If you work in a nonprofit, you know that there isn’t enough time in the day (or fiscal year) to do everything you need to do yourself. To get it all done, you better know the outside companies that can best help you do what you can’t do yourself.

We asked two people whose organizations provide technology services to nonprofits a couple questions about themselves so you can get to know them and what drives their work. You can find out more about their organizations and meet people from other tech companies Wednesday, April 4, at the Science Fair, part of the Nonprofit Technology Conference.

April Pedersen, Executive Director of Democracy in Action

What motivates you to work with nonprofits and specifically to help them with their online advocacy?

“It's all about being effective and making real-world change. Whether it's using online tools to organize hundreds of vigils on the anniversary of the Iraq war or helping groups raise funds to build awareness about the atrocities in Darfur, I'm able to see firsthand the difference we make in the effectiveness of organizations we serve nearly every day. It's also knowing that a world in which all organizations and individuals have easy, equal, and affordable access to ICTs to improve their lives and help build a more just, sustainable society is possible. We have the power to help make that a reality.”

What is the most important trend to watch in nonprofit online advocacy?

“One important global trend in online advocacy continues to be the movement from the information age to the communications age. It's not about tools or technology per se, rather about decentralization of information and access to that information -- pushing the power to the edges and allowing citizen movements around the world to rapidly form, be linked, and challenge the status quo like never before.”

Chris Wolz, President of Forum One

What motivates you to work with nonprofits and specifically to help them with their online communications?

“I’ve been involved in public service since I was busy with community service as a school kid, studied environmental engineering, served with the Peace Corps and UNICEF in Nepal, got a masters’ in public policy, worked for the federal government on environmental policy issues, and now at Forum One for nine years, working to help policy clients make progress.

“What motivates me personally in my work now is helping organizations make progress on critical issues facing society today - whether homelessness, HIV/AIDS, climate change, economic development, or others. I feel very fortunate (and obliged!) to make some social contributions as a part of my career.

“Our business, Forum One, has been focused all along on helping organizations make a positive impact on society. We were founded in 1996 with the vision that the Internet offered amazing opportunities to issue-focused organizations. Our focus since then has been to help organizations harness the power of the Internet to make a difference on key social policy issues. We’ve built a great team of some 30 folks who share a passion for making progress on policy issues through the pretty incredible opportunities that are available online.”

What is the most important trend to watch in online communication?

“Collaboration is the most important online trend for nonprofits and policy-focused organizations. I think we’re just beginning to understand how the web can enable people and organizations to work together to understand and to solve social problems.

“The range of collaboration opportunities is amazing and growing – spanning the use of communities to build affinity groups (Care2), online contests to generate better ideas (Changemakers.net), joint-venture services to benefit a whole sector (Population and Health Info Share), shared intelligence services like Digg or del.icio.us, standards/structural collaboration via microformats, and combinations of all of these for the ecosystems of site/services for we’re calling the "Policy Commons."

“Collaboration online is changing the nature of how nonprofit and issues focused organizations can think about how they reach and engage with the world to make progress."