Community Need

Nonprofits in general are not harnessing the full power of technology. Through five years of work in this field, DharmaTech has identified three common reasons why nonprofits - particularly small to medium-sized groups - do not reap the benefits of advances made possible by technology:

• Leadership lacks the vision and understanding of how technology can help them accomplish their missions;
• Groups lack the financial resources to hire qualified, reliable information technology (IT) staff, and they don't know where to turn for help; and/or
• This lack of knowledge and resources causes some organizations to
  spend more money than necessary on proprietary systems and software that are designed for larger organizations or companies in the for-profit world. These proprietary systems often do not integrate with existing software and systems, do not fully address the organization’s needs, and are difficult to manage and maintain.

This "technology gap" is particularly severe for nonprofits in the Intermountain West, where geographic isolation from urban technology hubs, a lack of technology funding, and the absence of a well-funded nonprofit technology assistance provider (NTAP) keep technology and expertise out of the hands of the organizations that need it most. As a result, our sector has fallen behind its peers in other regions of the country.