Fundraising Day in New York June 23, 2006

I love these conferences--tons of great people getting together to talk about fundraising. I'm heading over the Nonprofit Technology talk at 9:50.

One of the problems I see with nonprofits and technology--and I'll speak from a nonprofit volunteer perspective--is we try to fix problems with the assumption that technology is the key. I don't think it is -- not at all. And I'm a software guy who believes anything is possible through programming.

But start from the beginning: what are you trying to accomplish? What results do you want to achieve? What are the outcomes you'd like? Define that, then work back from that to define the how, and question the how along the way:

• is this the most efficient way of doing it?
• does an efficiency gain in one place create inefficiencies elsewhere?
• Where can we make process improvements?
• If we challenge every assumption, what new things do we learn?
• what can we automate? Not merely because we can, but because it makes us the most efficient or most productive.
• If we automate thorugh technology, what are the training implications?

Challenging assumptions has been a major part of our sustainability efforts within the company. We assume nonprofits want a printed receipt. But consider the cost of the paper to us and the environment. Consider the time it takes to process the receipt and order. The cost of mailing, the diesel fuel to get it delivered. Can we simply email the receipt? I think so.

We assume customers want written help, want guides, and want a manual. We were going to print one, but then felt it was better to not print on at all. Except our customers -- many of them--like a printed manual instead of an on-screen one. So they end up printing the manual out on their own paper, using their own ink and time, and, I believe, likely not in the most sustainable way.

So we're going to print the manual so we can control the environmental impact, and do it in a sustainable way. We'll use some sort of 100% post-consumer recycled, or hemp, or something with low impact.

So I'm headed off to the next session. Enjoy your day!