The internet for nonprofit organisations

In western countries there is now near universal connectivity between business and government and those organisations that support and work with the community. This makes an enormous difference to those who turn up at your front desk.

Yet many nonprofits have had difficulty using internet technology. For each nonprofit that has benefited from online donations there are dozens that have struggled to design and implement successful campaigns using the web. After investing in web technology many nonprofits have received little traffic and fewer donations. Many email campaigns have had unsatisfactory results.

A large part of the problem is in aligning an organisation's internet strategy with its overall organisational mission. Treating a website or any online activity as an end in itself is a recipe for failure.

Basic things to know about the internet

• The internet is a global network of interconnected computers. The network comprises smaller networks owned by government agencies, academic institutions, nonprofit organisations, corporations and private parties.
• If you are connected to the internet, you are part of the internet. It is an enormous number of computers connected together enabling their users to communicate and exchange information.
• There are hundreds of millions of internet users around the world. In Australia more than half of all households and over two-thirds of a million businesses and organisations are connected to the internet.
• The most common uses of the internet are email and the world wide web or ‘web'. But increasingly the internet is being used for all manner of digital communication including discussion groups, internet telephony, listening to radio, watching video and downloading music recordings.
• The web is a subset of the internet. The web is all those millions of linked ('hyperlinked' in the jargon) web pages collected into websites that you can reach using a ‘web browser' (a piece of software such as Internet Explorer or Netscape). To gain access to the web you must first be connected to the internet.

A study published by the Australian Government Achieving value from ICT: key management strategies found that, in order to achieve maximum benefit from the internet, organisations need to:

• have clear, strategic reasons for adopting the internet and be aware how it can benefit their organisation – in other words be internet-aware;
• have the support, drive and leadership of management;
• integrate information and communications technology (ICT) into their existing processes and operations;
• be patient and persistent in realising the benefits from the internet;
• be positive about organisational change and new opportunities; and 
• acquire new skills and know-how, and expand their capabilities.

See a series of case studies on how nonprofit organisations are using the internet.

'The organisations that obtained most value from their technology investments had managers who were:

• ICT and internet-aware;
• persistent; and
• open to change.'

From Achieving value from ICT: key management strategies

How nonprofits can use the internet

The internet is basically about electronic communication and electronic information gathering.

Most likely your organisation is already online – in other words using the internet – in some way. If you do any of the following you are already an internet user.

• Communicate with clients, members, supporters, customers, funders or the general public via email
• Send emails to other organisations
• Use the web to find information
• Use the web for research
• Have a website and use it to provide information about your services
• Use your website as a means of managing the information in your organisation
• Use the internet for online banking and paying bills
• Sell services or products via your website

No particular use of the internet is necessarily more important than any other, although email remains the core and most widely used internet application. Some organisations don't need a website but deal all day with other organisations and clients online via email. Other organisations have a website that helps them provide information or services all around the world. It's up to each organisation to determine what level of internet use is right for them.

Barriers to internet use among nonprofit organisations

A 2005 survey of nonprofit organisations by Probono Australia found the following.

• More than half of the respondents believed that the nonprofit sector is lagging behind in the effective use of information and communications technology.
• Seventy-three per cent believed the reason they were missing out was because of limited resources.
• Almost one third of organisations surveyed do not have full-time internal IT support while 12 per cent used full-time paid consultants. Others used part-time IT volunteers (12%), and part-time paid consultants (12%). The remainder used a combination of volunteers and paid consultants.
• Most felt that updating websites (80%) and databases (75%) were the key ingredients to keeping up with the IT revolution. Email marketing and e-commerce followed close behind.

Another poll of community groups in 2003 found that 40 per cent of respondents did not have an email address or easy access to the internet.

On the plus side some 62 per cent of respondents to the Probono Australia survey said they used electronic newsletters to support their organisation's mission and another 38 per cent received online donations. Another 32 per cent used donor or funds management computer programs.

More than half of the participants said their source of information about new IT came from family and friends. Some 34 per cent got their information from specialised e-newsletters, others searched the web or read trade magazines (21%) or asked board members (17%).

Trusting the internet

While the internet offers many benefits to nonprofits and their members, clients and supporters, its use does carry risks. These can include ‘hackers' getting into computer systems or viruses being sent through the email system. In general there is no reason why you should not trust the internet as a means of communicating and information gathering, but it is sensible to take practical precautions against misuse of your website and email systems.

Because the internet is designed to offer easy communication between individual computers, there is always the possibility of outsiders breaking into computer systems and stealing valuable information such as credit card numbers. Nonprofit organisations are often at greater risk than others because they are less likely to have professional IT support or the ability to maintain up-to-date software.

Any information transmitted over the internet can be intercepted at any point if appropriate security precautions have not been taken. Most of these precautions are taken by the internet service provider (ISP) who provides your connection to the internet (see Getting connected), but you have a role to play as well – see the major section on security (or e-security) in this website, Being safe and secure online.