Patrick Shaw’s Weblog

As the manager of database and website services at NPower Seattle - my over-arching goal is to move nonprofits towards effective use of technology. I’m working with my team and colleagues at NPower to start defining that - but I DO know that integrating data sources, reducing duplicate data entry and so on are all going to be a part of that definition. That means looking for tools that offer a 360 degree view of your constituents, and providing them with choice regarding how they interact with your content.

What if you were able to segment your donor list, create an html newsletter (and a print one, too), syndicate your content, publish a blog and maybe a podcast - and then the people that wanted that content could get it HOW they wanted it? That sounds pretty effective to me!

And I have a practical example of effective use, too - even though it lands more in the infrastructure area than in data and websites.

I had to travel unexpectedly to Victoria on Friday - and I wasn’t done with some important work. I grabbed my laptop, worked in the car and on the ferry, and when I arrived in Victoria - was able to synch back up to my network at NPower. Unfortunately, I forgot my battery charger - but I was able to borrow a friend’s laptop, set up a remote desktop connection to my home computer, and keep on working - I had all of the tools I needed at my disposal.

You can see that working effectively is getting easier and easier. But that means that the volume of data is growing - and the need for those 360 tools is increasingly important.  At NPower - we’re going to work diligently to define effective use so we can keep helping nonprofits head in that direction!