10 Nonprofit Tech Facts You Should Know

When determining your own nonprofit’s budget or goals, it is often helpful to understand what others around you are doing. It can give context and parameters to your own thoughts and plans. That’s why benchmarks and other industry reports are so helpful.

The Nonprofit Technology Network recently published their 6^th annual Nonprofit Technology Staffing & Investments Survey Report. It is 54 pages of nptech goodness that can help your organization. You should download the report now. To whet your whistle, let me share what I found most interesting.

10 Facts from the Nonprofit Technology Staffing & Investments Survey Report

1. “On average, respondents’ overall Technology Budget is $3,746.78 per organizational staff, and about 5% of their overall organizational operating budget.”
2. “We saw a significant increase in the percentage of respondents reporting that they have a formal technology plan (or that technology is part of their organizational strategic plan): 55% reported “yes,” compared to just 40% last year.”
3. “…the ratio of organizational staff to tech staff has increased significantly. Last year, for example, we reported that the average number of tech staff to organizational staff for all respondents was 34, compared to this year’s overall average of 60.”
4. “Most tech tasks were reported as taking less than 2 hours per week.”
5. CIO/CTO salaries range from an average of $82,499.50 (Western and Southeastern US and outside of the US) to an average of $163,571.29 (Mid Atlantic US).
6. The average total tech budget ranges from $13,730.53 to $1,284,895.89 and increases with organization size.
7. However “variance between organizational size categories diminishes when comparing Technology Budgets per organizational staff, which suggests that this could be a valuable metric for organizations to use to gauge their own investments.”
8. Most nonprofit organizations house their technology staff in a separate IT department (27.5%) or as part of general operations or administration (31.3%). About half the time (49.4%), the technology-responsible person or department reports to the ED/CEO.
9. “About 68% of respondents from leading organizations indicated that their organizations measure ROI at least somewhat.” If your organization is not currently measuring the ROI of technology, this could be an excellent way to advance your tech strategy
10. When asked about technology satisfaction “respondents felt least confident about having enough training for their staff to use the tools effectively.”

To comment on fact #10 for a minute, identifying this challenge presents an incredible opportunity for a nonprofit organization. You can develop your staff members and their effectiveness by dedicating time and budget to improving their technical training. This will not only lend itself to better mission fulfillment but can help you stand out as an employment option in your community.

If you are now chomping at the bit to learn more and see how your nonprofit’s technology use and investment stacks up, download the full report and take advantage of NTEN’s slick Nonprofit Technology Benchmarking Tool. The benchmarking tool will digest your organization’s info and then show you exactly how you stack up. It is an excellent way to identify areas where you are excelling and others where you can beef up to be more competitive.

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