The Tech That Comes Next

Chapter FiveChanging Technology and Social Impact Funding

With the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic in March of 2020, many offices cleared out as usual on a Friday—but then no one returned the next Monday. Almost overnight, millions of people across sectors and industries transitioned to working virtually and remotely—a work style that had long been resisted by many managers. This nearly spontaneous phenomenon was enabled by technology. But for many social impact organizations, especially those working at a local scale and through close community interaction, moving to a virtual model simply wasn't possible in one night or one week, because the technology tools and the organization's skills and strategies with them weren't positioned effectively for staff to pick up working from wherever they may be.

During the early weeks of the pandemic, NTEN hosted free, public, online office hours for staff in social impact organizations as well as consultants, technology providers, and funders to ask questions and share tips as many organizations were struggling with their new work realities. The questions received ranged widely—from a nonprofit employee in Alaska wondering if it was “allowed” for staff to work on their personal smartphones, to an organization in Washington, DC, looking to migrate their full office to the cloud, to a global organization seeking example equipment stipend policies. These conversations led to funders inquiring about their own staff's most pressing needs, as ...