This past week I met with Jeff Forster of the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management and learned about some interesting research they've done on nonprofits and IT planning and infrastructure.

The Bayer Center, at Robert Morris University in Pittsburg, conducted this summer their fourth biennial survey. This summer 2006 survey was their largest ever, covering 285 nonprofits across a range of sectors - human services, education, community development, and others - in the region around Pittsburgh, PA. Their works shows some increased use of and effectiveness with IT, but also continuing challenges in smaller nonprofits. Many groups are using database solutions for common business needs like client management, fundraising, and outcomes management - but more often small custom solutions than off-the-shelf- (or off the web) solutions. On the upside - it seems that foundation proposals that contain significant IT investments fare well!

Their survey is more descriptive than analytic, but they conclude:

What do we conclude six years into examining these trends? The survey data indicate that the technology infrastructure available to most nonprofits has improved significantly overall. That said, the report points out several places in which the curve is not inexorably upward. In addition, there is a difference between having the infrastructure and being able to make good use of it. At the intersection of technology, information and good decision-making, there are still some low-hanging fruit and some persistent, complex challenges.

And...

If good management begets good technology, then the best technology planning grows from a basis of broader strategic planning. In fact, without a firm grasp on the organization’s strategic direction, there is little chance of developing a relevant technology plan.

Some of their findings:

-Nearly 60% of the organizations who replied to the survey have total annual organizational budgets of less than $1 million.

-20% have a technology plan within their strategic plan or as a separate plan - the other 60% do no tech planning (and some even report no strategic plan - yikes!) (see image below).

-38% of respondents had included tech costs in a foundation proposal.

-Of those foundation proposals, 75% had the tech portion funded. More than half of them received the full amount requested.

-The proposals that were most often funded "in full" were 100% technology proposals.

-A key finding from the original survey was that the existence of a board technology committee was highly correlated with best practices in technology management.

-Managing client information often drives organizations to use a custom database solution (built in Access or FileMaker for example) because the combination of reporting requirements and the development of new programs make it difficult to meet all needs through off-the-shelf software.

You can read more about the survey and download the full results on their web site.

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