Broadband for ALL

I spent an afternoon last month at LifeSTARTS: Youth and Family Services, a terrific nonprofit that provides mentoring and other programs to over 5,000 youth per year “East of the River" in Washington, DC and in Prince George’s County. (Full disclosure: Curtis Watkins, President of LifeSTARTS, is on our board.) However, this letter has less to do with my relationship with Curtis and more to do with my concern about the unequal access to technology across our region. I was struck (again) during our discussion when Curtis mentioned that they continue to struggle with Internet connectivity - not because they can’t pay for it, but because of where they are located.

In a new blog post, our Technology Director, Ben Hendricks talks about how important it is for every nonprofit to have a reliable connection to the Internet and an accountable and dependable Internet Service Provider (ISP). But what do you do when you can’t get a good connection in your neighborhood? It’s a real problem.

Regardless of geography, nonprofits need affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet to:

• Provide online programming;
• Access data;
• Do advocacy;
• Conduct research on funders;
• Submit online grant applications;
• Attract and retain talented staff; and
• Much more…

On May 1 we will open the online application for the fourth annual Technology Innovation Award (TIA). The TIA recognizes nonprofits whose innovative use of technology is enabling them to achieve greater impact in our community.

Are you using technology to improve your fundraising, membership or advocacy results or enhance operational performance? If so, you’ll want to check us out. Four finalists will present their innovations to our esteemed panel of judges which includes CIOs and other local tech leaders. Thanks to our generous sponsors, two winners will each receive consulting and software valued at $40,000!

Want to learn about the Award, who can apply, important dates to remember, and get tips about what the judges are looking for? Sign up for one of our FREE webinars on the application process.

Determining whether or not to hire a fulltime IT staff member is a tricky question.

This paper from our sister-organization, NPower NY, provides a good overview of things you should consider when making technology staffing decisions.

Broadband for ALL

Every organization must have a reliable connection to the Internet with an accountable and dependable Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Continue reading.

Missed Benchmarks 1,2, and 3?