By Shane Thacker

Good planning makes for good technology. That is the advice one hears over and over when researching and writing about the world of technology funding.

In a world where the pace of technological change seems to grow faster every day, it is far too easy for an organization to find itself controlled by, rather than controlling, change.

Possibly the best way to prevent that outcome is for an organization to put a strong emphasis on assessing its needs and planning the ways it wants to integrate technology into its future.

Knowing how to go about that "best way", though, can be difficult, given the desire to satisfy both the future needs of the organization and any funders that the organization might wish to approach.

However, help is available. Assisting nonprofits down that path of assessment and planning is one of the primary goals of many nonprofit technical assistance providers. These organizations help thousands of nonprofits a year with their technical problems and technological development, and the people working at them know the value of a good tech plan.

To find out more about that value, as well as get some helpful advice on how to go about assessment and planning, we called up ONE/Northwest -- an organization that provides just the kind of technical assistance we're looking for to conservation organizations in the Northwest.

Knowing where you are

Assessing one's technology and planning for its future go hand in hand, according to Denise Joines, the organization's executive director. It isn't particularly fruitful for an organization to plan its technological future without having some idea of the tools it already has.

"In order to know where you need to go, you need to know where you are," Joines says.

However, while Joines says assessment can be a painless process -- since organizations simply need to go around and enumerate their technical resources -- she points out that organizations must have some idea of where they want to go. Otherwise, an assessment doesn't really do anything.

One goal that ONE/Northwest staffers suggest to the nonprofits they work with is "desktop access to e-mail and the Web for every staff member," which they considers to be crucial in these Net-centric times, Joines says.

From that, the organization often suggests the nonprofits who come for help work their way back, going back to the level of technology they actually have and seeing how far away and what steps need to be performed to get to the goal.

For instance, if desktop Internet access is the nonprofit's goal, then the first step back from that is to ask whether or not the organization has a Local Area Network (LAN), that connects all of its computers. LANs can be hooked up to the Internet, providing everyone with access.

If the organization does not have a LAN that connects to every computer, then it needs to look at its computers. Do they have the right equipment and capabilities to be connected to a network? On and on the nonprofit goes, until it stops at the level of technology it currently has. Taking a look at the steps they have compiled, the staff can then begin to make plans on how to close the gap between reality and their desired future.

This sort of process -- establishing a clear goal and writing out exactly how to get from here to there -- can help keep nonprofits from wandering off the path that will allow them to develop their technology successfully.

One thing that organizations have to remember, says Joines, is that "technology for technology's sake is useless." In other words, acquiring new technology without having a clear idea of how it -- and it alone -- can solve the problem most efficiently wastes the nonprofit's resources.

"There are a lot of different ways of doing things with technology," Joines says, emphasizing that sometimes organizations can solve their problems through the technology they already have, or through less-than-cutting edge tech.

Knowing where you need to go

Planning can give an organization the keys to controlling its future. However, on a more pragmatic level, a good plan can give an organization the keys to getting the funding to pay for the plan.

One of the most valuable parts of having a coherent technology plan, Joines says, is the nonprofit's ability to present it to possible donors or funding sources.

Having a plan that spells out the steps a nonprofit plans to take, along with how it expects to accomplish them, can help sell the proposal to a funder. If it looks like an organization knows what its doing, people will be more likely to give them the money they need to do it.

A well-thought-out plan shows funders that the organization is really "thinking forward," Joines says. It also can show a funder that the nonprofit knows how to make the most efficient use of staff and resources to accomplish its primary mission.

Plans are valuable for more than just getting funding, however. A good plan becomes one of the guiding documents for an organization's direction, Joines says. By laying out the specific steps the organization must take to get to its goal, a plan can keep it firmly on its path.

When it comes to moving from the assessment process into the planning phase, Joines recommends any nonprofit that is worried about its ability to actually put together a coherent technology plan find some help in its community.

"We are all over the place," says Joines, referring to technical assistance providers like her own organization. She also recommends that nonprofits look for others who might be willing to help and have the best interests at heart, like a board member who knows a lot about technology.

However, no matter how well-written or how much assistance the nonprofit gets, Joines says, a good technology plan won't be worth much unless it takes the future into account.

"Organizations have to plan for growth and plan for changes in technology," Joines says. A good plan should be "scalable," she says, meaning that it -- along with the technology it recommends -- can adjust easily to changes in the size and/or activity of the organization.

Knowing what to do

Assessment and planning can lead to great things for nonprofits that wish to grow, but only if needs and goals are brought in as the foundations of the process.

A good technology plan builds on the past and constructs the future, while recognizing the limitations inherent in inflexibility. While it can seem difficult now, the possible rewards -- including better funding applications and efficiency in growth -- are well worth the time and learning involved.

While even the assessment phase can seem difficult for non-tech-savvy nonprofits, it is important to remember that there is usually help available somewhere. In today's wired world, there is usually going to be some help available, even if it is at a distance.

As mentioned in this series' previous installment, the National Strategy for Nonprofit Technology, ONE/Northwest and the Benton Foundation all have useful tools for do-it-yourselfers, and there are entire organizations devoted to helping their fellow nonprofits out with their technical knowledge needs.

In the next installment of Tech Funding, we are going to move on into the nuts and bolts of a good technology plan and learn suggested ways to put the future down on paper.

This article is the third in a continuing PNN series on technology funding. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please contact Shane Thacker at shanethack@mindspring.com or call him at (919)899-3746.