closing the nonprofit technology divide...• windows backup to external drive • google apps: 30...

CLOSING THE NONPROFIT TECHNOLOGY DIVIDE

MADISON NONPROFIT DAY – 2015

PRESENTERS: LAUREN KIELISZEWSKI & ALYSSA KENNEY

Tips and Tools to Help Nonprofits Close the Gap

ABOUT DANENET

• DANEnet is a nonprofit that provides technology solutions and support for other nonprofits.

• DANEnet partners with community organizations to enhance the technology content in their programs. DANEnet programs reach out to people who might not have access. Maker Clubs, Girls Who Code, Raspberry Pi, BYOC

• DANEnet works to help close the digital divide in Dane County

THE NONPROFIT DIGITAL DIVIDE• The digital divide is the inequality in given populations in their access to, use

of, or knowledge of information and communication technologies.

• Nonprofits spend about 1% of their budget on IT compared with 3% for business

• Nonprofits have little opportunity to make larger one–time investments for capacity or overhead projects.

• Nonprofits with IT staff or IT staff allocation often have “accidental techies”

• Nonprofits often rely on volunteers for free advice

1. ANTI-YUCK (VIRUS, SPYWARE, MALWARE)

Best Practices

Run some version of antivirus software & keep it up-to-date

Keep your Operating System up-to-date

Stop using Windows XP or Windows Server 2003

Even Better Practices

Stop paying for features you don’t need/use

Install a spyware removal tool now

Software is your last line of defense (the user is the first!)

PRO TIPS, MORE TOOLS & RESOURCES • Check out www.techsoup.org for low cost

options

• For FREE options – try out BitDefender or AVG

• Use a Mac!

2. UPDATE THE RIGHT STUFF

Best Practices

Keep software up to date

Control administrative access

Update on a regular schedule


Remove old or unused apps

Evaluate before installing

Lean & Mean Computing Machines

PRO TIPS, MORE TOOLS & RESOURCES • Ninite and PDQ-Deploy

• Read all the screens in an install wizard

3. SECURITY

Best Practices

Control access to resources

Use unique and strong passwords

Make intentional decisions about access


Change your passwords regularly

Two factor authentication

Minimize your attack surface

PRO TIPS, MORE TOOLS & RESOURCES • Keep recovery information up to date

• Be savvy and suspicious

• http://www.google.com/intl/ga/goodtoknow/online-safety/

• Use a password manager

4. SELECTING THE RIGHT (AFFORDABLE) SOFTWARE

Best Practices

Evaluate your needs

Assess current software

Market research

Do a trial, test scenarios


Figure out the Return on Investment (ROI), disruption, frustration and opportunity are real costs

Consider Open Source

PRO TIPS, MORE TOOLS & RESOURCES • www.techsoup.org/

• www.nonprofitmatrix.com/

• www.idealware.org

• socialsourcecommons.org/

5. MAKING SENSE OF MICROSOFT

Best Practices

Hardware can support the OS

Use a supported version Do the updates regularly

Install what you need, remember what you have

Even Better Practices Test upgrades on a single machine Invest in staff training so people can fully utilize new products

Make sure products are authentic and activated

PRO TIPS, MORE TOOLS & RESOURCES

• Office 365 (with web applications) is free to non-profits, offering 25GB for email, calendar and contact hosting + 1TB cloud storage user.

• Windows 10 is available after July 29th, 2015

• All Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are eligible for a free upgrade until July, 29th 2016

6. INTERNET CONNECTION

Best Practices

Get you own Internet connection

Understand the basics of your network


Don’t sign long contracts

Keep long term needs in mind

Types of connections: Dial Up – DSL – T1 – Wireless – Cable – Fiber

Bandwidth (measured in bits per second): Kilo (10^3) – Mega (10^6) – Giga (10^9) – Tera (10^12)

PRO TIPS, MORE TOOLS & RESOURCES • Document your network: http://

searchitchannel.techtarget.com/feature/Channel-Checklist-10-steps-for-network-documentation

• www.speedtest.net

• Correctly identify the slow part of your connection

• Check to see if you can access the MUFN

7. THE CLOUD

Best Practices

Use free services like DropBox or Google Drive to collaborate

Use online backup services like Carboniteor CrashPlan Host a backup server offsite

Even Better Practices Host some or all of your documents in cloud storage provided with your hosting plan

Move file servers to the

Host a backup server offsite

PRO TIPS, MORE TOOLS & RESOURCES • Dropbox offers 2 to 16GB of free storage

• Dropbox Pro (1TB) is just $9.99/mo.

• Dropbox for Business is $15/user/mo. unlimited

• Google offers 15GB of free storage

100GB of Google Drive is just $1.99/mo.

1TB of Google Drive is just $9.99/mo.

8. BACK-UP

Best Practices

Identify data you can’t afford to lose

Regular schedule and checkups


Offsite or cloud backup

Automated schedule

Redundant backups

PRO TIPS, MORE TOOLS & RESOURCES • Windows Backup to external drive

• Google Apps: 30 GB storage/account, upgrade to 100GB for $24

• CloudBerry backup: One time $80 fee,

• Hyper-V Virtual Machines: Altaro free or Premium

• Move your data to someone else’s storage (Dropbox, Box, Google Drive)

9. DIGITAL MEDIA STRATEGY

Best Practices

Register a Domain Name

Choose the right channels

Have fresh, relevant content


Responsive design, 3-clicks

Integrate your channels

Test, measure, segment

PRO TIPS, MORE TOOLS & RESOURCES • https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo

• http://www.google.com/analytics/

• http://www.Wholewhale.com

• http://gettingattention.org/

10. VOICE OVER IP

Best Practices

Evaluate whether VOIP is right for your organization (right now) Don’t assume your current voice provider is offering the best option

Avoid long term contracts

Even Better Practices Plan when you will move to VOIP, not if

Shop around for the best plan

Beware the “bundle”

PRO TIPS, MORE TOOLS & RESOURCES Local providers include TDS and Restech

Online providers include Ring Central, Cytracom and Momentum

VOIP is priced per phone, not per line

Expect to pay between $25 to $50/mo./phone

Ask if you can reuse VOIP phones

MORE TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES

1. Picmonkey.com: a free, no registration photo editing tool

2. Little Green Light: the donor CRM that (some) people like

3. Piktochart.com: Make a good looking infographic

4. United Way’s free volunteer management database

Agency resources, volunteer center services, database

5. carlcheo.com/compsci: Computer Science explained in with everyday metaphors

MORE TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES (CONT.)

6. fieldguide.gizmodo.com/how-to-fix-most-any-computer-glitch-by-yourself

7. lynda.com: affordable classes in many software applications

8. canva.com: online, free design platform, lots of fonts and images

9. wholewhale.com: great resource for developing digital strategy and maximizing data use

10. DANEnet (608) 274-3107

www.danenet.org

QUESTIONS?

closing the nonprofit technology divide...• windows backup to external drive • google apps: 30...

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