Nonprofit Technology Uses
Nonprofit organizations use computers, Internet and other networking technology for a number of tasks, including volunteer management and support, donor management, client tracking and support, project management, human resources (paid staff) management, financial accounting, program evaluation, research, marketing, activism and collaboration. Nonprofit organizations that engage in income-generation activities, such as ticket sales, may also use technology for these functions.
Some technology is created specifically for use by nonprofit organizations. For instance, there are more than 30 software packages designed for nonprofits to use to analyse donations, manage volunteers. There is software designed to help in the management of animal shelters, software to help nonprofit performing arts groups sell tickets and manage donors, software to manage sports clubs, and on and on.
Nonprofit organizations also use both proprietary and open-source software, as well as various online tools (the World Wide Web, email, online social networking, wikis,volunteer web blogs micro-blogging, etc.), that are also used by for-profit businesses. Nonprofit groups may leverage web-based services in their media outreach, using online newswires such as Nonprofit Newswire.com to disseminate their press releases.
Because of their limited budgets, nonprofit organizations may not be able to upgrade their hardware or software, buy computers or Internet tools, or provide technology training for staff to the degree of for-profit businesses. This means that, often, nonprofit organizations can be on the wrong side of the digital divide.
The external links listed below provide details on both computer, Internet and networking technology that is specifically designed for nonprofits, and how technology is used in the work of nonprofits.
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