Strategic ICT Planning for Nonprofits

In October 2006, a DCITA-commissioned report on the possibilities for developing a National Nonprofit ICT Coalition (NNIC) was tabled by a consultation consortium led by Community Information Strategies Australia (CISA). Pending consideration of the broader implications of the report by senior DCITA officers and the Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts, DCITA offered funding to CISA to conduct a pilot study related to one of the report’s recommendations, namely executive development workshops in ICT strategic planning for nonprofit executives and managers.

In March 2007, CISA entered into a contract with DCITA to conduct a series of workshops and in the process to:

1. Develop publication materials (drawing on Departmental research, business and nonprofit experiences) that would raise awareness of best practice in strategically implementing and maximising ICT in non profit organisations. This would include developing content to be published online to provide advice and support.
2. Identify those organisations and individuals who would benefit from this strategic advice. This would include identifying need in relation to factors such as geographic location, size of organisation, the specific business category the organisation is operating in, and current ICT capacity.
3. Deliver a minimum of three workshops targeting executives in the non profit sector. These workshops would provide a testing ground for the developed material, as well as a way of fine-tuning the content for further development into a promotional package.

It was agreed with the DCITA that CISA would engage the services of John Kenyon, a US-based consultant with extensive IT strategy training experience in both the US and the UK, who would work with a local nonprofit sector and business advisory group, via email and teleconferences, in development of the process, content and materials for the proposed workshops. This group ultimately comprised Martin Stewart-Weeks (Cisco Australia), Lisa Harvey (Energetica), Steve Lawrence (WorkVentures), Paul Clark (Microsoft Australia), Suzanne Granger (Positive Outcomes) and was led by CISA project manager, Doug Jacquier.

Potential workshop participants were called for and over 40 nonprofit executives and managers attended four half-day workshops with John Kenyon, held in Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane. The workshops were a resounding auccess and the materials from those workshops are now available to everyone.