Organizations with Dedicated Technology Staff Fare Better
Organizations with dedicated technology staff were much more satisfied with their systems than those who relied on vendors and out-of-the-box tools. As shown in Figure 2, the number of dedicated technology staff correlates strongly with attitude:
- Organizations with no dedicated technology staff are twice as likely to express dissatisfaction with their technology experiences.
- Meanwhile, those with four or more technology staff are three times as likely to express satisfaction.
In addition, the number of dedicated technology staff correlates with how fast an organization can compile a supporter list. The fastest compilation occurred in organizations with four or more dedicated technology staff, and the slowest average occurred in organizations with no dedicated technology staff.
Interestingly, although more respondents cite lack of money than lack of staff expertise as their primary obstacle to technology adoption, funding is not as reliable a predictor of technology success as the number of dedicated technology staff. Larger budget organizations still report inadequate data integration and an inability to efficiently compile supporter lists. Although the fastest list compilation came from organizations with annual budgets of $1–$2 million, the slowest average came for the next largest budget group, those with $2–$4 million.
This report compiles insights from more than 400 social change groups, technology providers, and nonprofit technology capacity builders, examining the needs of organizers working to utilize new technologies, and offering recommendations for how to meet those needs more effectively.
