Sector Connector: Creating a platform for technology partnership
May 15, 2006
By Elisa Birnbaum
When Shelternet - an online information resource for abused women and their children - won an Ontario Showcase Award for innovation and technology in 2004, the nonprofit received much more than recognition among its peers. The prize brought the small group to the attention of a creative and hardworking organization called Partnership Platform. And, as Shelternet's managing director Jan Richardson explains, the connections that followed were priceless.
The partners emerge
The Partnership Platform is an initiative of three organizations, the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), the Coalition of Ontario Voluntary Organizations (COVO), and OnTarget. An extension of the Making IT Work for Volunteers initiative sponsored by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration of the Government of Ontario in 2001, it was renamed the Partnership Platform project in 2005, and is now wholly funded by the Trillium Foundation. According to Geoffrey MacDougall, director of corporate social responsibility at ITAC, and the person currently in charge of overseeing the initiative, Partnership Platform initially grew out of a very real need in the nonprofit community. The original Making IT Work initiative required a certain level of technological expertise in order to successfully trigger a grant for technology projects. It soon became clear, however, that the requisite knowledge was beyond the reach of many nonprofits the program was mandated to serve. "So, they needed some sort of initiative that spoke to people who were just starting to cut their teeth around this stuff. Creative ways to engage emerged organically."
Matches made in technological heaven
A form of broker, a matchmaker if you will, the initiative helps nonprofit organizations build their technology capacity through the formation of partnerships with IT corporations, volunteers, public institutions, or other nonprofits. Essentially, by defining and addressing the technology needs of nonprofits, Partnership Platform assists nonprofits in finding partners to help them accomplish their organizational missions. "Since funding is an issue," explains partnership coordinator Nadia Gouveia, "the difficulty with most nonprofits is that they tend to work on a project-funding basis. Technology issues and IT concerns, therefore, are rarely addressed as a priority." With the Partnership Platform, nonprofits are finally able to address some of their administrative needs in a way that makes sense and works within their tight budgets and schedules. There is also hope that, through the process, organizations will gain a greater respect for and understanding of technological resources. "What we try to help them understand is that technology is a means by which they can achieve some of their administrative and larger organizational goals. It's not just IT for IT's sake; it's more of a tool to help contribute to their mandate," says Gouveia.
Who wants to be my partner?
Richardson has seen firsthand how effective those tools can be. After assessing Shelternet's shopping list of needs, such as web site hosting, building and adding innovative content, and an online evaluation research tool, a Platform staff member proceeded to call a list of corporate network contacts. Shortly thereafter, a match was made with Nooro Online Research, a corporation specializing in online research. Interested in providing pro bono services as part of an ongoing philanthropic commitment, the company had contacted Partnership Platform looking for a nonprofit partner. In just a matter of months, Shelternet and Nooro were working together with Nooro creating and refining an online survey in Ontario for the organization. A successful initial venture, Richardson is hopeful that the two can establish a long-term relationship as Shelternet looks to expand its survey across Canada. "An ongoing partnership is part of our sustainability and the interest is to work with a group in the long haul," she says. Acknowledging that marketing and establishing connections are some of the bigger challenges facing time-crunched nonprofits, the opportunity to work with the Platform's tireless staff was exceptional. "It really speaks to the value and importance of relationship building and networking," she says.
In pursuit of corporate social responsibility
While the nonprofit sector benefits from the range of partnerships created by the initiative, it appears the corporate community is gaining as well. These days more and more companies are focused on establishing programs of corporate social responsibility. "And corporations understand that community investment is more than just cause related marketing; its an actual source of business benefit," explains MacDougall. A win-win situation is how Larry Karnis, president of XPMsoftware, refers to the partnership he established through the program. After creating a new e-mail security solution product last year, PerfectMail - providing anti-spam, anti-virus and e-mail protection, Karnis decided to pursue opportunities in the nonprofit sector. "We thought nonprofits might be interested because products in this space are typically very expensive and organizations are just trying to help people; it seems a shame to send huge chunks of their budget out to some IT vendor," he says.
Meanwhile, Findhelp.ca, an organization that helps people find community, social, health and government services, contacted the Platform with their frustrated wish list. Bogged down with an inordinate amount of spam and dissatisfied with the many e-mail protection products they had tried, they were desperate for an antispam program that worked...and which they could afford. Once again, a match was made and the rest, as they say, was spam history. Aside from providing the hardware and software, XPMsoftware supplied Findhelp with an unlimited user license for PerfectMail along with installation assistance and training on the product. Findhelp deems the partnership a success, claiming the application is saving them ten staff hours per day by eliminating unwanted messages.
Some concerns along the way
Of course, for every successful program, there are challenges. "It's important for nonprofits to recognize that in terms of technology development, 80% of work is planning, before someone even touches a keyboard," states MacDougall. Everyone in the organization - from the administrative staff to upper management - must be involved, he says, adding that technology needs to be regarded as another useful tool as opposed to an afterthought. Furthermore, with only a three-year mandate, the question becomes whether nonprofits will be able to sustain their partnerships and foster new opportunities on their own in the future, once the Partnership Platform wraps up. MacDougall is optimistic. "Our goal is to get to a point where we are almost redundant and the work that we do is just second nature to the nonprofits and the CEOs with whom we work. We want to be useless in two years." Toward that end, the program's formal and informal training component is meant to help organizations replicate the process they've been through.
As for Shelternet, they continue to turn to the program they value to fulfill the rest of their "needs" shopping list. "The match with Nooro would never have happened without the Partnership Platform," states Richardson, explaining they don't have time to look for companies on their own. "I really do think it's the kind of leadership and innovation that both the business and nonprofit sector need in order to truly advance social corporate responsibility, and to respectfully meet the needs of the not-for-profit sector."
Elisa Birnbaum is a freelance print and broadcast journalist living in Toronto.
