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Growing IT Management Capacity at Nonprofits with Jean Westrick
· 32 min · S7 E71
Episode Growing IT Management Capacity at Nonprofits with Jean Westrick
Carolyn Woodard talks with Jean Westrick, President and CEO of the Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG), about why nonprofit technology management should be treated as organizational capacity. Jean argues that digital resilience is becoming as essential as financial resilience.
The conversation moves through why nonprofit IT funding is so hard to secure, what it looks like when funders get this right, and how technology providers and MSPs can be stronger partners.
Jean and Carolyn also preview a white paper they co-authored for TAG and Community IT, Growing IT Management Capacity at Nonprofits, built on the idea that most nonprofit technology struggles are not about the software, they are about capacity - and that growing capacity is an opportunity for funders, nonprofits, and the sector.
Want to learn more? Register for the Community IT September 23 webinar, where Carolyn and Johan Hammerstrom dig deeper into these ideas.
This episode covers:
• Three reasons IT funding is so hard to secure: outdated ideas about overhead, funders treating a technology purchase as the finish line instead of ongoing management, and a failure to recognize that technology decisions are strategic, leadership decisions. • Naming has power. When the Kauffman Foundation names IT planning, cybersecurity, and AI readiness as eligible capacity building expenses it sends a powerful signal to grantees that they are allowed to ask. • How the Virtual CTO Program from TechSoup and Tech Impact gives small nonprofits access to technology assessments and long-term roadmaps at an affordable price point and connects them to a cohort of nonprofits on the same IT journey who can share resources and knowledge. • Why every organization needs IT friends and translators, people who can connect a technology decision back to the mission it is meant to serve.
A first look at Growing IT Management Capacity at Nonprofits, the white paper Carolyn authored, coming from TAG in early 2027.
Resources Mentioned:
• Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG) • Virtual CTO Program for the Nonprofit Sector, TechSoup and Tech Impact • Capacity Building Grants, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation • Register for the Sept 23 webinar with Carolyn and Johan Hammerstrom on Growing IT Management Capacity at Nonprofits
_______________________________ Start a conversation :)
• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ • email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com • on LinkedIn • on reddit/r/nonprofitITmanagement • on the Community IT website
Thanks for listening.
Links in the notes 8
- https://communityit.com/webinar-growing-it-management-capacity-at-nonprofits/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=friday-tech-topics
- https://www.tagtech.org/
- https://techimpact.org/virtualCTOprogram
- https://www.kauffman.org/funding/grants/capacity-building/
- https://communityit.com/webinars/
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/community-it-innovators/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/NonprofitITManagement/
- https://communityit.com
Transcript
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