Sean O'Brien, W. Alton Jones Foundation

Sean T. O'Brien, Ph.D., is a circuit rider for the W. Alton Jones Foundation in Charlottesville, Va.

As the week draws to a close and I prepare for my next trip (to Berlin, Sassenberg, and Utrecht), I look back on the past few days and hope that I have given you a good picture of what life is like as a circuit rider. Remember, of course, that there are many modes for circuit riding, but we all work with progressive nonprofits on technology use. For example, NPower works with a wide range of nonprofits in the Puget Sound area, which means they do not travel much, but their goals and use of technology are very similar to ours at the W. Alton Jones Foundation and other circuit riding outfits in the progressive community.

There is one more important aspect of this job that I want to tell you about: the technical assessment. This can be done in many ways -- a paper survey or a personal interview are probably the most common. I generally use the latter, but will often preface it with some communication by email, paper mail, or the web introducing a group to the concept and trying to establish some expectations.

The aim of the technical assessment is to figure out what a group is trying to accomplish and how they can accomplish it, whether or not this involves using technology. Often an organization will come to the meeting with a hardware and software wish list but without a good idea of how they would use such technology. Circuit riders help organizations avoid the mistake of getting equipment they may not need by talking with them about what their group does, who they communicate with, and what resources they currently have. I generally spend a couple hours with a group in a free-form discussion of their objectives and current technological capacity. I keep a list of questions that I want answered in front of me to make sure I get the information I need, but I like the loose format to help the people I am talking to feel comfortable with me, and hopefully, therefore, with the technology too.

Sometimes a group will present a technology plan, a great thing. These plans take many forms, but the fact that a group has thought about technology enough to have actually written something down is an excellent indicator of their desire to make a change and understand its importance. I would encourage all nonprofits to develop technology plans, even if they are not expecting a visit from a circuit rider.

There are several places you can go online to learn more about technical assessments and technology plans, and to find links to other resources for nonprofits. This non-comprehensive list includes some of the ones I reference, but not all of them. In addition to theONE/Northwest site mentioned a few days ago, I suggest checking out NPower, the Benton Foundation, and the LINC Project. All of these sites have slightly different foci and intended audiences, but all provide excellent information for nonprofits.

Another very important resource for nonprofits is access to software donations. All registered 501(c)3 organizations are eligible for donated or discounted software. In some cases, you need to get this directly from a manufacturer, but in many cases you can obtain the software through CompuMentor, a technology assistance organization for nonprofits, based in San Francisco. Also try Gifts in Kind's software program.

I recommend looking at the list of best practices for nonprofits (still under development) on the WAJF circuit rider website, which includes bullet points with goals for technology use. These best practices can help an organization develop a technology plan and evaluate their use of technology.

Okay, so you have no idea what I did today, but I had to get on my soapbox a little. It's part of my job, evangelist for effective technology use! I hope you liked reading my entries this week and learned something too.