Review - The Accidental Techie

You know what happens when you miss a meeting in your favorite overworked, under-resourced charitable program: surprise! You're the head of this or that committee and expected to bring in lots of money.

But that was then and this is now—the age of technology. Today, you are the person who actually knew how to un-jam the printer; so now you are the nonprofit's technology guru, to whom everyone turns for help in understanding what ISP's are all about and just how one gets that new software to actually install correctly.

You are the Accidental Techie. Or so says a new book of that name, directed to help such unwitting volunteers as they go about "Supporting, Managing, and Maximizing Your Nonprofit's Technology." The book was written by CompassPoint Nonprofit Services through Feildstone Alliance, formerly Wilder Publishing Center.

Copies of the book are available for $29.95 at CompassPoint Bookstore. And for others needing even deeper high-tech counseling, there are augmenting resources downloads and information sheets at the Accidental Techies Web site. Bulk discounts are available. Check it out here.

The Accidental Techie, said chief spokesperson and main author Sue Bennett, is definitely not a trouble-shooting manual. Instead, it is a guide to creating a support system that will truly help nonprofits use technology better without burning out the kind-hearted souls who really want to help.

The book includes ready-to-use templates and worksheets, sample technology policies for agencies just "coming online" with equipment, easy-to-understand strategies and systems and some hints about how to get technology funded.

A recent assessment by Npower.org found that while for-profits are making improvements in their service staff to IT ratios (with the business sector ratios going from 1:50 to a 1:100 in the last three years), caring organizations remain at a much higher 1:30.

Plus with greater and faster enhancements on the technology drawing board, it will sometime become impossible for quality helping agencies to thrive on just Accidental Techies. At some point, the investment now will turn into invaluable preparations for a healthier future for agency and client.