Integrating New Technology Tools into Non-Profits

by Jessica Rothschuh

I haven’t always been a techie. Maybe I'm not really a techie now, but as a CTC VISTA, I felt I had a responsibility to know technology.

Fresh from journalism school, I was a Google whiz but had never learned HTML or Web design — two skills I found tucked inside my job description. I'd like to say I made a valiant effort; I read Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, set up a MySpace account, started a blog, created a Second Life avatar, began paying attention to Technorati (the blog search engine), and even taught myself HTML.

After becoming familiar with some of the more popular open-source technology tools available, I began working them into my organization’s operations. The Children's Partnership staff adopted some tools more easily than others. Even though I saw the utility of each new technology I chose, learning to use another tool or add an extra step to a process daunted some of my coworkers.

At first, their hesitance was frustrating. For example, it seemed logical to save all our reference documents electronically, storing them on our Intranet. Besides saving paper, ink and physical space, digitizing made documents more easily reproducible and shareable.

It took time to realize change can be scary. I was frequently faced with the age-old adage: “If something isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” The trick was to become a saleswoman. I learned to make the tools enticing and chose tools that were easy to use and offered something their corresponding “analog” processes couldn’t. Digitizing our reference documents became more attractive to staff once I discovered a full-text search function we could purchase that would enable us to pinpoint references easier and more efficiently than we could with a filing cabinet.

I also introduced several technology tools to facilitate easier news and information gathering, including newsreaders and a staff del.icio.us site. These were particularly helpful to staff members who spent their mornings reading news stories and checking listservs.

Another of my projects was working with a team to create a new site for the California Community Technology Policy Group. Since our knowledge of programming was limited, CivicSpace was an ideal platform. Though we did have a Webmaster, my colleagues and I were still able to control the site’s content.

As my VISTA year came to a close, I was impressed with how much I’d learned about technology and how (relatively) savvy I’d become. My hard work had even landed me a staff position at my organization. But if my foray as a techie taught me anything, it was that technology tools are just that; they’re tools.

On one of my first days at The Children’s Partnership as a staff member, I brought a new tool to a staff meeting, one I’d ordered as a surprise. When I announced that I had a new tool to help keep us organized, a few eyes widened. In the past, I’d suggested PDAs, personal calendar applications and using a group calendar on our Intranet. But during my year of service, I learned that high-tech isn’t always better. With a flourish, I revealed the new organizing tool: a paper desktop calendar for our meeting room.