By Richard Zorza
It's time for nonprofits to get beyond using the Internet to talk about their mission and to start using it to carry out their mission. Nonprofits are finally waking up to the fact that they can "get the word out" over the Internet about their work, but all too few are actually delivering services to their clients or using the technology to solve real-life problems.
This is long overdue. The private sector is selling "product," providing access to information about deliveries, providing advertising services and arranging delivery of "product." All we do is put up informational Web sites that say how wonderful we are.
The vision is simple. Every nonprofit that delivers a service should be asking how that service can be provided over the Internet. Every group with a constituency should be figuring out what that constituency needs and delivering the answers directly, not just talking about it.
Examples: Domestic violence victims in two states not only get information about where to go to court, but can access highly individualized documents printed online that they file in court to obtain protective orders; people making the transition from welfare to work get actual job listings and referrals; tenants facing eviction in New York City will soon be able to get the court answer documents they need to avoid eviction.
Other possibilities: The hungry could order from a food pantry; parents could assess their child's developmental status and learn about appropriate interventions; community orchestras could deliver their music electronically. The list is endless.
The main justification for delay in all of this is the claim that the clients of nonprofits do not have access to the technology. And there currently is a digital divide. But with cable and power modem technology creating competition in Internet access, we have to start thinking about this as if it were cable TV - it's in almost every home. If we fail to plan and prototype for this new world, we will be like the organizations (and surely there were some) that refused to embrace the telephone 120 years ago.
In future columns I will discuss the planning process that nonprofits need to follow in order to start the process of engaging the world of e-service to their clients.
Richard Zorza is vice president for technology at the Fund for the City of New York.
