We’re pleased to share this topic on Technology for Good with you! When thinking of launching your own social good project, it’s important to consider technology during the planning process – even if your idea itself is not about technology. The purpose of this section is to provide you with an overview of how technology can help you improve your project ideas – through books, articles, videos, virtual workshops and more. We hope this information sparks new ways of thinking about technology and how important it is!
Big Ideas Summary
Technology for Good?
How will you use technology as part of your venture? Are you sharing content with peers around the world and will need to utilize the cloud or service like SkyDrive as a sharing tool? Which software will you use to create business planning and presentation documents and to track your budget? Will your phone services allow you to communicate locally and globally, or will you need to incorporate Skype into your communications platform? What technology could you add into your world that will make your work and your project more efficient?
These are just some of the questions you might ask yourself as you begin to build out your project plan and realize how technology can help you get there. Without technology, creating successful ventures is nearly impossible. Take a moment to think about the ways that technology might be a part of your project concept and how you might want to approach these needs.
Here is some recommended reading to help you learn more about technology and how it can help ideas like yours reach their full potential:
Books
Technology at the Margins – Akhtar Badshah
Microsoft's Akhtar Badshah co-authors this book focused on how to remain competitive by offering more accessible, affordable, and relevant information technologies that meet mass-market needs. Technology at the Margins demonstrates that by making IT more accessible, affordable, and relevant, new mass markets can be opened. Based on solid insights generated in key areas of health, education, finance and the environment, the book offers practical recommendations and insights from world leaders, innovators, practitioners and new users of emergent technologies.
Driving Innovation – Michael Gollin
Michael Gollin reveals the dynamics of intellectual property (IP) as it drives the innovation cycle and shapes global society. The book presents fundamental IP concepts and practical legal and business strategies that apply broadly to all innovation communities, including industry, nonprofit institutions, and developing countries. Topics include biotechnology, information technology, and entertainment. The book gives general readers and practitioners a global perspective on how the IP system balances exclusivity and public access to innovations, how it changes over time, and how it encourages, channels, and sometimes stifles innovation.
Managing Technology to Meet your Mission – NTEN
Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission is a practical resource that will help nonprofit professionals make smart, strategic decisions about technology. The book shows how to effectively manage technology and offers practical advice for decision makers and staff alike who often have little or no experience with technology. With contributions from the top experts in the nonprofit technology field, this must-have guide addresses technology planning. It includes the tools you need to get the work done, and the knowledge that will help you communicate better, evaluate technology investments, raise money, and more. Written in plain non-technical language the book covers a broad spectrum of topics.
Wired for Good: Strategic Technology Planning for Nonprofits – Joni Podolski
"Wired for Good" is a guide to strategic technology planning for nonprofit organizations--no matter how large or small. This book leads nonprofits through a planning process that will help them align their technology use with their mission and strategic goals, determine what the appropriate technology tools are to meet those goals, and how the technology will be implemented and supported over time. This essential guide also shows how to win support for a strategic technology plan within an organization, evaluate a plan's effectiveness, and help staff and other stakeholders adapt to the changes new technology will bring about. "Wired for Good" shows nonprofit professionals how to get their organization ready for the strategic technology planning process.
Articles
Below are nonprofit technology and capacity building articles that have been featured on our Microsoft Citizenship blog, and also by our partner, NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Network).
Demystifying Nonprofit IT Adoption and Innovation
A Closer Look at the Nonprofit IT Pyramid: A Framework Love Story in 4 Parts
The 2012 State of the nonprofit cloud
2012 Social Networking benchmark report
2012 eNonprofit benchmark study
Websites
TechSoup has many resources on their website that will help you learn how to strategically consider incorporating technology efficiently and effectively into your venture. Check out their Learning Center!
Twitter Accounts to Follow
@JamesRoo – James Rooney works on the Microsoft Corporate Citizenship team, focusing on Technology for Good and expanding the capacities of nonprofits throughout the global with technology.
@kanter – Beth Kanter is the author of Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media, one of the longest running and most popular blogs for nonprofits. Check out her blog to read more about Beth and her highly sought after insights!
@TechSoup – TechSoup is a longtime nonprofit partner of Microsoft that helps other nonprofits and public libraries get the technology resources they need to operate at their full potential. Learning resources - including articles, blogs, webinars, and forums led by expert hosts - are available for free to all users.
@ntenhross – Holly Ross, NTEN – Holly is the Executive Director of NTEN, which aspires to a world where all nonprofit organizations use technology skillfully and confidently to meet community needs and fulfill their missions.
@amyrsward – Amy Sample Ward, NTEN – Amy is the Membership Director at NTEN, which aspires to a world where all nonprofit organizations use technology skillfully and confidently to meet community needs and fulfill their missions.
@Deborah909 – Deborah Elizabeth Finn is a nonprofit technology strategist. She lives to bring resources and needs together.
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