Focus On: Software: Are You Plugged In?

“Once you’ve got this great new tool or this new system, your worries have only just begun,” Jackson says. “You have to make sure people are trained to use it, and that they aren’t scared or annoyed by it.”

Jackson notes that new technology is being sought largely because funders of nonprofits are demanding greater accountability and outcome measurement. On the other hand, she says, executives at nonprofits don’t want technology to intimidate the people who have to use it. The goal is to make it “as painless and invisible as possible” so that development professionals can devote their energies to marketing, communications and other strategic activities.