PowerPoint Slide decks of what to consider when selecting an appropriate collaboration tools for your nonprofit.

1. Collaboration Solutions

2. About HandsOn Tech
HandsOn Tech is a national
AmeriCorps program funded in
partnership with:
• Google
• Points of Light Foundation
• The Corporation of National
Community service
About 501 Commons
First Stop for Nonprofits
• Technology Services
• Financial Services
• Human Resources Services
• Management Consulting
Services
For more info:
501 Commons.org

3. Most requested – information about:
• Calendaring
• Version Control
• Email featuring notifications for collaborators and reply in email
• Want a tool that all staff can use.
• Ease of use – no tutoring
• Projects in one place
Barriers:
• Money
• Adoption issues
• Existing/outdated tools
• Choosing the right tool

4. A quick exercise

5. Collaboration: Definition
 Oxford advanced Dictionary - the act of working with
another person or group of people to create or produce something It
was a collaboration that produced extremely useful results.
 Elements:
 Multiple people
 Common Goal
 Create value
 Sum of parts > whole

6. Collaboration: elements
Project
Knowledge
Mgmt
Internal / External
Access to material
Security–
Taxonomy
Governance

7. To collaborate or not?

8. What are the considerations?
 Goals
 People
 Process
 Technology

9. Is your work – Hierarchical / Process Oriented ?
Me
You Me
Someone
You
Me
someone
else
You

10. Or is it more project oriented ?

11. Collaboration Tools: Typical Features
 Unified Communications
 Calendars
 Project Management
 Workflow
 Document Management
 Versioning
 Task Management
 Social
 Wiki
 Web Publishing
 List Management – Donors, volunteers…
 Discussion lists
 Blog
 Surveys
 Time Tracking

12. So what are the attributes that affect your
decision ?
 OpenSource vs proprietary
 This is a licensing issue – Most open source are licensed by
some type of license that says you can modify and distribute
but can’t charge for original
 On Premises/ Hosted
 This distinction is where the product is installed – your server
vs. someone else’s
 SAAS/PAAS
 This distinction is more around how data is managed

13. So what drivers should you consider ?
 With all software total cost of ownership has to be
considered –
 Purchase price, license fees, Hardware, integration, support,
and internal support, training, upgrades, security, internal vs
external users….
 The most important are probably the ones you are weakest in
 if you have no budget= you can’t purchase,
 if you have no IT staff= you can’t support…
 Planning and budgeting for these investments will be essential
moving forward
 Every purchase involves some compromise – prioritize “must-
have” list

14. Current State - Proprietary
Leaders –
Microsoft Share Point,
IBM / Lotus / Domino
Google Apps
Central Desktop
Base Camp
ASANA
Teambox
Zoho
Podio

15. OpenSource Tools
 More project / task oriented
 Not as robust generally
 Require technical knowledge to set up and maintain

16. Share Point
 Comprehensive
and customizable
 Takes time & knowledge
 Integrated with O365
 Pricing

17. Google Apps
 Free (with Google Apps for Nonprofits)
 Not as easily integrated with other collaboration
solutions
 Cloud based
 Designed for “sharing”
 Google Centric

18. Basecamp
 Project oriented
 Cloud Based
 Agile development
 Not a generalized
Repository
 Limited Security
 Great for sharing
 Some calendaring
limitations
 Price: $20-150/mo

19. Asana
 Task / Project oriented
 Similar to Basecamp
 Can link to Google drive
 Lots of chrome extensions
 Price: Free (<15 members) –
$800/mo for 100 members

20. Online Meeting Tools
 WebEx
 Readytalk
 GotoMeeting
 Skype
 Lync (integrated with O365)
 Join.me

22. Resources
We can help you further!
• For info on:
o Future workshops on technological applications, social
media methods, and other topics
o Participating in a free tech assessment of your nonprofit
• Contact us: vistatech@501Commons.org