Introduction

"There is a very real risk of the nonprofit community being left out of the information revolution."

Technology has become a critical part of organizational effectiveness and businesses are making large investments in this area to stay competitive in today’s market. Non-profits, however, are just beginning to understand the importance of investing and planning around technology. Non-profit organizations make up one of the most important and fastest growing sectors in society, serving a growing need that has not been filled by the government. Yet their ability to fulfill their mission is hobbled by 1) a poor understanding of how technology can improve their organizational reach and efficiency, 2) a lack of resources and 3) a lack of trained staff. Technology in the nonprofit sector is a very timely topic with organizations, funders and the companies in the technology sector all addressing this subject in various ways recent months. The Philanthropy Journal Online has spotlighted this issue in series of articles this year, and the National Strategy for Nonprofit Technology (NSNT), a new collaboration between funders, companies and non-profits, just released a report in mid-April outlining technology needs for nonprofit organizations.

High tech firms in particular, have the opportunity to demonstrate their leadership in the social sector by addressing this issue. There are many possible partnerships between high tech firms and the non-profit sector to address this growing need. This project highlights some possible solutions that high tech firms of various sizes and types are offering to non-profits to create win-win solutions.