By Cathy Stevens

Kansas City, Mo.

Plans are in the works for a technology center that will provide tech training to nonprofits in Kansas City.

The new center, an arm of the Center for Management Assistance (CMA) in Kansas City, will be a technical lab that will help nonprofits learn how to use technology in all aspects of their work, says Cheryl Hanback, CMA's director of information technology.

The new center also will serve as a meeting place where nonprofit managers can share ideas on "how to manage an agency better through technology," she says.

The management center, a nonprofit consulting group, has provided tech assistance to nonprofits for three years. The organization has never had a training facility but instead has used space at for-profit computer centers and local universities. Hanback also has held monthly meetings to address nonprofits' tech needs.

Given the explosion of demand by nonprofits for tech assistance, however, the center now has decided to create its own tech lab.

Carol Suter, the management center's executive director, says she envisions a future in which all areas of nonprofit management -- from fundraising to communications -- are based on technology.

"In my mind, everything's technology," she says. "This (center) is the embodiment of that."

Plans are for the tech center to be up and running in one year, and will expand its services over three years.

Thanks may go in part to the Y2K issue, which Suter calls "a bit providential," because it has been a wake-up call to nonprofits. Preparing their hardware and software for 2000 has forced nonprofits to address their overall use of technology and their need for new equipment.

Suter still is working on a budget for the new center, and will seek funding from local businesses and foundations.

The new center's technical staff will be paid competitive salaries, says Hanback, who also is working with three local universities to create opportunities for students to work as interns at the center.

Nonprofits have tended to ignore tech funding in their budgets, and haven't had technical people on staff, she says. Even if money is budgeted for hardware, training expense is rarely included. Hanback says many nonprofits may fear that staff members with tech training will seek higher-paying jobs elsewhere.

The bottom line, she says, is that nonprofits must be technologically proficient to fulfill their mission and secure support. They also can no longer be willing to accept donations of out-of-date technology.

"This is no longer optional because that's the world we live in," she says.

Cathy Stevens can be reached at
Cathy.Stevens@furman.edu