Dottie Schindlinger, Verve Internet Solutions
"Given that the vast majority of nonprofits are very small organizations with few (if any) staff members, all nonprofits can reap great rewards by investing in technology. For example, online hosted solutions can allow groups of volunteers to manage processes in a decentralized, organized way. Fundraising campaigns can be run less expensively and have greater reach. The problem is that, historically, few funders have been willing to invest in nonprofit infrastructures and operations, and the initial investment needed for technology may still be out of reach for many nonprofits. I see this trend is changing - more funders now recognize the need to pay for costs that are not tied directly to a nonprofit's program expenses - but there is still a long way to go. I think the best thing we as a community can do is continue to educate funders and nonprofits about the importance and potential cost-savings of technology investments."

Mark Rovner, Sea Change Strategies
"The biggest pitfall is believing that tactics are more important than substance. Communicators and marketers are slowly realizing that there's nothing magical about technology and they are slowly but surely asserting strategic control of the message - as it should be."

Betsy Harman, Harman Interactive

Most nonprofits are not making the most of technology. Nonprofits, especially small ones, need a lot more training and education about how to use technology. I still run into nonprofits that don't have a donor database at all, don't have a website at all, or has one that hasn't been updated in ages, and nonprofits that don't have secure online donation forms at all or worse they're asking donors to put credit card info on a page that isn't secure. There is a huge gap between how the largest nonprofits in the country use technology and how the smallest ones do. I'm in Chicago and also think nonprofits in the Midwest are far behind those on the coasts.

Michael Hoffman, See3

Very few nonprofits are making the most of technology. (Very few of us make the most of anything!) I think the rise of open source software and web-based applications are helping bring more advanced tools to more organizations for lower cost. The pitfall is that people are still buying a lot of things they don't need and still paying a lot for many of their technology needs. The pitfall I see most often is that organizations have no frame of reference for costs, which are all over the place. The range, for example, of cost in Content Management Systems with substantially similar functionality is HUGE. Same goes for website development, where the difference between a six figure project and a $5k project aren't always apparent.

Tanya Zumach, Metropolitan Group
"I see a lot of relatively weak strategy overall - and that's not just for small organizations but huge ones as well. It's about priorities, time and money. You can just make a small investment, offer another way to give and be OK with that. Or you can invest a healthy amount and really see "revolution." So many organizations are still relying on volunteers and interns to run their online programs, but they'd never do that with their direct mail campaigns. Why is that! I think it's changing, but still points to the issue of priorities."