tech trends and best practices for 2014
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Jane Zhang covered 5 cutting-edge technology trends to watch out for in 2014, 5 more practical trends and how they affect the nonprofit sector, and practical tips on how to get your nonprofit prepared.TRANSCRIPT
Tech Trends &Best Practices for 2014
Jane Zhang, Executive Director at TechSoup CanadaDirector of Online Services at the Centre for Social InnovationSlides and presentation prepared by Joyce Hsu
What is the World of Tech Offering in 2014?
3D Printing
3D Printing can now be used for printing customizable prosthetic limbs.
ChefJet, the first restaurant-approved food printer, uses water to melt sugar into shapes. Unfortunately the samples didn’t taste very good, but the technology is there.
What is the World of Tech Offering in 2014?
Wearable Technology
FitBit tracks daily activity, calories burned, sleep & weight. The data is uploaded wirelessly so you can check progress via mobile or an online dashboard.
Google Glass is a hands-free, optical head-mounted display that shows and captures information.
What is the World of Tech Offering in 2014?
Wearable TechnologyThe Hövding is a wearable technology that relies on advanced motion sensors to employ airbags for cyclists.
What is the World of Tech Offering in 2014?
Robotic Technology
Amazon is experimenting with Prime Air, an unmanned aerial drone that aims to deliver packages in 30 mins or less.
The Parrot AR Drone is an app-controlled helicopter, equipped with a camera. Smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices with iOS & Android operating systems are compatible with Parrot AR Drone.
What is the World of Tech Offering in 2014?
Even More Advanced Robots
Tawabo, a robot tour guide at Tokyo Tower, speaks Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English.
ACM-R5, an amphibious snake-like robot from HiBot Corp, Japan is designed to aid in search and rescue operations.
What is the World of Tech Offering in 2014?
Even More Advanced Robots
Google’s driverless car is a project that involved developing technology for autonomous cars. There are currently 3 states in the US that allow the testing of automated vehicles.
What is the World of Tech Offering in 2014?
Modular Phones
Motorola’s Project Ara aims to develop a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphone.
What is the World of Tech Offering in 2014?
Virtual Reality
Oculus Rift is an upcoming virtual reality head-mounted display. Consumer version is expected to become available later this year.
However …
These cutting-edge technology trends are unlikely to impact your charity’s day-to-day operations in 2014.
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #1 Responsive & Adaptive Design
Why is this important? Mobile devices are overtaking PC sales
BetChemy Ventures, May 2013
There are 1 billion smart phones in use and this number will grow to two billion in two yearsEricsson Mobility Report, June 2013
Your website needs to be optimized to respond to any device your supporter is using, otherwise your call-to-actions, important content and donation forms may be missed
What’s the difference? Responsive web design is a single template with
flexible images and fluid grids Pro: Easier and cheaper to implement
Con: Pages load slower, content not fully optimized
Adaptive web design utilizes scripting to adapt to various sizes Pro: Pages load faster, content and web design fully
optimized
Con: Requires advanced knowledge of JavaScript and CSS
You can also combine both responsive and adaptive
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #1 Responsive & Adaptive Design
Resources to help you get started: Free Responsive Templates
HTML5 & CSS: HTML5up, HTML5Templates,
CMS: Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla
Email templates: ZURB, Antwort, Campaign Monitor
Coding resources for creating adaptive design LessFramework
StackOverflow
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #1 Responsive & Adaptive Design
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #2 Dynamic Data
Why is this important?
There is an oversaturation of static infographics on the web – people are becoming dull to the mediummoz.com/ugc/infographics-are-dead-long-live-infographics
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #2 Dynamic Data
Dynamic Data?
Dynamic data combines both static images and text (searchable content is better for SEO). Create dynamic data where users can watch, click and really explore your data
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #2 Dynamic Data
Good Examples Why Your Brain Craves Infographics
neomam.com/interactive/13reasons Air BnB’s Annual Report
airbnb.com/annual
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #2 Dynamic Data
Good Examples Google’s Think Insights Databoard
think.withgoogle.com/databoard WarChild Holland Annual Report
annualreportwarchild.org
Why is this important?
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #3 Modular Technology & Integration
Modular technologies and a good integration strategy will determine how agile and “future-proof” your nonprofit can be – especially with little or no internal IT support.
The modular approach allows you to:
Customize your tech solution to fit your needs
Better integrate with existing technologies
Customize Your Tech Solution to Fit Your Needs
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #3 Modular Technology & Integration
Taking a modular approach to CRMs will help your nonprofit find the best fit for your needs without paying for features that you won’t use:
Sumac offers add-ons that have distinct functionalities. All of the add-ons are useful, but not all nonprofits need them (i.e., course registration add-on, case management add-on, etc.)
Integrating with Existing Technologies
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #3 Modular Technology & Integration
Think about how to integrate the technologies you are using to improve efficiency.
Salesforce, integrates with over 250 applications, including EventBrite, Social Media, SAP, Oracle EBS, Microsoft Dynamics, etc.
A Few Tools that allow Modular Design
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #3 Modular Technology & Integration
Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) CiviCRM
Salesforce
Sumac
Content Management System (CMS) Wordpress
Joomla
Drupal
Why is this important?
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #4 Hybrid Cloud & Internal IT Infrastructure
Allows all nonprofits (including healthcare organizations) to enjoy benefits of both:
Benefits of the Cloud: User-friendly, self-service features without expensive IT resources
Benefits of Internal servers: Store sensitive information that cannot be hosted outside of Canada
If your nonprofit has not set-up a hybrid cloud/IT system, design your cloud service usage with a hybrid future in mind and make sure future integration is possible
What it could look like:
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #4 Hybrid Cloud & Internal IT Infrastructure
Highly sensitive information hosted internally (e.g. patient information)
Productivity processes on the cloud (e.g., meeting minutes, collateral materials)
Cloud Productivity Tools
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #4 Hybrid Cloud & Internal IT Infrastructure
Dropbox
Smartsheet
Huddle
Evernote
Skydrive
Google Docs
Cloud Productivity Suites
Office 365 for Nonprofits
Google Apps for Business
Zoho
Dropbox
Smartsheet
Huddle
Evernote
Skydrive
Google Docs
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #4 Hybrid Cloud & Internal IT Infrastructure
A Word on Data …Technology has made data collection and data sharing very easy. As a nonprofit, consider:
What kind of data are you collecting? (And why?)
What can you accomplish with the data that is freely shared?
Are you contributing data to the sector/larger mission?
How are you collaborating with other nonprofits on a national and international scale?
Read more on TechSoup Canada’s website:
Under Blog > Take The Next Step with Data Sharing for Nonprofitswww.techsoupcanada.ca/en/community/blog/take-the-next-step-with-data-sharing-for-nonprofits
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #5 Mobile Beacon Based Sensors
What is it?Essentially a wireless sensor network that can be used for routing, monitoring and tracking.
Why is this important?
Gives nonprofits the potential to create more engaging experiences and to improve operations
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #5 Mobile Beacon Based Networks
Geofencing is a virtual perimeter around any geographic area. It can be used by nonprofits for:
Improving event participants’ experiences (e.g., attendees could automatically check-in to an event zone using a geofence app, you can send a phone alert/notification to an event attendee when they enter or leave a geofence area)
Keeping track of your nonprofit’s assets (e.g., your office manager can receive a notification when a laptop leaves your office)
Example: Geofencing
5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits #5 Mobile Beacon Based Networks
Example: Apple’s iBeacon
Apple’s iBeacon is a transmitter that notifies nearby iOS 7 devices of their presence.
Best Practices
There are certain trends in the use of technology that are essential for success: Content Marketing & Curation Targeted Communications Data Informed Decisions
Content Marketing & Content Curation
The “spray & pray” approach is no longer effective when it comes to marketing.
Good content marketing & curation is the best way for your nonprofit to build brand loyalty and engage with your supporters.
Targeted Communications
Donors and supporters have different motivations to give and different experiences interacting with your nonprofit. Speak to them properly to inspire positive responses. Loyal Donors don’t want to read
“Let me introduce you to our mission”
Prospects don’t want to read “As you may know, we’re raising money for … ”
Data Informed Decisions
Questions? Comments?
Jane Zhang, Executive Director at TechSoup CanadaDirector of Online Services at the Centre for Social InnovationSlides and presentation prepared by Joyce Hsu