Helping out non-profits and small businesses

Recently, I was asked to help provide my ‘technical knowledge and experience’ to an entity that helps provide a great program for military families (this is not a plug, they aren’t even on my LinkedIn profile yet). It made me realize how much I know about technology in comparison to other people. I am not a genius and I don’t claim to be one, but I have been around the block for a few years and picked up some things. 

My spending a few hours a week advising them has enabled them to devote more cash and resources to their cause, and made me feel that I am making a big difference in people’s lives. I’ve also met some great people.

I started to think about the other ‘techies’ involved and thought that it might be good to put together a primer on low cost or free ways to help, and wanted to share it.

NOTE: My suggestions are based on my own experiences and I’m not affiliated with any of the entities that have made these solutions. I have intentionally not linked to any of the products; I’m just trying to help. Please feel free to add in your own recommendations.

 What many businesses-be they non, not-for or for profit fail to consider is the knowledge a person can bring to help the organization save money, or better yet, not spend it. There are a number of ‘techies’ that believe in causes that support the troops, veterans, the homeless, and more. Offering to help these businesses can make an enormous difference in their lives and yours.

Although some solutions may not entail brand new machines with all the bells and whistles, or top of the line software, there are so many open source solutions available that can help an organization that can be implemented easily.

The Open Source business model is predicated in the assumption that although the software or hardware is free or very low cost, the revenue will come in installation, configuration and consulting services. 

Utilizing the knowledge and manpower of tech volunteers, one can have an amazing system for a fraction of the price. Working with non-profits whose mission you respect and admire is intrinsically rewarding. If you contribute your time, you can make an enormous difference.

Hardware:

I have yet to see a nonprofit that NEEDS the amount of computing power any PC sold in the last 5 years will have. So either buy a used, or refurbished machine from local PC shops or eBay. Granted you can’t watch movies or play games on the machine, while rendering genome sequences, but for documents,  spreadsheets and surfing the web it’s all you need.

Software:

Let’s start by looking at what is needed to run the business. An Operating System (OS), Email, word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software, a graphics editing program, a member database or CRM, bookkeeping, communication tools, a website with bells and whistles are 90% of the needs.

Operating System :

If you must have Microsoft products, then buy a two year old junk PC for $25 and find the Microsoft key for the version of Windows that is licensed to that machine (do not use XP-it’s unsupported and it’s a major security risk). Optionally, see pricing on the Microsoft site for non-profits.

Linux iterations are plentiful, but I’m going to skip that. Yes, I know about Mint, GNOME, KDE, Unity, etc. (the GUIs), but people are resistant to too much change.

Business Software:

There are many free all in one ‘Office’ solutions that have email, word processing, spreadsheets and presentation software - Google probably being the best known, but Zoho offers a very robust solution for $3 a month per user. Other email, word processing, spreadsheets and presentation no cost options include Google Docs, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, FreeOffice, or low cost alternatives can be found with a quick Google Search.

Email:

Outlook.com, mail.com or proton-mail are easy to use, viable options. If your organization has a hosting plan for your website, they should be providing you email as well (maybe for a small fee). Then you just need an email client, like Thunderbird, or eM client.

Browsers:

If you are a Microsoft die-hard, then go use Edge or Internet Explorer. Many people enjoy a faster experience with Chrome and FireFox, and Apple fans use Safari. If you’re concerned about privacy, look at Duck-Duck Go.

Design:

One word: Photopea.com. Free, online (no software to download) version of Adobe’s PhotoShop. There are other programs out there, such as Krita, GIMP, irfanview, Gravit, Vectr and others that are very similar. There may be a very slight learning curve, but it is minor.

Member Database/CRM:

Traditional solutions: MemberPlanet, Zenbership, CiviCRM, Ebase, provide most of what you need, and you can’t go wrong with these. There are others, but beware of ‘free offers’ that only allow you to manage 100 users, then charges per user.

More:

There are other solutions available – Anti-malware solutions, ERP, mailing, and so many others. Great resources for finding them include not just Google, but SourceForge, and Git Repositories. I am sure that people will be able to add to the list, and suggestions or recommendations are welcome.