Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

It won’t be a surprise that AI is on everyone’s mind. Matt also shared some thoughts on some year end cybersecurity tips and maintenance to ensure your cybersecurity practices – and permissions – are up to date.

Nonprofit Cybersecurity expert and Community IT CTO Matt Eshleman offered these year-end cybersecurity tips.

If you find yourself with a little downtime, what should you work on?

The Gala is back! If your nonprofit is focused on an end of the year fundraising event, you may find yourself and your IT team with a little extra time on your hands this December as the rest of your staff are pulled away from their desks and are calling the help desk less frequently. Carolyn Woodard reviewed our recent webinars and podcasts for advice on what projects you might want to start now to be ready to hit the ground running in the...

Are you feeling burned out? 
Nonprofit IT can be exhausting. Learn how to de-stress to better tackle your job and help your nonprofit succeed.

There is so much stress in managing nonprofit IT. 

There are conflicting agendas, tight budgets, and unrealistic demands. 
A lot of us have been burned by IT projects in the past that still give us nightmares. The tool was expensive, required a huge project to implement, took a ton of time, didn’t work, everyone hated it, the training was terrible, and the vendor or consultants or your boss left...

Do you have an IT roadmap at your nonprofit? 
As a nonprofit leader, how can you design an IT roadmap to create value for your organization?

On October 3, 2024 the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership partnered with Community IT Innovators to provide a workshop: Design an IT Roadmap to Create Value for Your Nonprofit.

To fully utilize the power of IT to support your nonprofit, you need to have a plan. View the workshop video to learn the steps to create your own IT roadmap and incorporate IT strategy into your leadership and budget p...

Las mejores prácticas para organizar sus archivos en la nube para lograr seguridad y eficiencia.

La organización de archivos en la nube es algo que puede parecer una prioridad menor, en particular con el aumento de las herramientas de búsqueda potentes y ahora con el auge de la búsqueda con inteligencia artificial (IA). Carolyn habló con el invitado Norwin Herrera, IT Business Manager Team Lead de Community IT, para responder a preguntas sobre por qué es importante crear un sistema de organización de archivos, tanto para una may...

Best practices on organizing your files in the cloud for security and efficiency.

Cloud files organization is something that can seem like a low priority, particularly with the rise of strong search tools and now with the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) search. Carolyn spoke with guest Norwin Herrera, IT Business Manager, to answer questions about why it’s important to create a file organization system, both for increased cybersecurity in the world of AI, and for the productivity and efficiency of your staff. Cloud file organization tips include prioritizing the project, clearly labeling files, and creating st...

Is your nonprofit struggling to understand cybersecurity fundamentals? 
Are you unsure what level of protection you need or can afford?

In part 1, Matt discussed the cybersecurity landscape for nonprofits and some of the changes that prompted this update to the Playbook. In pt 2, Matt walks through the "foundational" suggestions and takes audience questions.

October is Cybersecurity month! Community IT Chief Technology Officer Matt Eshleman walked through our revised Playbook on Cybersecurity Readiness for Nonprofits in a webinar designed to get your nonprofit prepped to face cyberliability insurance requirements and ever-evolving threats. 

Learn th...

Is your nonprofit struggling to understand cybersecurity fundamentals? 
Are you unsure what level of protection you need or can afford?

In part 1, Matt discussed the cybersecurity landscape for nonprofits and some of the changes that prompted this update to the Playbook. In pt 2, Matt walks through the "foundational" suggestions and takes audience questions.

October is Cybersecurity month! Community IT Chief Technology Officer Matt Eshleman walked through our revised Playbook on Cybersecurity Readiness for Nonprofits in a webinar designed to get your nonprofit prepped to face cyberliability insurance requirements and ever-evolving threats. 

Le...

Best practices on improving data security, making the case for creating the policies, and the impact of AI on data security.

Carolyn speaks with guest Jeff Gibson from Build Consulting to answer questions about why data is important to nonprofits, how your data can get really widely distributed in different tools in different departments, and why it is important to do an audit and assessment to know what data you have. 

Do you know where your data risks lie? Do you know you are in compliance with laws and your internal policies? Do you h...

How do you track your subscriptions and licenses? Why is it important to know who has which subscription at your nonprofit? 

Many clients come to Community IT experiencing difficulty tracking IT inventory. In addition to tracking physical hardware, laptops, and devices, nonprofits also can find it difficult to track licenses and software subscriptions to cloud-based apps and IT tools. 

The rise in cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) models has led to ease of use. It is really easy to sign up for a subscription to many IT tools and platforms that can help productivity and benefit your no...

What do you need to do now to track your inventory? Why do you need to track inventory - and why isn't there a killer app for that yet?

A significant number of clients come to Community IT without any inventory tracking at all. Besides being a financial risk this is a clear security risk - especially if you have no system in place to off-board staff who leave your nonprofit but keep their laptop and access to private files and business subscriptions.

Why is it so hard to track inventory if you are a...

Have you ever used a skills matrix in IT change management at your nonprofit?

In pt 1, Heather describes a typical IT Skills Matrix and how you create one, and responds to audience questions. In podcast part 2, she delves into identifying stakeholders and gives several examples of when and how to use a Skills Matrix to build and empower your team.

Do you know your super-users and early adopters? Your champions and ambassadors? Do you know who on your staff will happily and reliably use the tool exactly as trained vs your staffer who...

Have you ever used a skills matrix in IT change management at your nonprofit?

In pt 1, Heather describes a typical IT Skills Matrix and how you create one, and responds to audience questions. In podcast part 2, she delves into identifying stakeholders and gives several examples of when and how to use a Skills Matrix to build and empower your team.

Do you know your super-users and early adopters? Your champions and ambassadors? Do you know who on your staff will happily and reliably use the tool exactly as trained vs your staffer who...

Tiff Parker is an expert in Google Workspace support, having used Google Workspace herself throughout her career and developing a practice as an in-house expert to our clients who use Google Workspace. Carolyn asked Tiff for her tips on features to use and things to know about Google Workspace at the office.

The takeaways: 

Senior Consultant Nura Aboki explores best practices on supporting one or two Macs when everyone else is on Windows laptops.

Nura and Carolyn discussed the ins and outs of supporting a few staff members and managing a few Macs, whether in a Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace environment. 

The days of leaving your Mac users to manage their own devices are long gone – current cybersecurity risks require full management of ALL your end users. You might try to get all your staff on the same laptops, but Mac users really love their Macs and are reluctant to...

Does your organization struggle to match your IT to your actual business needs? 
Learn how to right size your IT and get rid of FOMO.

In pt 1, Johan, Pat and Carolyn discuss Tech FOMO and the reasons nonprofits are susceptible to feeling it. They ask the webinar audience about their last new tech implementations and explore everyone’s current FOMO, AI. In part 2, Pat walks us through an IT decision making pathway (which you can download below) and Johan answers audience questions.

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is a natural human condition. And when it...

Does your organization struggle to match your IT to your actual business needs? 
Learn how to right size your IT and get rid of FOMO.

In pt 1, Johan, Pat and Carolyn discuss Tech FOMO and the reasons nonprofits are susceptible to feeling it. They ask the webinar audience about their last new tech implementations and explore everyone’s current FOMO, AI. In part 2, Pat walks us through an IT decision making pathway (which you can download below) and Johan answers audience questions.

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is a natural human condition. And when it...

The pace of new AI tools and uses on the market is like a rocket. Does your nonprofit have questions about cybersecurity, opting out, or best practices when using AI? 

Microsoft released a new AI Governance Framework for Nonprofits joining many institutions putting out guidelines and studying the impact of AI on nonprofits and the ways nonprofits are using AI. Many nonprofits are approaching AI very cautiously, or may not have developed policies yet to use AI securely. Or your nonprofit may have ethical questions about using AI at all.

How do you even attempt t...

Are you a new board member hoping to help your nonprofit navigate IT management? 

Do you know what you need to know about IT, cybersecurity, and change management as a board member? 

Where is your nonprofit on the scale of IT management maturity? 

In this podcast Marketing Director Carolyn Woodard, who has served as an IT Director at nonprofits in her career, shares best practices and her thoughts on the importance of

Whether or not your nonprofit faced Crowdstrike impacts, the aftermath of a national or worldwide incident is a great time to gather your cybersecurity team and run the exercise: what will your organization do during the next outage or cyber attack? 

Nonprofit Cybersecurity expert Matt Eshleman shares his thoughts in this podcast on the importance of

In part 2, we discuss Single Sign On (SSO) implementation and roll out, and answer questions from the webinar audience.

In part 1, our guests Steve Longenecker and Phil Oswald Christano define SSO and go over what it does and doesn't do. We discuss the unfortunate fact that each app interacts with SSO differently so you have to enable it for each app. However, if you use Google or Microsoft you already have some basic tools to implement SSO.

If you have heard about Single Sign On (SSO) and wondered what it can do for...

If you have heard about Single Sign On (SSO) and wondered what it can do for your nonprofit, this webinar explains the concept and examines the ways that SSO can help your organization be more productive and work more safely online.

In part 1, our guests Steve Longenecker and Phil Oswald Christano define SSO and go over what it does and doesn't do. We discuss the unfortunate fact that each app interacts with SSO differently so you have to enable it for each app. However, if you use Google or Microsoft you already have...

What do the acronyms SFP, DKIM, and DMARC mean, and why do you need to prove your email is legit?

If you have been hearing these terms lately about your email or your cybersecurity liability insurance checklist, and don’t know your DKIM from your DMARC, you aren’t alone! Carolyn sat down with CEO Johan Hammerstrom to demystify the lingo and learn about the latest requirements for ensuring emails from your domain look legit to other inboxes, and how that helps protect your nonprofit now and in the future. 

Deliverability requirements are changing, so if yo...

What does it mean to be a learning organization and how can you grow learning practices at your nonprofit?

In pt 1 Karen defined a Learning Organization and explored struggles to embrace learning at your nonprofit. In pt 2 Karen discusses the categories of learning technologies that can help nonprofits organize their learning management, and gave us tips on implementing learning strategies at our organizations.

Karen Graham has more than 20 years in senior nonprofit leadership, and a broad knowledge of trends and best practices in technology, leadership, and organizational development. Formerly head of Idealware, a research institution...

What does it mean to be a learning organization and how can you grow learning practices at your nonprofit?

In pt 1 Karen defines a Learning Organization and explored struggles to embrace learning at your nonprofit. In pt 2 Karen discusses the categories of learning technologies that can help nonprofits organize their learning management, and gave us tips on implementing learning strategies at our organizations.

Karen Graham has more than 20 years in senior nonprofit leadership, and a broad knowledge of trends and best practices in technology, leadership, and organizational development. Formerly head of Idealware, a research institution...

In today’s interview, Carolyn talks with Vince Grady, the new Community IT Chief Financial Officer (CFO) who is 8 months into the job. Vince and Carolyn discuss his roundabout path to the CFO role, and how a diversity of backgrounds is common at Community IT and valued as one of our strengths – not all our employees have followed a typical path and that helps us connect with our nonprofit clients who often also have non-conventional backgrounds, education, and careers.

Vince also comments on the value of mentors in his career, and he and Carolyn discuss steps to find...

Listen to this conversation with Carole Melvin from Your Part Time Controller (YPTC) and catch up on the current thinking on preventing financial fraud as scams seem to multiply all around us in our jobs at nonprofits.

Learn what new frauds and scams are evolving and how to protect yourself and your nonprofit. Some key takeaways:

Cultivate a healthy dose of skepticism and use common sense. 

Utilize analog and off-line verification best practices. 

Stay curious and aware of new threats. 

Don’t be ashamed if you fell for a fraud...

In today’s interview, Carolyn talks with Rob Schamberg about his long service on the Community IT Board helping steer the company through the process to become employee-owned through the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and to his recent retirement from the Board.

Rob describes his career from his days as a college grad who loved technology and the outdoors, through teaching and becoming Principal and Superintendent at various California public schools, to joining the Forum for Youth Investment in Washington DC. It was at the Forum that he met Community IT folks, and was asked to se...

Pt 3 delves deeper into implementation, roll out, and overcoming barriers to updating or creating IT governance policies at your nonprofit.

In this podcast follow up to their webinar, Community IT Senior Consultant Nura Aboki and guest Jeff Gibson from Build Consulting spoke with moderator Carolyn Woodard and shared their experiences and insights into the difficulties rolling out your updated policies. How can you overcome barriers like fear or inertia and see this process as an opportunity for your leadership to bring staff together around shared values, and not an onerous chore? What are good ways to get...

Pt 2 covers implementation, overcoming barriers to this project, and Q&A. Pt 1 Covers policy definitions and priority policies, a process to create or revise your policies, and 2 polls.

For templates: Free Resources for Building IT Policies at Nonprofits has a ton of links for you.

Community IT Senior Consultant Nura Aboki and guest Jeff Gibson from Build Consulting took your questions on where to find nonprofit IT policy templates, how to overcome barriers and modify the templates to your organizational needs and strategic goals, and how to get the stakeholders on board and roll out t...

Pt 1 Covers policy definitions and priority policies, a process to create or revise your policies, and 2 polls. Pt 2 covers implementation, overcoming barriers to this project, and Q&A.

For templates: Free Resources for Building IT Policies at Nonprofits has a ton of links for you.

Community IT Senior Consultant Nura Aboki and guest Jeff Gibson from Build Consulting took your questions on where to find nonprofit IT policy templates, how to overcome barriers and modify the templates to your organizational needs and strategic goals, and how to get the stakeholders on board and roll out...

What are the main ways AI impacts nonprofit cybersecurity risks?

Social engineering, trust, and data risks are the three big areas where AI will have impacts on cybersecurity at nonprofits that you need to be aware of. Whether or not your organization is using AI, these are areas where hackers are definitely using AI to devise new methods of attack.

Matt Eshleman, CTO at Community IT, recommends creating policies that address the way your staff uses AI – if you haven’t updated your Acceptable Use policies recently, AI concerns are a good reason to do t...

How to Protect Your Organization Against New Threats

Following the 2024 Nonprofit Cybersecurity Incident Report, Carolyn sat down with Matt Eshleman, our Chief Technology Officer and cybersecurity expert, and José Antonio Peña-Rosales, our Director of Support Services, to talk about what users can do to stay safe and share some cybersecurity updates for nonprofits.

When should you report something or submit a ticket? (Right away is the correct answer!)
How can you tell if an email is legit? (Consider the address but also consider the content. Be suspicious!)
What should you do if yo...

Community IT CTO and cybersecurity expert Matt Eshleman delivers our report on trend lines and took questions live in this popular webinar.

In pt 2 Matt goes into the report data and pulls out new and disturbing attacks, and finishes up with the best ways to protect yourself, especially from Attacker-in-the-Middle MFA attacks. In pt 1 he explores a systematic approach to cybersecurity for your nonprofit, talks about the big picture trends, takes a couple of audience polls on what type of incidents are common, and demystifies some lingo. 

Is your nonprofit prepared?

D...

Community IT CTO and cybersecurity expert Matt Eshleman delivers our report on trend lines and took questions live in this popular webinar.

In pt 1 we explore a systematic approach to cybersecurity for your nonprofit, talk about the big picture trends, take a couple of audience polls on what type of incidents are common, and demystify some lingo. In pt 2 Matt goes into the report data and pulls out new and disturbing attacks, and finishes up with the best ways to protect yourself, especially from Attacker-in-the-Middle MFA attacks.

Is your nonprofit prepared?

...

How can your nonprofit avoid common headaches with the free Google Workspace implementation as you grow? 

So many small nonprofits start out using the free Google Workspace platform you can set up and administer yourself. Google makes it easy! But as you grow from a one- or two-person nonprofit to a larger team you may be wondering if Google Workspace is professional enough, and whether it can handle more complex IT needs. And what about volunteers and others who need to access your files – is Google secure? What are best practices on setting up and administering Google Wor...

Ethics, AI Tools, and Policies. How is Your Philanthropy Using AI?

Part 1 of this podcast introduced basic AI concepts and definitions and gave some practical examples of nonprofits very intentionally using AI  to further their mission. It ended with results of a poll of the audience members and discussion on how nonprofits are using AI tools - individually, organization-wide, and/or to perform their mission.

In Part 2, Sarah and Jean delve  deeper into the AI Framework they have developed, to walk the audience through organizational, ethical, and technical considerations, and discuss the policies that ideally yo...

Ethics, AI Tools, and Policies. How is Your Philanthropy Using AI?

Community IT was thrilled to welcome two respected leaders, Sarah Di Troia from Project Evident and Jean Westrick from Technology Association of Grantmakers, who shared their informed perspective on AI in philanthropy to share this AI Framework with our audience. You will not want to miss this discussion.

As society grapples with the increasing prevalence of AI tools, the “Responsible AI Adoption in Philanthropy” guide from Project Evident and the Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG) provides pragmatic guidance and a holistic evaluation framework for gran...

How to Protect Your Inbox and Your Sanity

Are you getting more unwelcome email lately? From junk emails, to annoying advertising, to malicious phishing, it can feel like the tools that keep our inboxes spam free aren’t working as well lately.

Johan Hammerstrom, our CEO, answers Carolyn’s questions about email safety. 

How do you know which unsubscribe links are legitimate, how do you flag spam, how do you report phishing emails? 

Get some helpful and practical tips on cleaning out your subscriptions and protect yourself and your organization.

...

Do you know if you are in technology debt or investing at the right level in your nonprofit IT?

Senior Consultant Nura Aboki sat down with Carolyn Woodard recently and discussed his work as a senior consultant and the strategic responses he sees as the most successful across his clients. You can benefit from these tips no matter the size or technology comfort at your organization. Assessments can help you determine the IT maturity level of your nonprofit and help you invest accordingly.

IT maturity is not a judgment call. The chart included on our...

Join Matt Eshleman, a cybersecurity expert, in a short presentation on AI, new AI tools for nonprofits, some use cases, things to watch out for, new cybersecurity fraud and scams enabled by AI, and ways to protect your organization. 

In this video, you will learn to

This video is designed for nonprofit executives and financial professionals in nonprofits, from CFOs to accountants. If you w...

Guest speaker Tim Lockie from The Human Stack in a workshop focused on smaller nonprofits struggling to manage IT.

In pt 1, Tim describes the tactical issues nonprofits face in trying to work with tech tools. In pt 2, Tim walks through the different mis-alignments that leadership and "boots on the ground" staff can have, and ways to overcome them. He gives a roadmap of where to start and how to keep going.

Tim Lockie has been in nonprofits and tech for over 20 years. Over the last decade, he founded Now IT Matters and The Human Stack...