Affordable technology in the hands of socially-minded IT professionals has the power to radically alter the face of the nonprofit sector.
Like most of the world, tech nonprofits are looking into mobile communication and the cloud as vehicles to further their goals. Young IT professionals with practical knowledge in these fields are desperately needed in the nonprofit space. Not only that, there are areas ripe for motivated IT career-starters to make an immediate and lasting impression.
Take a look at some exciting areas of opportunity for recent IT graduates, and examples of organizations that demonstrate how IT expertise is indispensable– the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center (ITDRC)4 and Médecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF/DWB)5.
The ITDRC is a great example of nonprofit tech for good– It provides emergency communications and technical support to communities affected by natural disasters. Just last year, the ITDRC was active in 22 sites throughout North and South Carolina to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. In turn, MSF/DWB provides medical assistance in remote and conflict regions, a task that requires IT teams to sustain communication between headquarters and field teams. The organization has medical projects in over 70 countries around the world.
1 Cloud-based
software tools
In another area of operations, ITDRC uses cloud-based software tools to accept donations, including cryptocurrency.
The next generation of donors will be major digital technology users that conduct their transactions from mobile devices. Already 67% of nonprofits across the globe are set up to accept online donations11. In 2017 alone mobile donations increased 205% 12.
Nonprofits need IT pros to get ready for the next wave. With limited resources, organizations can amplify their message by combining cloud-based technology with social media engagement and email campaigns. Awareness of how impactful the cloud can be is growing– 64% of nonprofit CFOs believe they’ll be able to cut operating costs by up to 20% through the adoption of this technology10.
46 percent of North American non-governmental organizations use encryption to protect data and communications. Of those, only 38% use it to protect donor information.

2 Encryption
technology
