Final briefing - Business Volunteers United, Cleveland, OH - Nonprofit resource for information technology best practices

1. BVU Center for
Excellence in
Information
Technology for
Nonprofits
Update for
July 2018
Dan Yurman
Encore Fellow

2. Mission Statement
The purpose
of the BVU
Center of
Excellence is
to support
capacity
building for
nonprofits in
Cleveland /
Northeast
Ohio in two
ways.
Focus efficient and cost effective
investments in and use of information
technologies to support program
operations and outcomes.
Enable transformation of programs and
organizational results through innovative
investments in and use of information
technologies.
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3. Initiation
Phase
Completed
September 2017
• Briefing on program
design and execution
• Obtain buy-in from BVU
management on strategic
direction
• Kick-off detailed planning
effort

4. Planning
Phase
Completed
December 2017
• Conduct a survey of 250+ nonprofits in
northeast Ohio on IT management
issues. (October 2017)
• Complete a report on the Ohio survey,
and contrast it with similar data from a
national survey of 250+ nonprofits.
(November 2017)
• Key takeaway – nearly one-third (30%)
of nonprofits are failing to reap the
benefits of automating business
processes or innovating with IT to
transform their operations.

5. Development
Phase
(Completed May 2018)
• Voice of the Customer analysis of
needs of nonprofits for IT best
practices consulting services
(November 2017)
• Product Requirements Document
focused on target markets
(December 2017)
• Pricing analysis of potential
products, services (January 2018)
• Business models alternatives white
paper (January 2018)
• Technology assessment self-
scoring checklist, templates, and
pro-forma project plan. (April 2018)

6. Development
Deliverables
Completed
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• Product Requirements Document
• Business Case Alternatives
White Paper
• Pricing of Products & Services
• Voice of the Customer / Pain Points
Report
• Technology Self-Assessment Self-
Scoring Worksheet
• Donor Management Acquisition and
Use Guidance
• Board Portal Software Acquisition
and Use Guidance

7. Nonprofit
Information
Technology
Pain Points 1
Key
Gaps
Need to use strategic planning to
drive IT priorities into the budget
and operational plans of the
nonprofit
Achieve real value from donor &
membership management
software, e.g., ROI or bang-for-
the-buck
Make IT spending visible as a line
item, track & control costs, and
measure ROI for IT investments
Allocate resources to train staff to
make effective use of the
nonprofit’s HW & SW
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8. Nonprofit
Information
Technology
Pain Points 2
Key
Gaps
Establishing a robust cyber-
security program and actionable
business continuity plan
Developing policies & procedures
for use of IT / social media
capabilities
Having a quality assurance effort
for service level agreements with
vendors, consultants
Having on ongoing technology
assessment effort to promote
productivity and program
outcomes
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9. Shadow IT
Governance
Issues
#1: Substandard development outside
of enterprise IT governance, budgets
and project management
#2: Over-reliance on cloud provider
security without two factor
authentication
#3: Unsecured shadow file storage in
end-user personal accounts; Google
Drive, OneDrive, etc.
#4: Unsecured shadow mobility;
“bring your own device” can mean
bring your own malware
#5: Use of pre-hacked portable drives,
corrupted USB sticks on enterprise
systems
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10. Nonprofit IT Best Practices
Where They Shine and Where They Don’t
Best Practices All numbers expressed as percent of total
Practice Area Never Rarely Maybe Often Always
Includes IT in NP Strategic Plan 4 11 29 29 27
IT Staff involved in strategic plan 7 14 23 28 28
Strategic plan to improve admin efficiency 0 9 29 39 22
Strategic plan to improve client services 0 29 42 22 7
Benchmark best practices 1 16 36 32 15
Business process to set IT priorities 4 15 36 29 18
Total cost of doing business ROI 6 21 27 32 14
Use of Consultants 4 19 34 33 10
Use of volunteers 4 32 37 17 11
Support for staff training 1 11 31 36 20
Averages 3 18 32 30 17
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11. Product
Requirements
1
• Key Market Segment – Nonprofits with
budgets of less than $2 million
• List developed of topical areas for
product development, consulting
services, etc. Based on “pain points”
analysis
• Rolldown of specific opportunities for
each topical area, e.g., consulting,
training, facilitating, mentoring, etc.
• Pricing of consulting work scope for
each product / service opportunity in
terms of skill mix and hours

12. Product
Requirements
2
List of Topical Areas
• Strategic Planning
• Budgeting & Cost Control
• Policies & Procedures
• Quality Assurance
• Staff Training
• Cyber Security & Business
Continuity
• Hardware/Software Technology
Assessments

13. Product
Requirements
3
List of Topical Areas – Continued
• Donor Mgt / Fund Raising Software
• Membership/Client Mgt Software
• Integration of Social Media with
Membership Management, Fund
Raising and Development
• Board Portal Software
• Donor Management Software
• Service Level Agreements
• Project Management

14. Priorities for
Product /
Service
Deployment
• Tech assessments / hardware &
software audits
• Donor & membership
management and board portal
guidance on software acquisition
and effective use
• Use of project management
processes, tools, software, to
manage nonprofit IT services
• Cybersecurity & business
continuity planning

15. Alternative
Business
Models
• Service Center for basic IT services,
support, based on a combination of
subscription membership and fee for
service.
• Center for Innovation to support
“sandboxes” to explore innovations in
use of IT and to share results with other
nonprofits.
• Pro-Bono consulting through
engagement of BVU business members
to provide specific support for limited
focus deliverables.

16. Collaboration
with National
& Local
Centers of
Excellence
• Collaborate with national centers of IT
excellence for nonprofits such as Tech
Impact, NTEN, Etc.
• Refer NP to free or low cost solutions
online such as templates, worksheets,
business process flow advice, etc.
• Use BVU Pro-bono consultants for
specific engagements
• Revitalize Tech4Good user group to
sponsor speakers, webinars, and related
types of events

17. Delivery
Mechanisms
(short list)
Technology
assessments
on-site
Training using
local and
national assets
Webinars
Pro-bono
consulting
Hotline referrals
to commercial
vendors
Others ad hoc
as needed
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18. Future Product Requirements Efforts 1
• This is primarily a staffing issue, but even with
technical talent onboard, nonprofit managers must
conduct oversight and evaluation of the quality of
the work performed and the results achieved by IT
staff.
• Topics will include setting quality assurance and
work performance objectives for IT technical staff
that relate to organizational priorities and planned
outcomes. Use of project management tools and
software.
• Address the question of how non-technical
nonprofit managers can develop transactional
trust with vendors through use of service level
agreements.
Address the stress
experienced by
non-technical
nonprofit
managers in
managing IT assets
and demand for
services.
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19. Future Product Requirements 2
• This is an enterprise issue and involves
the fiduciary responsibilities of senior
management and the board.
• It is a significant management challenge
for any nonprofit.
Address issue of how
nonprofits can
leverage IT software
for file and records
management,
especially for records
required by the
government, such as
payroll & taxes, client
services paid for by
local / state / federal
funds, etc.
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20. Look
Ahead
• Conduct test cases using
technology assessment templates
to validate product requirements
and pricing plans
• Develop assessments of future
product requirements
opportunities

21. Caveats
What
BVU
isn’t
doing
No technical “hands-on” or direct IT work on-site
nor via remote access
No web development nor software development
of any kind
No “hands-on” management of HW/SW/Services
RFPs for nonprofits
No “hands-on” work for policies, procedures,
cyber security or business continuity
No IT governance work on behalf of organizations’
boards
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22. More Information?
Dan Yurman
Encore Fellow
Business Volunteers United
1300 E. 9th Street, Suite 1805
Cleveland, OH 44115
Office: 216-736-7711
Mobile: 216-218-3823
dyurman@bvuvolunteers.org
dan.Yurman@usa.net
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