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Meeting the Mission With IT
Finding the right software is an ongoing challenge, says Quinn. In an Idealware survey of 261 nonprofits, only 58% of respondents say that their organization has the right tools. Several vendors have identified the nonprofit market niche and offer products like CiviCRM, open source software that is designed to help nonprofits manage fundraising campaigns and recruit and communicate with members.
At the same time, Quinn says that integrated CRM offerings from Salesforce.com have gained traction among nonprofits. She says that several consultants have standardized on Salesforce.com and are creating plug-ins and configurations that are tailored to the needs of nonprofits.
Nonprofit CIOs say that Web 2.0 is particularly exciting because it enables two-way engagement among advocates who are working on the same cause, such as poverty. Blogs and wikis do more than build community; users create content for free, and nonprofits can generate buzz. Nonprofits can use these tools "to contribute to a body of knowledge" or "get collective muscle behind advocacy," Bolgiano says.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a Switzerland-based conservation group with $127 million in revenue and more than 5 million members, has been adept at mining its constituent data. "I don't push out any IT project -- other than infrastructure -- that doesn't tie into one or more of the organizational goals set at the CEO level," says CIO Greg Smith.
WWF uses software from SAS to analyze the performance of its online, email and direct-mail fundraising campaigns. With more than 60% of operating revenue coming from contributions, Smith takes business intelligence seriously. "We're not running Tinker-toy BI tools here," he says. "We're running great stuff that gets business results."
The WWF has targeted 19 priority locations for conservation efforts; Smith says IT's job is to help deliver results in these places. "We have large teams of people working in remote geographic locations such as the Galapagos Islands. We utilize a secure Web portal with collaboration software to share information." WWF employees in the field also have PDAs for wireless access to email systems.
At LifeLink, Rhon is also looking to facilitate remote operations. When organs become available for donation, medical facilities are increasingly notified electronically as well as by phone. Rhon plans to equip physicians with tablet PCs so they can receive notifications quickly and collect clinical information at a patient's bedside. And despite the constraints of a limited budget, Rhon likens his role to that of a steward entrusted with the well-being of his organization. Thie agrees. "The most important thing," he says, is to focus on goals and identify tools that "lead to a solution."
Megan Santosus, a former senior editor at CIO Decisions, is now a features editor for SearchDataCenter.com. Write to her at msantosus@techtarget.com.
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