Nonprofit Technology Resources: Tech Soup

The nonprofit sector is a rewarding industry to dedicate one’s time and talent. Notable on many levels, these organizations strive to address areas of social need at diverse scales of size. Whether an organization’s programming affects targets on an international, domestic, state, city, or neighborhood scope, all work and efforts will require technological systems to properly maintain and grow the agency’s impact. 

Unrestricted funding sources fuel the innovation ventures for nonprofits. Many times, grant dollars are tied to particular budgetary line-items such as staffing, professional contractors, insurance, utilities, travel, printing etc., leaving very few dollars left for the technologies necessary to build out communication platforms, budgetary monitorization systems, purchase computers/ routers / mobile hotspots, data warehouse softwares, visualization tools and much more. Despite their social entrepreneurship, nonprofits may not have the expanded budgets to purchase these top dollar technology tools, furthering the digital divide that leads to ongoing inequities. Rest assured, there are solutions.

TechSoup.org is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to build a dynamic bridge that enables civil society organizations and social change agents around the world to gain effective access to the resources they need to design and implement technology solutions for a more equitable planet. These services are provided exclusively for nonprofit and civil society organizations.

Upon submission and approval of your organization’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Employer Identification Number (EIN) or (equivalent information depending on the country your organization resides) to TechSoup.org, your agency will gain access to hundreds of discounted technology products and services offered by today’s most cutting edge providers. An example of these providers include: Zoom, Box, Intuit (Quickbooks), Mobile Beacon (Mobile Hotspots), Tableau, DocuSign, Microsoft, Cisco, Wix, Amazon Web Services and many more.  

As a nonprofit owner, this resource is a game changer. Where a for-profit customer would pay $840 annually for Quickbook Online Pro (Accounting Software needed for IRS-990 filings and annual fiscal monitorization), our organization pays $75 annually. Where a for-profit customer would pay $900 annually for Tableau (A powerful data visualization tool used on the output end of the extract, transfer, load process), our organization acquires this software at $55 for a 2-year subscription.

Now, isn’t that useful and economically feasible? I think so.

If you’re working in the nonprofit / civil society sector or considering developing your own organization to address a need within the community, please do look at TechSoup.org or any similar agencies offering the same type of service. Your work is critical to the success of people. Let organizations like TechSoup remove a costly technology barrier, progressing your mission forward.

Here is the link below:

https://www.techsoup.org/

For more information, feel free to reach out to Dominic Dominguez, MA Sustainability & Development Candidate at  dldominguez@smu.edu

Sustainability in the city: an intro

Throughout the M.A. in Sustainability and Development program, a central question that we have continuously discussed is: how can cities be designed in a way that benefits both the environment and the health of residents? The pandemic has magnified this issue and has created specific problems for sustainability within cities, while also illuminating the need for equitable green space access.

COVID-19 has drastically impacted human behavior and many have been theorizing that it will change how cities function for years to come. Researchers have suggested that certain aspects of the pandemic, such as reduction of commute times due to an increase in working from home, may have a long-lasting positive impact on sustainability and air quality. Other aspects of the pandemic have produced new challenges for resource use within cities, such as an increase in single-use plastics.

Access to quality outdoor spaces has seemed more important than ever during this time: many states saw dramatic increases in visitation to parks and trails as people flocked to green spaces for mental and physical health benefits and socially distant gatherings. In addition to being beneficial to human health, green spaces help reduce urban heat, mitigate pollution, and maintain biodiversity.

As a DFW resident, I have been grateful for the myriad parks and trails peppered throughout the city. I hope that this time has shed light on the importance of green spaces within our metroplex, and that building new parks and trails can be prioritized particularly in ‘Park Deserts’—defined by Trust for Public Land as neighborhoods that don’t have a park within 10 minutes walking distance away.

If you’re looking to explore green spaces in the DFW metroplex, Richardson may be a good place to start. In a recent example of local connectivity made possible through technology, The City of Richardson recently released a “Parks Story Map” that allows folks to explore the 45 parks within the city, including details such as size, amenities, and accessibility.

Connectivity has never seemed simultaneously more important and more logistically difficult as it is during this bizarre time. I hope that this MASD blog can be a place where we are all able to connect as a cohort and share ideas about sustainability: from something as small as a photo of what’s growing in a community garden near you, to as large as global sustainability trends and news.

x Meredith Perot | mperot@smu.edu

Welcome!

Welcome to the MASD Stewards website! We hope that this site inspires connection within our cohort and is visited by others who are interested in sustainability both locally and globally. Each week, we aim to post new content that discusses sustainability and development issues. No idea is too large or too specific for this forum!

To submit an article, please email smumasd@gmail.com

Cheers!
-MASD Stewards