October 18, 2001 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Several organizations have published reports about nonprofit technology issues:
- PolicyLink, a research organization in Oakland, Calif., says in a report that if technology is to strengthen poor neighborhoods, organizations working to bridge the digital divide need to expand their efforts beyond just providing access to technology. The report urges groups to focus on improving the technology capacity of grass-roots organizations working in such neighborhoods and to develop online materials that deal with the needs of community members. The paper, “Bridging the Organizational Divide,” offers examples of ways that community-development groups are using information technology to deliver services, distribute information, and conduct advocacy campaigns.
To get there: Go to http://www.policylink.org/publications.html.
- The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Leadership Conference Education Fund surveyed 68 civil-rights groups and found that while the organizations recognize the importance of information technology in their work, they are struggling to find the resources to build their technology infrastructure.
All of the organizations that participated in the survey are connected to the Internet, and 94 percent have a Web site, but only 51 percent use the Internet for activism, and only 40 percent use it for fund-raising purposes. The report, “From Digital Disconnect to Digital Empowerment,” also calls on civil-rights organizations to play a more active role in technology policy issues.
To get there: Go to http://www.civilrights.org/publications/digital_report.
- “Networking the Networks,” published by the International Center for Migration, Ethnicity and Citizenship at New School University examines how immigration groups gather, use, and distribute information. Based on interviews with 121 groups, the study found that organizations rely on e-mail discussion lists as important sources of information, but are frustrated by what they see as the difficulty of using the Internet as a research tool and with the high volume of information they have to sift through.
To get there: Go to http://www.gcir.org/ntnindex.htm.
