Johanna Bates, Community Partners
In the beginning, maybe you just had patience, perseverance, and a love of -- or at least a lack of fear of -- computers and the Internet. You found you had a knack for technology and you became your org's go-to person for computer problems. People kept seeking you out because, instead of acting like the stereotypical IT guy, speaking only in tech-ese, you answered their questions and helped them feel a bit less intimidated by tech tools.
One day you woke up to the fact that tech-related work had taken over much of your job -- and you liked it.
By now, you're at least an accidental techie. But at what point can you call yourself a technology professional? What training is required? At this perhaps unexpected career turn, how do you become a bona-fide Nonprofit Techie?
Over the last decade, I've unexpectedly stumbled my way from religious studies major to accidental techie to a job I completely love as Director of Technology Strategy at a small, statewide org in Massachusetts that does health care reform work. I work with our Executive Director to determine how we integrate technology into our programs and make decisions that affect the overall direction of our org.
Having built one HTML page before in my life, my first job out of college was building a 500-page book catalog for the UUA in static HTML, which I was supposed to do in addition to my copywriting job. (Oh, 1999, you were so quaint). My next baptism-by-fire job was as the junior of two code monkeys building WGBH.org; my boss later told me she hired me because I was "cute and could speak decent English" and she thought I could learn.
Sometime after leaving WGBH and feeling lost about my career for a while, I discovered NTEN and the career called "non-profit techie". That’s when I also discovered the two-step secret to becoming a non-profit techie.
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Step 1: Call yourself a career non-profit techie! Initially, the shift from "accidental techie" to a career NPtechie is more about a change in your own attitude than anything else. The skills and experiences you already have under your belt have value. If you like what you're doing and want to continue, let others know you're no longer here by accident -- you're a professional with a huge community of colleagues to learn from and share with, and your intention is to continue growing in this direction.
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Step 2: Over time, deliberately and thoughtfully incorporate non-profit tech learning and networking activities into your daily workflow. Look at the experience and skills you already have, and reflect on your goals and the skills you still need to in order to reach them. Identify people to connect with and learning opportunities that can help you gain those new skills. Communicate clearly and regularly with your supervisors to get them to support your efforts.
And what are these learning and networking activities? By reading this, you're doing one of them right now: daily reading.
Here’s my full list:
Peer Mentors: When I was at larger orgs than I am now, there were usually people who knew how to do things I wanted to learn. Seek permission to work with these people.
If you're the top of the totem pole in your org, use NTEN, NOSI, Twitter and email discussion lists to find people who do something well that you want to learn. Even if they don’t have time to be your mentor, read their blogs, and see if they'll give you tips on where to go next to get the skills you need.
Teaching Your Co-Workers: Are you the only one who uploads files to your server? See if anyone else is interested in learning how to do it. This will not only make more space in your workload for reading and career development, but it will help you hone your skills at teaching others how to use technology.
Here, again, is another opportunity to reach out to your NPtechie colleagues. Are you an effective tech teacher with your fellow staff members? How do others do it? Get feedback from your co-workers about your teaching skills so you can continue to improve them.
Consultants: There are two main reasons we've hired consultants: to do something for us that we don't know how to do, or -- much better -- to teach us to do something we don't know how to do.
Many orgs don't have money for consultants, but many consultants do discounted work for non-profits, and there are grants for consultant services out there, too. If your org is really stuck on social media strategy or the inability to design a new website, see if you can come up with the funds to hire a consultant to help you get un-stuck. If you do hire a consultant, learn all you can from them.
Networking and Conferences: I guarantee you that NTEN is not paying me to say this, but connecting with others through NTEN has been a major force driving the evolution of my career.
So if you're reading this, you’re already on the right track. NTEN-Discuss, Affinity Groups and the NTC have all been places where I've met people who would later become my mentors, whose blogs keep me in the know, who gave me great project ideas, or who have provided me with services I needed to take a project to the next level.
There are also Drupal conferences, NOSI conferences. Someday I hope to get to SXSW Interactive, too.
Webinars and Classes: Even if you're at a little, cash-strapped org, it's fair to expect that they will help you learn and grow in your job. Find out if there's a budget for staff development, and if there isn’t, lobby for even a tiny one. Keep an eye on email discussion lists and blogs for webinars designed for non-profit needs and budgets. When the content matches with your needs, find out a little bit about the instructor using Google or Twitter. If she's a good one, then make the pitch to your supervisor.
Daily Reading
As a nonprofit techie, you need to know what tools are available, what strategies work best, and what's coming next. Read, read, read! Make a folder in Google Reader called "Essential" and put your top 5-10 most helpful nonprofit techie blog feeds there; build daily or weekly reading time into your schedule.
Indispensible Resources
In addition to NTEN, other resources I find indispensible are:
Twitter: If you invest some time into following NPtech folks on Twitter (Twitterpack, Tweetgroup), then you can use Twitter as a place to get and give help, feedback and advice.
Are you a career NPtechie? How did you get here? What resources can't you go without? I'm looking for tools and stories for my NTC09 session. Please leave a comment here and/or join the NTEN Affinity Group Accidental Techies and share your thoughts.