A Fateful Phone Call in December …How I’m Using My Technology Experience to Help Nonprofits

In December 2016 I received a phone call from Christine Deska. I did not know it at the time, but Christine and I were soon to become business partners.

Christine and I had known each other for three years when she called me as a result of our involvement with the Columbus Citizens Foundation (CCF). She was the Program Director for the foundation, responsible for running the scholarship programs for elementary, high school and college students. Granting scholarships to lower income students that show academic promise is one of the primary missions of CCF. I am a member of CCF and volunteer on the high school scholarship committee where I help to review applications, conduct interviews and award scholarships.

Following the sale of my software company in 2014, I started a consulting business helping law departments. My expertise is helping organizations derive more value from their technology investment, reducing manual processes from departmental workflows and providing better reporting to management.

Now, about that phone call. Christine called me last December and said she was leaving the foundation because she and her husband were planning to relocate to the Washington DC area and that she was keeping her career options open. I asked her if she would consider starting a consulting business with me with a focus on helping nonprofits because I suspected nonprofit organizations might also be looking to for assistance similar to my law department clients.

I suggested to Christine that we could provide a valuable service helping nonprofits make better use of technology and improved processes by combining her extensive experience in the nonprofit sector with my thirty-plus years in software.

As a result of that phone call last December, Nonprofit Sector Strategies was born. In determining which services would serve the greatest need for nonprofits, we interviewed dozens of industry experts and heard many stories about the challenges nonprofit leaders are facing. 

Based on these detailed interviews, our company now offers a wide variety of services for nonprofits including:

• a customizable and low-cost board portal…to increase board engagement, keep your board’s information secure and save valuable time;
• dynamic real-time dashboards…to ensure you are tracking the right metrics and presenting them in an effective manner;
• social media optimization…to help you craft a social media strategy based on your organization’s unique mission and goals;
• a cybersecurity audit, recommendations and implementation…to reduce your risk of cyber attacks; and
• an online assessment…to help nonprofits identify their strengths and areas for improvement.

I am excited to be using my background to make it easier for nonprofits to save time and effort in achieving mission impact. 

What do you think? Could your organization benefit from the above services – or are you focused on other challenges? We welcome your comments below.