Helping Grantees With Their I.T. NeedsBy John Carlson
Pierce Family Foundation Student Intern, Summer 2011
Notre Dame Class of 2014More and more foundations are beginning to see the need to fund the costs of information technology (IT) systems at nonprofit agencies, but those open to supporting IT tend to approach that need in traditional ways: seeking proposals, reviewing them, and if the nonprofit is lucky, ultimately providing grants that nonprofits use to seek out and hire various services. At the Pierce Family Foundation, IT is supported by a team of specialists directly “on call” to grantees, and under contract to the Foundation. These specialists get to know each agency’s needs and capacity, and can provide advice, services, training, troubleshooting, hardware and software, underwritten by the Foundation.
Along with the general operating grant that ‘core grantee’ agencies receive from the Pierce Family Foundation, IT support is available to all core grantees so that the headaches and stress associated with IT problems can be reduced. Each charitable organization can then focus more time and resources on their mission. Following are but a few of the many examples of ways in which the Pierce Family Foundation has assisted and fulfilled core grantee needs for IT support.
Relief! Network Speed Restored
One of the foundation’s grantees was struggling with the slow speed of their network, something which affected every aspect of day-to-day business. The Foundation’s IT team came in to analyze the severity of the situation and see what could be done. The specialists soon discovered that 95% of the agency’s computer server was being consumed by SPAM Email. This SPAM overload drastically reduced the speed of the entire network, costing the staff numerous hours as they attempted to sort through the hordes of SPAM. Over the following weekend, the Pierce Family Foundation’s IT support team installed a SPAM filter service, and when the nonprofit’s staff returned on Monday, they thought that entirely new computers had been installed. While costing only a few thousand dollars to install and run efficiently, the change was monumental for the agency; the network speed was significantly increased through this reduction in SPAM and the network finally ran smoothly.Virtualizing Servers and Reducing Energy Costs
When the Pierce Family Foundation IT support team looked into concerns voiced by another grantee agency regarding their computer servers, the IT consultants discovered that the agency was using numerous servers that ran at only 10% capacity. Using separate servers for email, web access, etc. was consuming large amounts of unnecessary energy, along with expelling high amounts of excess heat, resulting in the need for cooling systems to prevent the servers from overheating. Both the excess energy and heat were sucking away money that could have been better used elsewhere. So the Pierce Family Foundation IT support team, headed by David Krumlauf, created a solution in the form of ‘server virtualization’. A term that may not be familiar to many, server virtualization refers to the consolidation of different servers (mail, web, etc.) into one server box using server virtualization software. Along with increasing server capacity, using one central server is much easy to back up than attempting to back up five or six different servers. This central server also eliminated excess power consumption resulting in lower electricity bills, opening up more funds for the agency's mission.
Creating A More Flexible Website
Addressing server issues, however, is not the only form of IT help the Pierce Family Foundation provides. Installed for Good News Partners, Drupal is an “open source” website which allows users to edit websites themselves instead of hiring outside IT firms to make any desired changes. Accessibility is key to the success of Drupal as it adds tons of flexibility to the web design of a non-profit. Drupal gives non profits the ability to allow different employees to work on different aspects of the organization’s website i.e. pictures, contact information, blog posts, etc. Installing Drupal for Good News Partners was an easy transition because of its resemblance to Microsoft Word. This template adds to ease of use that other “open source” websites do not succeed in reproducing. In preparation for daily use of Drupal, Good News Partners staff were able to use the Learning Labs at Pierce and Associates for an all day employee training session run by the Drupal developer. The success of Drupal in the non profit sector relates to the ability of non-profits like Good News Partners to move away from more pricey outside IT firms and have full control over their websites.Following the installation of Drupal, the Pierce Family Foundation’s IT support team set up free software within the Drupal structure, software intended specifically for non profits. Other grantees also received this free software upgrade. This software, CiviCRM, allows non profits to more easily keep track of their individual donors and clients, along with managing both volunteers’ and donors’ information.
Linking Drupal and CiviCRM, among many other advantages, allows donors to create usernames and accounts on non-profit websites. These accounts give the donors the ability to manage and update their own contact information, resulting in donors being able to stay in contact and keep relationships with non-profits current. The accounts created also allow donors to chose options relating to non-profits such as whether to receive different program newsletters and email updates.
Building off the success of Drupal and CiviCRM integration, the next step recommended for Good News Partners by the IT team involved the installation of an accounting software called Fund E-Z to work in unison with CiviCRM. This software allows for the exporting of non profit event data from CiviCRM to Fund E-Z, giving non profits the ability to track information such as who attended what events, who they brought with them, what auction items were purchased and by whom. Before these new systems were in place, like many agencies, Good News Partners did not have the capacity to track donors with much more than Microsoft Excel, a program with limited ability to maintain donor data.
“The Pierce Family Foundation’s IT support has been a major morale booster to our office staff,” said Jan Hubbard, Director of Major Gifts and Church Relations at Good News Partners. “I believe CiviCRM is vital to our fundraising efforts. Now we have a systematic and automatic ‘moves plan’ for turning volunteers into donors, donors into major donors and major donors into people who solicit money for Good News Partners.”
I.T. in Support of Fundraising and General Operations
Grantees bring to the IT team a variety of needs related to many different aspects of their operations, from program management to fundraising. Big or small, plans are made so that all IT problems are tackled. Pierce Family Foundation IT specialists have helped agencies using “Raiser’s Edge,” a donor tracking and processing software, which many in the fundraising world consider the “Cadillac of systems” (typically costing from $30,000 to $40,000). Some of the grantees using this software, however, hit a major snag when no formal or in-depth training sessions were offered in how to operate this extensive system. Without adequate training, said David Krumlauf, having Raisers Edge is “like buying your two-year old granddaughter a Porsche and telling her to have at it.” The Pierce Family Foundation IT support soon stepped in and arranged for help in the form of trained professionals sent in to teach the staffers how to work “Raiser’s Edge”.IT support can also be as simple as a $200 switch, rewiring of a network or buying a $100 multi-use printer, scanner, copier. One agency, for example, had installed their network, as David Krumlauf described it, “backwards” ---and the simple rewiring of the network and a $200 switch was all that was needed to correct multiple problems. The agency was also “fighting” with an out-of-date, hardly functioning fax machine which they were essentially “beating” in order for it to actually function, David said. Buying for the agency a relatively inexpensive multi-use printer eased stress levels and allowed for more productivity in the workplace. Needs and simple fixes identified by the Pierce Family Foundation IT team can range from installing back-ups for servers, to making sure non-profits have back-ups that work in the first place.
The worst equipment in the office?
PFF Chief Technologist David Krumlauf wryly notes that “You can always tell which office belongs to the Executive Director, because usually, it’s the one with the oldest computer and the worst equipment.” Nonprofits are operating with limited budgets and money is always tight, so Executive Directors often place upgrades in critical areas elsewhere in their agencies, rather than spending money on what they might need at their own desks. The Foundation has contributed upgraded workstations for Executive Directors, and has also helped agencies determine what workstation needs might be agency-wide. Support offered by the IT team helps guide grantees in decisions around what systems and equipment to build toward, and sometimes the foundation is able to cover outright the cost of upgrades.Keeping Up With New Technology and Opportunities
The expertise of the IT team also creates an opportunity for nonprofits to benefit from cutting edge technologies that they might otherwise have no access to or capability for installing on their own. One new approach the Foundation has been exploring is the use of ‘virtual desktops’ at grantee agencies. Virtual desktops are an easy way to save energy costs, simplify server backup and reduce the large sums of money needed to invest in new computers. These virtual desktops allow every employee user to have access their own “terminal” in the non-profit’s network. Within the virtual desktop, a user logs into his or her account and immediately opens to their own specific, personal homepage. This computer innovation gives the user the ability to work from home if necessary, along with the ability to check their emails anywhere.David Krumlauf considers both Drupal and server virtualization some of the most cutting edge IT support available for greater use by non profits. Also offering potential for the future are document management programs which allow for information to pass through a “virtual” server rather than moving paper around the office. Rather than maintaining hard files and paper copies, document management capabilities include scanning everything online (bills, correspondence, reports etc.), which reduces waste in paper and printer ink, along with making everything catalogued and easily searchable.
Without in-house IT staff, agencies might not know what’s wrong, or what the options might be to address problems. Whether a quick and simple fix or a bigger step towards more sophisticated IT, the involvement of the Pierce Family Foundation in this area provides a unique form of support that builds the capacity of grantees to meet their missions.