Cloud-Based Solution Helps Non-Profit Keep Pace with Growth and Save Money

Girls on the Run of Northern Virginia is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and preparing girls ages eight to thirteen for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living.  As part of the Girls on the Run International network, this innovative program combines training for a 5k running event with self-esteem enhancing lessons that encourage positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development. Supported by program fees and individual and corporate donations, Girls on the Run of Northern Virginia (GOTRNOVA) maintains an annual operating budget of $800,000.

Since 2001, GOTRNOVA grew from serving two schools with 27 girls to serving 170 schools with over 6,000 girls. However, the existing technology GOTRNOVA used was not adequate to support the organization’s tremendous growth. Their simple email system was unreliable, forcing staff to use personal email accounts to communicate. Additionally, there was no central repository for files and other data resources forcing the staff to rely heavily on email to share information.

Recognizing that their current technology infrastructure was unsustainable, GOTRNOVA engaged NPower to determine how to cost-effectively meet their current and future technology needs. NPower quickly determined that a traditional server environment would be too costly to deploy and maintain and that GOTRNOVA could “leap-frog” traditional technology by deploying Google Apps. This would offer GOTRNOVA a more stable and reliable email system and enhanced groupware functionality such as shared calendaring, a feature they identified as a critical. Google Apps also provided an Intranet platform to provide an effective way of organizing and disseminating information internally and with its large volunteer base.

GOTRNOVA saved approximately $7,500 in hardware and software cost investment by moving to Google Apps. They now have a reliable email and groupware platform that is available via mobile devices; and, the Intranet deployment provided a much needed central repository for information sharing between staff and volunteers improving overall efficiency and productivity. Since the platform is completely Internet-based, it is available from anywhere at any time so staff can work efficiently from a remote location just as if they were in the office. With a full-time staff of four employees and up to 10 part-time staff and consultants who work seasonally, Google Docs proved very useful for collaborating and sharing documents and spreadsheets and Google Sites provides a central place for capturing consultant’s work.