NFPs Becoming More ‘Tech Effective’ - US Study
12 July 2012 at 10:10 am
| Photo: 21stcenturyscholar.org |
A US Not for Profit technology staffing survey has found a sharp increase in the number of organisations with a formal technology plan.
The annual NTEN Nonprofit Technology Staffing and Investments survey reports that more than half (55 per cent) of respondents reported that their organisation has some type of formal technology plan compared to just 40 per cent last year.
The survey looked at benchmarks and data concerning: salaries, outsourcing, organisational structure, and other aspects of Nonprofit Technology practices.
According to the research, organisations who include a formal plan are much more likely to have a higher overall Tech Adoption Level compared to their peers, and will also have a higher "Tech Effectiveness Score”.
On average, respondents’ overall Technology Budget is $3,746.78 per organisational staff, and about 5 per cent of their overall organisational operating budget.
Overall, respondents report having 3.5 technology staff. This varies by organisational size, with small organisations reporting an average of 1.26 tech staff, and very large organisations reporting 8.56.
Nearly 44 per cent of respondent organisations are considering ROI of technology projects or programs at least somewhat. However, the survey found that only 7 per cent are evaluating ROI rigorously or regularly.
The researchers says that when looking at average tenures for technology staff and organisational Tech Adoption levels, they found that no respondent from a struggling organisation reported tenure greater than eight years for any tech staff position, while respondents from leading organisations indicated several positions with more than 10 years of tenure.
There was also an increase this year in the percentage of those indicating that their technology department (or staff person) reported directly to the Executive Director/CEO: 9.4 per cent this year, compared to 39 per cent last year.
New in this year’s report is the Technology Effectiveness score, which gauges an organisation’s current level of technology readiness and effectiveness, based on their resources and use of resources. The highest possible Tech Effectiveness Score is 30. The average score of respondents was 18.27.
