Training staff and volunteers

Before you bring in a trainer or send staff off to a class, get a sense of where their skills are currently, as well as a clear sense of what your organisation's needs for staff skills are. A training needs assessment is a way to figure out what skills staff need and what they can already do. A computer usage survey may take ten minutes for everyone to fill out at a staff meeting.

It can also help if staff and volunteers have a say in what training sessions they attend. If people feel they are increasing their skill sets and keeping up-to-date with new technologies, it often increases their loyalty to your organisation and decreases staff turnover.

Make it clear that you see training as a priority. If staff and volunteers see your name first on the list for a training session, they will be more likely to take it seriously. If you ask them about their training progress in your regular meetings, they will get the idea that it is part of your performance expectations.

Show that you see training as a privilege and an opportunity for growth – it will take you a long way towards creating the culture of a learning organisation.

Types of training

People's learning styles, comfort with technology and training needs vary widely. Some nonprofit staff may be happiest learning from a book or online tutorial and experimenting on their own, while others may require the individual attention and support of a tutoring session, or the group discussion and structured assignments of a formal class. Think carefully about what best meets the needs of your staff and volunteers.

Training classes Technology classes for nonprofit staff can range from a two-hour session to a regular tertiary course. Local colleges and universities may have extension classes that teach core technology skills. Distance learning is becoming a more popular way for people in remote areas to take classes via satellite or the internet. For independent learners, more and more websites offer a full listing of online courses.

Customised training For cases when you need to train your entire staff, you may want to consider bringing in a trainer to give customised training. A trainer can adapt a session to fit your organisation's needs and teach the specific technology tasks you need to learn.

Do-it-yourself If you are an independent learner, you may want to take advantage of the wealth of online resources, books, CDs and videos you can buy to teach you different technology skills.

Listservs and message boards Nonprofit listservs and message boards can be great sites for informal information gathering. See more on listservs 

Where to look for courses

Many organisations offer courses in the use of the internet and how you can maximise the effectiveness of email and your website.

The following sources in your local area might provide training courses themselves or may know who does:

• TAFE colleges
• private providers
• the Yellow Pages e.g. under Computer Training Services
• your local library or local council may know of local training providers
• the suppliers of your computer equipment
• other nonprofit organisations you can ask.

Almost all training and education providers in Australia have a website through which they provide information on their courses – topics covered, availability, when offered and costs. A number of training providers offer online training courses. These can be undertaken by staff at a time of their choosing and they are not restricted to the training courses offered by institutions in their own city, town or area. The convenience of delivery, and the range of training material offered online across a whole range of disciplines, activities and services, means that staff training is more accessible and potentially more timely and relevant than ever before.

The following websites are primary sources of information about training courses in Australia. Look for courses in your area about using the internet, e-business (a common term for any internet-related business) or e-commerce.

Courses.com.au lists 12,000 courses throughout Australia. Course providers are entitled to list their basic course details on this website for a small fee. The site is free to users.

When you search the courses.com.au database after selecting your state, click a category then select your regional area. Training providers are continually changing their courses, so contact them to obtain their course timetable and specific course information.

National Training Information Service This website provides a database of vocational education and training in Australia. It contains detailed information on courses, qualifications, training packages, competency standards and training organisations.

Click on search. Click on the course you are interested in and then the ‘Show all details for this item’ button. It is also possible to limit your search by state. The Tips box will give you extra help.

In South Australia, the nonprofit IT consultancy CISA (Community Information Strategies Australia Inc) provides training as part of its community information management services.