By Todd Cohen
A network to deliver tech tools and know-how to nonprofits - and a philanthropic "portal" site on the Web to provide links to charitable and tech resources - are expected to begin taking shape this month.
Creating the network and portal will be the focus of sessions at and in connection with PNN's Nonprofits and Technology conference, to be held July 22-24 in San Francisco.
The emerging Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network, or N-TEN, and proposed philanthropic portal both are outgrowths of the National Strategy for Nonprofit Technology.
The National Strategy is an informal group that for a year-and-a-half has put together plans for initiatives to help nonprofits make more productive use of technology.
Having completed its work, the National Strategy will meet July 22 in San Francisco to review its final report. That morning meeting, which is expected to conclude with the National Strategy dissolving itself, will consist of the group's roughly two dozen planning partners.
The following day, PNN's conference will include a session -- open to anyone attending the conference -- that will feature a briefing on the National Strategy's final report. The report will be available to everyone attending the conference.
That Friday conference session, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., also will feature an open discussion about the need for -- and how to create -- a Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network. The network would have the job of moving ahead with a broad range of tech initiatives, including those recommended by the National Strategy.
The National Strategy's final report is expected to call for a series of initiatives to make computers, the Web and tech services more affordable and accessible to nonprofits. Those initiatives include developing:
A Web portal to identify the full range of tech resources, link nonprofits to them and to one another, and connect citizens to nonprofits.
Online tools to help nonprofits assess their tech needs, find tech resources and measure their impact.
An online marketplace, or Tech Exchange, to coordinate the donation of hardware and software -- and help ensure that nonprofits are trained to use it productively.
Community-based groups to provide tech assistance to local nonprofits -- and serve as models for other communities wanting to create such organizations.
People trained and motivated to help meet nonprofits' tech needs.
New relationships between nonprofits and high-tech companies.
The National Strategy partners also have talked about the need for a Technology Community Foundation that could play a central role in cultivating and coordinating tech support for nonprofits -- and possibly house new initiatives such as the portal, online tools and tech exchange.
On Saturday, July 24, from 8:15 a.m. to noon, a second open meeting will be held to discuss the creation of a philanthropic portal. That meeting will focus on developing a coalition that would create standards to enable nonprofits to work together more effectively on the Web.
Because N-TEN and the portal both would be rooted in collaboration and designed to strengthen philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, the July 24 portal meeting is expected to continue the N-TEN panel discussion scheduled for the previous afternoon. The common theme will be building collaboration to pursue tech initiatives.
The July 24 portal meeting also will continue portal talks that the National Strategy convened in Chicago in May. At those talks, AOL and other groups interested in a philanthropic portal began discussing how such a Web site might work.
AOL is building a philanthropic portal it plans to launch before the end of the year, possibly sooner. AOL's portal will focus both on consumers looking for ways to serve, volunteer for and contribute to nonprofits -- and on resources that nonprofits can use to strengthen themselves as organizations.
AOL says it will work closely with nonprofits and other organizations to help design the portal and make it work.
The National Strategy has taken a lot of heat for not including in its discussions over the past 18 months the full range of groups deeply involved in nonprofit tech work -- and for not spelling out who should be responsible for taking on the tech initiatives it is proposing, and for making them work.
The talks this month in San Francisco offer a chance for interested groups to help create a tech network and philanthropic portal that can be powerful resources for the sector.
Participants in those talks also can help ensure that the tech network and portal are truly collaborative, reflecting the diverse range of groups involved in nonprofit tech work. And participants can help ensure that the new network and portal are developed with a clear understanding about who's responsible for making them work.
The San Francisco talks simply mark the beginning of the tough job of working together to develop tech initiatives to help nonprofits do a better job of serving our communities.
Those who are interested but cannot attend the San Francisco meetings still can participate on an ongoing basis.
For information on the National Strategy, contact Rob Stuart at rstuart@rffund.org. For information on the portal meeting, contact Richard Civille at rciville@civicnet.org. To register for the PNN's Nonprofits and Technology conference, visit the conference Web site at http://conference.pj.org.
Todd Cohen can be reached at
tcohen@mindspring.com
