Numerous nonprofit organizations approach technology with an emphasis on cost effectiveness due to limited budgets.
Technology deployment grants nonprofits the opportunity to better allocate staff resources away from administrative tasks to focus on direct services provided by the organization.
[2] Technology is essential to effectively advancing and managing a nonprofit, playing an important role in the advertisement of goods and services offered, the communication of mission, and the recruitment of volunteers among other things.
[3] From thoughtful utilization to enhance both internal and external organizational communication efforts, to increased ability to measure, evaluate, and more successfully track and engage specific initiatives, the use of technology within the nonprofit sector is wide-ranging.
[12] Because of their limited budgets, nonprofit organizations may not be able to upgrade their hardware or software, buy computers or Internet tools, or provide technology training for staff to the degree of for-profit businesses.
[13] Furthermore, listing the nonprofits specific use of donations and volunteers as well as posting the names of board members and mission statement can cover the responsibility and accountability components.
[14] Examples of such interactional components for a nonprofit website might include: downloadable video, RSS feeds, chat rooms, polls or surveys, linked publications and always, contact information.
[13] In a poll conducted with mid-sized nonprofit organizations, 51 percent reported that between one and five hours were spent weekly attending to social media.
[14] Additionally, as the nonprofits social media presence grew, more hours were required to sustain the same level of interaction.
A number of contributing factors have effected non-profits' ability to adopt information technology in recent history.