TechFoundation

Session designed by Deb Finn, Third Sector New England

Free or Cheap Web-based Organizing and Collaboration Tools

 Most nonprofit organizations should consider using web-based tools for collaboration and community organizing.  Free advice, products, and services make it possible for you to lower the risk of trying new these new tools - but in the long run you'll have to raise the money to have precisely the right tools for supporting your mission.  Before you go to funders with a proposal, you can use the free and cheap tools to run pilot tests.  With solid documentation about how your stakeholders respond to web-based communications, you’ll be able to make a much more creditable case for your proposed budget.  This session will help you get started.

Top 3 Takeaways:

1.   You will have an overview of some free and cheap web-based tools that are useful to nonprofit organizations.

2.   You will have a general understanding of how to gauge whether a web-based tool is suitable for your nonprofit organization's specific needs.

3.   You will have some ideas for implementing low-cost pilot projects that will make your case for investing in more sophisticated web-based tools.

Training methodology:  Seminar (a presentation with discussion) 

Deborah Elizabeth Finn, Third Sector New England

Deborah Elizabeth Finn is a self-described Cyber-Yenta, who lives only to bring resources and needs together in the nonprofit sector.  She does this mostly by helping nonprofit organizations to use information and communication technologies to support their missions.  She uses her blog, “Technology for the Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sector,” to make information and advice available at no charge to mission-based organizations; you can read it at www.cyber-yenta.org .  You are welcome to contact her through Third Sector New England at <dfinn@tsne.org> or to email her at <deborah_elizabeth_finn@post.harvard.edu>.