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Title: A Pyramid Scheme for Technology: How to identify your IT needs and get money for them
Source:Stanford Social Innovation Review, Spring 2007
Author: Zach Goldstein & Theresa M. Ellis
Website: http://www.ssireview.org/
When Tom Hamel became the director of operations for Generations Inc, the literacy nonprofit was poised to expand its programs by 600 percent. It was finally time to get rid of the poster board on the wall where staff had been recording student-mentor matches. Generations Incorporated needed a database.
But that was the least of its technology worries. Office computers were painfully slow and ridden with viruses. Staff members had resorted to printing every document in fear that their computers would crash. The organization spent many precious man-hours troubleshooting. “We were fighting fires when we should have been freeing people up to work on what they know best: our programs,” says Hamel.
Founded in 2000 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Common Impact develops and implements skills-based volunteering programs that pair business professionals from leading companies with high-potential local nonprofits addressing crucial after-school, housing, and community health care needs. Through its innovative model, Common Impact channels untapped resources into the nonprofit sector and fosters relationships that bridge the for-profit and nonprofit worlds.
Since its founding in 2000, Common Impact has worked with leading companies including Fidelity Investments, BEA Systems, CA, Cisco Systems, and State Street Corporation, achieving a 7:1 social return on investment.
For more information, please contact Lesley Edwards, Vice President of Partnerships, Common Impact (e-mail: ledwards@commonimpact.org, phone: 617-868-1014).
