Background

Because information is at the heart of what most nonprofit organizations do, information technology plays an increasingly essential role. Some nonprofits exist solely or primarily to gather, digest, and distribute information, while others gather, track, and provide information about what they do in order to engage and sustain sponsors and supporters. Most use technology to handle essential infrastructure ... keeping membership lists, receiving and tracking donations, and so on. All nonprofits need some level of technology. It would not be unreasaboe to speculate that some could not exist without it.

With withering budget cuts by state and local governments, massive downward adjustments in federal and state spending and significantly reduced public financial support, nonprofits must take steps to weather the financial storm. Added to this economic downturn is the seeming reduction of household incomes which adversely affect individual donations.

At the same time, the service demands on nonprofits have measurably increased. More people are turning to nonprofits for assistance. Here are some of the facts revealed in the " 2018 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey" the following results emergtated. These statistics were complied from responses from 3,400 nonptogiy leaders aross all 50 states and a wide range ofsizes and missions:

There are ways that the nonprofit can address the funding shortfall and increase services demands. They can include, for example, a reduction of their services and/or the number of clients served, release paid staff, combine or partner with organizations having similar or complementary missions.

One area having potential benefit to leverage existing resources is the use of information technology (IT). A review of the literature shows that nonprofits most continue to assess the extent to which they have integrated IT into administrative functions and the delivery of program services. They recognize that more could be done with IT. Lack of funding, time, and expertise are some of the barriers preventing nonprofits from harnessing the full potential of this technology.

To address this situation Nonprofit IT Resources offers these options:

Nonprofit IT Resources continually updates a catalog of no-cost or low-cost software and IT services from which to choose. Any selection should be preceded by an analysis of the organization's mission, operating plans, and IT specifications. This will ensure a proper "match" between needs and matching resources. These resources may either be used "in the cloud" or installed and operated on the client's resident computing resource, e.g., personal computer "on the deskktop."

Nonprofit IT Resources will assist in the creation of a website with no-cost hosting and support software using cloud computing. Training for a limited time is provided as the client is expected to eventualy assume the website's maintenance. This will permit the client to change the website as their requirements change and, at the same time, allow the Nonprofit IT Resources staff to assist new clients. Examples of previous website creation and support may be found "at the website."

All organizations wishing to receive assistance from Nonprofit IT Resources must be recognized as a tax-exempt organization by the Internal Revenue Service. Click here for addition information published by the Internal Revenue Service regarding eligibilit