Collaboration Solutions for Nonprofits

Collaboration Solutions

About HandsOn Tech

HandsOn Tech is a national AmeriCorps program funded in partnership with:

• Google• Points of Light Foundation• The Corporation of National

Community service

About 501 Commons

First Stop for Nonprofits

• Technology Services• Financial Services• Human Resources Services• Management Consulting

Services

For more info:501 Commons.org

Most requested – information about:• Calendaring• Version Control• Email featuring notifications for collaborators and reply in email • Want a tool that all staff can use.• Ease of use – no tutoring• Projects in one place

Barriers: • Money • Adoption issues• Existing/outdated tools• Choosing the right tool

A quick exercise

Collaboration: Definition

Oxford advanced Dictionary - the act of working with another person or group of people to create or produce something It was a collaboration that produced extremely useful results.

Elements: Multiple people Common Goal Create value

Sum of parts > whole

Collaboration: elements

Project

Knowledge Mgmt

Internal / External Access

to material

Security– Taxonom

yGovernanc

e

To collaborate or not?

What are the considerations?

GoalsPeopleProcessTechnology

Is your work – Hierarchical / Process Oriented ?

Me

You Me

Someon

e You

Me

someone else

You

Or is it more project oriented ?

Collaboration Tools: Typical Features

Unified Communications Calendars Project Management Workflow Document Management

Versioning Task Management Social Wiki Web Publishing List Management – Donors, volunteers… Discussion lists Blog Surveys Time Tracking

So what are the attributes that affect your decision ?

OpenSource vs proprietary This is a licensing issue – Most open source are

licensed by some type of license that says you can modify and distribute but can’t charge for original

On Premises/ Hosted This distinction is where the product is installed –

your server vs. someone else’s SAAS/PAAS

This distinction is more around how data is managed

So what drivers should you consider ?

With all software total cost of ownership has to be considered – Purchase price, license fees, Hardware, integration,

support, and internal support, training, upgrades, security, internal vs external users….

The most important are probably the ones you are weakest in if you have no budget= you can’t purchase, if you have no IT staff= you can’t support… Planning and budgeting for these investments will be

essential moving forward Every purchase involves some compromise – prioritize

“must-have” list

Current State - Proprietary

Leaders – Microsoft Share Point,

IBM / Lotus / Domino

Google Apps

Central Desktop

Base Camp

ASANA

Teambox

Zoho

Podio

OpenSource Tools

More project / task oriented Not as robust generallyRequire technical knowledge to set up and

maintain

Share Point

Comprehensive and customizableTakes time & knowledge Integrated with O365Pricing

Google Apps

Free (with Google Apps for Nonprofits)Not as easily integrated with other

collaboration solutions Cloud based Designed for “sharing”Google Centric

Basecamp

Project oriented Cloud BasedAgile developmentNot a generalized RepositoryLimited Security Great for sharingSome calendaring limitationsPrice: $20-150/mo

Asana

Task / Project orientedSimilar to BasecampCan link to Google driveLots of chrome extensionsPrice: Free (<15 members) – $800/mo for 100 members

Online Meeting Tools

WebExReadytalkGotoMeetingSkypeLync (integrated with O365)Join.me

Resources

We can help you further!

• For info on:o Future workshops on technological applications,

social media methods, and other topicso Participating in a free tech assessment of your

nonprofit

• Contact us: vistatech@501Commons.org