We're excited to announce the updated Consumers Guide to Low Cost Donor Management Systems, written by Idealware in partnership with NTEN.

What is "low cost", you ask? The systems reviewed cost no more than $4000 for the first year of use.

> Download the complete report for free!

In the report you'll find:

How much are nonprofits spending on IT, and what are they choosing to spend it on?

In our annual Nonprofit IT Staffing and Spending Survey, we asked respondents to describe the components of their organizations’ IT budgets—everything from Overall Expenditures to what proportion they allocate for Staffing, Capital, Consulting Contracts and Other Discretionary Expenditures.

Here’s what we learned:

• The median budget for IT expenditures for all survey respondents was about $56,000.
• The average budget for all IT expenditures was about $431,000.
• On average, organizations devoted 2.7 percent of their budget to IT.
• Small orgs devoted the largest portion of their overall budget, at 7.1 percent, with an average IT budget of just under $17,000.

[Editor's note: the following is an excerpt from the 2011 Nonprofit Social Networking Benchmark Report, sponsored by NTEN, CommonKnowledge, and Blackbaud. You can get the entire report for free here.]

It turns out that nonprofits of all sizes are able to scale their fundraising efforts on commercial social networks.

We identified a subset (27 organizations) of “Master Social Fundraisers” from amongst the survey respondents. Master Social Fundraisers are nonprofits that raised more than $100,000 on Facebook over the last year. Fascinatingly, the first characteristic that jumped out reversed many of our conclusions regarding organization size: 30% of the Master Fundraisers were Small organizations ($1 to $5MM annual budget) and 8% were Medium-sized ($6MM to $50MM).

Flickr Photo: Luc LegayFabulous NTEN board member Nancy Schwartz of Getting Attention released some very interesting research today.

Apparently, 8 of 10 nonprofits think their messaging fails to hit home. Of particular interest to us is that 70% of respondents indicated they aren't targeting content to their audiences appropriately.

Are you paid what you're worth?

It's an interesting question. I think most of us in the nonprofit sector -- especially on the tech side of things -- know that it wouldn't be too hard to walk out the door and find a higher paying job. But does that mean you aren't being paid what you're worth?

Last week, we had an interesting exchange on the NTEN Discuss list about this and other salary related questions. It  began with a simple ask (paraphrasing here): "My boss wants to pay a network admin $40k a year. That's not reasonable, is it?" This led to a discussion about what tech staff make in nonprofits vs. for profits.

The answer is, as far as I can surmise, about 25-30% less.

The Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management at the University of San Francisco released a new report this week, "Successful Technology Use in Small Grassroots Nonprofits." (PDF Download)

One quote from a nonprofit ED really struck me. When asked how the organization paid for technology, the response was:

By hook or by crook. We haven't budgeted for it. Robbing Peter to pay Paul. But it is so important. A lot of people come to our website and it could be so strong...[Laughs] We will lay someone off. There's a lot to unpack in that statement.

On the one hand, I see this quote, and a lot of the report, as a call to the foundation community to help nonprofits invest in their infrastructure. We can't do our work without the appropriate tools, but no one -- individual donors included -- wants to pay for it.

On the other hand, I can't believe that anyone wouldn't budget for technology. If you know me at all, you know that I love to hate Dr. Phil. So to borrow one of his phrases, "You have to name it to claim it!" How does an organization expect to raise funds for technology when it's not even a part of the budget?

News and buzz from people and organizations in the nonprofit tech sector.

Getting the Lay of the Land – Research on Critical Matters

• What should you invest in online communications when you don’t really know what will work? Convio’s Online Marketing (eCRM) Nonprofit Benchmark Index™ Study gives you some clues.
• M+R Strategic Services offers some insight into what works in online fundraising campaigns and tactics.
• Nonprofit Innovation can use a shot in the arm. Check out PolicyLink’s report Bridging the Innovation Divide: An Agenda for Disseminating Technology Innovations within the Nonprofit Sector. You can also read our blog post about the report. They’ve identified a lack of funding and information sharing as the key culprits.

Get Rewarded For Your Good Work

> The Florence and Frances Family Fund at Tides Foundation has announced the second Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest. If you have developed software that is available at no-cost to nonprofits and advocacy groups, has demonstrated its value to at least one nonprofit organization, and can serve multiple nonprofits apply here for the $10,000 prize. Applications are open until August 1st.

> Cisco’s 2007 Growing with Technology Award is open through June 22nd. The nonprofit category is for organizations that have fewer than 999 employees with a grand prize of $25,000. The first runner up gets $15,000. Cisco’s award “recognizes the creative ways that non-profit organizations are using the Internet and networking technologies to provide a broader geographical reach of services, expand or maintain services, or serve the organization’s employees or clients better.”

Too Much EmailJust in case you thought my strategy of consistent (constant?) email to the NTEN community was without merit, here comes the latest M+R report. See people, I email you because I don't want you to forget about us!

Besides which, you know you love my emails!