate business dinner later, two other C.E.O.’s said yes.

The group quickly realized that success would require joint planning, joint fund raising, and resource sharing. They had to learn one another’s management styles. What began as a joint interest in sharing software expenses quickly developed into a strong collaboration that could leverage its negotiating position, saving the group $433,000 so far.

One of the first joint investments was hiring an experienced project manager who coordinated the three organizations’ activities, worked with vendors, and negotiated discounts based on the trio’s combined bargaining power.

Then the group pooled resources. One did software research, another studied hardware, while each provided strong grant-writing skills. Point people in operations and fund development were identified to work together and integrate their respective activities. Then the accounting staffs and counseling staffs developed common frameworks for their respective activities.

Choral Music Group: No Charity is Too Small to Use Technology

Schola Cantorum is a small nonprofit organization in Palo Alto that performs choral music of all styles with volunteer chorus members. Two years ago, just completing a simple mail-merge task was not an easy operation. Today, the group uses networked high-end Pentium computers, a top-of-the-line printer, a scanner, and current software. Staff now completes tasks in minutes that used to take hours. With one full-time and three part-time employees, this represents a big difference in how resources are used.

This improvement began with a donation of hardware and software from I.B.M. and a private donor. Nicola Rees, executive director, purchased Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office software at exceptionally affordable prices through Schola’s membership with CompuMentor, and Hewlett-Packard provided a printer. A volunteer networked the equipment and provides ongoing support.

Schola Cantorum now does its own desktop publishing for events, and can easily do complex mail merging. It has a Web site, an electronic newsletter, and an e-mail distribution list for concert announcements.

Ms. Rees believes the Web has enabled the group to double the potential audience it had been reaching through postal mail, and has increased inquiries from potential chorus members.

“Technology can be so bewildering,” says Ms. Rees. “But there is so much help out there. No one should struggle to get the information they need, or assume that they’re too small to take advantage of technology.”

Youth Science Institute: Free Isn’t Always Good

“Our experience in working with cast-off computers is that they are not efficient,” reports Anne Dunham, executive director of the Youth Science Institute, in Los Gatos. “They tend to be slow, incompatible with each other, and sometimes have very small screens that make tasks like desktop publishing difficult. Many of our staff have faster computers at home, and can appreciate the difference in working with better equipment.”

“Fortunately, my board agreed that it wasn’t a sound business practice to continue with the old technology, so we put together a small network with economical purchases of hardware selected from Hewlett-Packard’s computer demo lists. We also found reasonably priced server software from Consistent Computer Bargains in Wisconsin, and secured in-kind software donations from Adobe.”

Community School of Music and Arts: You Don’t Just Plug It In

When discussing lessons learned about technology, Andrea Temkin, executive director of Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View, cites three without hesitation: “1) Nothing is simple no matter what the consultant says; 2) budget for staff training; and 3) review job descriptions based on increased responsibilities for office technology.”

The school’s technology quest began with an effort to integrate a PC-based general ledger system, a manual check-writing process, and program information on Excel. It hired a consultant, but “developing a package just for us made us highly dependent on that consultant,” says Ms. Temkin. “At times we couldn’t get his attention when we needed it most. We continued to have problems with the system, and then the consultant took off on a motorcycle in the direction of Alaska.”

“Now we’re learning what we can do for ourselves,” says Ms. Temkin. “Everyone has a responsibility for the integrity of the network by adhering to agreed-upon procedures. New employees get trained in these procedures as part of their orientation.”

Much has transpired in the five years since the Community School of Music and Arts began its quest for technology. It has better aggregate data about its student population, and its fund development information is better organized and more easily accessed.

“We are still learning,” says Ms. Temkin. “Technology is a big investment.”

Catholic Charities: Standardize, Not Customize

Catholic Charities, in Santa Clara County, made the decision not to purchase any more customized or semi-customized software products. Now it’s strictly off-the-shelf software.

Michael Cummins, chief financial officer, championed this change in philosophy because the group’s semi-customized software programs required too much outside expertise to implement changes and the M.I.S. staff was spending too much time troubleshooting software problems. Three of the sites have now converted to a Windows platform and all 150 employees use Microsoft Office on their desktops, as well as other standard programs.

Mr. Cummins considers himself a convert from customized software to off-the-shelf products. “Most nonprofit agencies can buy standard software products that will do at least 90 percent of what they want done. You may need to wait for an enhancement you want, but mass-merchandised software has been tested for reliable performance and offers good flexibility.”

Children’s Discovery Museum: You Need a Good Technology Plan

The Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose had been operating with its original 1990 technology, and it was time for a change. The growing museum needed a system to handle membership, admissions, and accounting. They formed a technology team led by Cheryl Blumenthal, information systems manager, and spent more than a year educating themselves about their own technology, new technology, and their future business requirements. “It takes more time than you can imagine,” said Ms. Blumenthal. They attended museum-association sessions and other technology-related events. “It was a hodgepodge. There’s no one way to do this.”

The team gathered lots of input from staff about what information was collected, what reports were produced, and who needed access to what information. It became clear that they needed an integrated data system with a shared database. Confidentiality and security of the data were also important.

Once the requirements were clear, the team wrote a technology plan and began interviewing consulting firms.

When asked about guidance for others contemplating such a project, Ms. Blumenthal offered this advice. “Up-front planning is critical. You must understand clearly and fully what you want from new technology. You need to understand the details of how your organization operates and how information is used. Also, it’s important to carve out the time for a project like this. It does take time. But we expect our work life to be a little easier and more efficient. Internal communications will improve, and duplication of effort will be eliminated. The entire staff is looking forward to our new technology.”

Camp Fire Boys and Girls: Figure Out Needs First

“As soon as you bring up the subject of technology and computers, everyone wants to share their knowledge and experiences with you,” relates Monica Toumani, controller at Camp Fire Boys and Girls. “Each person has their own way of doing something, and their favorite software for the task. To avoid this problem in our Technology Planning Committee, we did two things: 1) We agreed to use software that is standard in the industry, and 2) we selected committee volunteers who were knowledgeable about technology but had no specific allegiances to companies or products.

“We also found it very important to have a skilled project supervisor assigned to the implementation,” advises Ms. Toumani. “Without such a person the project can become fragmented, especially if you are relying on many volunteers to help you.”

Parents Helping Parents: Build a Network

Parents Helping Parents, in Santa Clara, is a parent-directed family resource center for children with special needs. The clients often become donors, and the donors sometimes become clients. The database system that tracked individuals with two affiliations with the agency had only a limited data-management capability, and too often there was duplication of effort and records.

The organization needed a tool to effectively merge these records yet protect the confidentiality of information. It needed to be networked. Trudy Marsh Grable, director of information systems, says, “We really had two options. One potential server had a pretty standard format that some of us were already familiar with. The other, although more powerful, was more complicated. We chose the first option, using Windows NT, because it had enough flexibility and speed.”

Although there was some initial resistance, the staff of 40 is now networked, and relies almost exclusively on electronically filed information. Client and donor files are merged, with donor data restricted to fund-development staff and client history notes restricted to program staff. Everyone has accurate data to do his or her work.

Ms. Marsh Grable sees the payoff in many ways: “When a client telephones, we can respond immediately. We personalize our conversations with discussions of what’s going on in their lives, based on electronic notes from earlier interactions. The staff is better prepared because client information is easily accessed and current. This vastly improves a client’s sense of connection with the organization.”

If you’re thinking about networking, Ms. Marsh Grable suggests: “First, put time into research before you select a system. Second, expect that reluctance to give up paper files will be a big obstacle. But once people experience the convenience, they’ll forget they don’t have paper.”

Rebekah Children’s Services: Savings Come Later

With 12 months of installation and implementation behind him, Dean Wilson, chief financial officer of Rebekah Children’s Services, in Gilroy, has learned these lessons about technology projects: 1) Develop a timeline and clear responsibilities for project implementation; 2) Conversion is a major task. Plan for outside help; 3) Include a large training component in your budget; 4) Celebrate milestones throughout the project. It underscores progress that is less visible to employees not involved in the project; 5) New efficiencies are dependent upon a well-trained staff and complete adoption of any changes in procedures. Productivity actually decreases before it increases.