The Art of Learning About Nonprofit Software

Recently, a colleague of mine had asked my assistance in identifying software vendors for nonprofits….and although I was able to help him somewhat (with further follow-up to come). it started me thinking about a central question….just how and where do nonprofits decide to purchase software?

For me, it was easy – I had always worked with computers as a hobby, so a casual Google search and/or reaching out to like minded people wasn’t that much of a challenge. But for other nonprofit workers, it can be a bit of a challenge. Sure, there are the usual suspects –Raiser’s Edge, CivicCRM, Salesforce, and various others – and some major companies like Microsoft offer incentives for nonprofits – but it can be a very daunting task.

Most of the time, learning about new software comes through networking – learning about nonprofit software vendors seems vast. Much of it consists of learning about who’s talking about nonprofit
tech. Bloggers like Beth Kanter often focus on taking a more tech-minded approach to non-profits, but in Chicago, we have a variety of opportunities to meet with others and learn more about software.

(It also helps that G2Crowd, a local startup, is working towards becoming a “Yelp for business software”. Recently, I had been invited to participate and leave reviews, and the site is very impressive. In fact, it’s more like Glassdoor
than Yelp – it takes a considered approach towards reviews, and most of them are thoughtful, considerate, and easy to understand).

But for most of us, learning about software and tech tools is a key step towards digital excellence, using digital tools (both hardware and software) to drive community development. In that regard, there are two
upcoming events that you might want to consider attending in the next few weeks:

• Greater Southwest Development Corporation and Blue Ocean Logic are co-sponsoring a series of “Tech Thursday” trainings on Thursday mornings throughout September at Daley College. For a list of
  available sessions and to RSVP, please visit the Tech Thursday site.
• Smart Chicago is starting a “Chicago School of Data” to help nonprofits and other like-minded organizations better utilize the data they collect. There is an online survey for people who are interested, and there will be a free two-day conference on September 19 – 20 at Willis Tower. For RSVP details, please visit their Eventbrite page (and seats are limited)
• Finally, Chicago Net Tuesday is holding a session on nonprofit digital storytelling at Overflow Coffee House on September 30th. For more information and to RSVP, please visit their Meetup page.

Learning about software might not be easy, but there is an art to knowing where to find the information. In the next few weeks, there will be ample opportunity to connect and learn about all kinds of online tools, as well as develop online skills and foster connections. I know I’ll be making these events in the future….and I hope to see you there.

Any other resources you can think of? Any organizations in the Chicago area that are striving to educate nonprofits on tech matters? Please feel free to mention them in the comments below. You can also subscribe to regular blog updates via our Facebook page, and you can always subscribe via e-mail. If you want to contact me directly, you’re more than welcome to do so via this blog’s About page.

As always, thanks for reading!

And as always, thanks for reading!

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