Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

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 Learn about AI and what nonprofits need to know about AI Use cases for AI at your nonprofit New cybersecurity fraud and scams enabled...

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...

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...

Excerpts from CEO Johan Hammerstrom's appearance on a panel hosted by NXUnite on strategic nonprofit tech decision making. Full video and transcript available on our site: https://communityit.com/panel-dialing-in-being-strategic-about-nonprofit-tech/ Nonprofit organizations often grapple with limited resources and outdated technology, limiting their ability to make a difference.  In today’s f...

Today Carolyn interviews Jenny Huftalen, Director of Client Services on her new role and long history with Community IT.  Jenny has been providing Account Management services for Community IT’s partner organizations since 2007. Now as Director of Client Services, she is responsible for ensuring those partner organizations are receiving the right combination of IT support services that meet their o...

How to Communicate to Create a Great Relationship Community IT gets this type of question a lot from nonprofits in our community: My MSP doesn’t talk to me about what they are doing and why their rates have gone up. How can I talk to them to understand what they are doing, when I don’t have a technical background? Johan Hammerstrom , our CEO, addresses communication issues, consolidation and priva...

Part 2 explores cybersecurity, Google Workspace v Office365 for nonprofits, and hybrid work considerations. In Part 1 our panel discussed AI and the impacts of new AI tools and considerations on nonprofits. We also released a free new AI Acceptable Use Policy Template for nonprofits. Join CTO Matthew Eshleman, Director of IT Consulting Steve Longenecker, and IT Business Manager Team Lead Norwin He...

How is your organization using AI? What policies do you need?  Join CTO Matthew Eshleman, Director of IT Consulting Steve Longenecker, and IT Business Manager Team Lead Norwin Herrera, moderated by Carolyn Woodard from Community IT, in part 1 of a lively and specific discussion of all things nonprofit tech for 2024 and beyond. Part one focuses on the impact of AI on nonprofits, including a free ne...

In today’s interview, Carolyn talks with Bill Evans, who is retiring as CFO after 14 years. After a long career at Verizon where he held both operations and finance roles, Bill realized he was ready for a new challenge, and started looking around for a nonprofit where he could assist with his finance expertise as a CFO. Community IT is a 100% employee-owned business, an ESOP , and the job opening...

Robin Harris is a Cloud Technologies Specialist at Community IT. She primarily works with clients who are moving files into SharePoint, from a server, from another cloud-based file sharing service like Dropbox or Google Drive, or creating a file sharing database for the first time. Today she shares some tips from her years of helping many clients who have faced this daunting task, and helps us bre...

What topics should we expect to be important next year?  In a New Year’s Eve tradition, Carolyn asked Community IT senior staff to weigh in on the most important and/or under-reported tech stories that impact nonprofit technology. While many of these stories are not under-reported, widely reported mainstream tech stories often have particular or unexpected impacts on the nonprofit sector. We’re fo...

Matt Eshleman, Community IT CTO and cybersecurity expert , sat down with Carolyn recently to discuss what he's hearing about and expecting from AI in the upcoming year. In his role as CTO he interacts with all of our clients and also plays a foundational role in adopting new technologies internally at Community IT.  Carolyn wanted to know what questions clients have, particularly about the wa...

Carolyn Woodard sat down with Senior Consultant Nura Aboki recently and asked “What’s the most pressing question you are seeing from your mid-market clients around nonprofit IT needs?” Nura quickly answered: Policies .   Astonishingly, many larger nonprofits he works with either don’t have basic IT policies for Acceptable Use and Business Continuity, or they have outdated policies that don’t adequ...

In today’s interview, Carolyn talks with Erik Fernandez, who is an IT Business Manager at Community IT and has been with us for nine years.  IT Business Managers are a unique aspect of account management at Community IT. They have senior technical expertise but also business and strategic knowledge. ITBMs function as a general strategic IT advisor; a liaison between our clients and our internal de...

Manage Printers in a Nonprofit Office  So many of us are working from home, but when you do come in to the office, there are some IT networked items you need, like A/V and printing.  The big challenge with printers in our hybrid work environment is how to make them easily accessible to staff when they come into the office with their portable laptop. The access to office-located printers must still...

In part 2, Join Gillian Knight from Healthy Communities Foundation for a case study presentation on one of the tools they decided to use for their grant-making process, Asana. She also takes audience Q&A on the process they used to increase equity in their  reporting requirements and process.  After an assessment and listening, they identified technology tools that could help them refine their...

Join Gillian Knight from Healthy Communities Foundation for a case study presentation on the process they used to increase equity in their grant-making process and reporting.  After an assessment and listening, they identified technology tools that could help them refine their work flow and decrease the reporting and evaluation burden on their grantees, while still giving them time to check in and...

“Managed services” can mean different things to different people, especially when you are just embarking on a quest to find a provider. To understand what you need, what a provider is offering – and whether they’ll be able to deliver – Community IT Innovators developed a list of basic questions to ask. Download the white paper here: 12 Questions Nonprofits Should Ask to Evaluate a Managed Service...

In today’s interview, Carolyn talks with Pat Sprehe, who recently was promoted from managing the IT Business Manager team to Director of the internal Information Systems and Technology at Community IT. This is a new position and an example of the ways at Community IT if you see a need, there’s a lot of flexibility to create a role.  Pat has worked his way up at Community IT over 13 years and his c...

Is your data safe? All your data? Join Community IT CTO Matt Eshleman and Build Consulting Partner David Deal for a presentation on data cybersecurity for nonprofits. You may have invested in your basic cybersecurity, but how do you know if your data is as secure as it needs to be? Do you know all the tools you use that store crucial data and how that data is protected Explore best practices to pr...

Is your data safe? All your data? Join Community IT CTO Matt Eshleman and Build Consulting Partner David Deal for a presentation on data cybersecurity for nonprofits. You may have invested in your basic cybersecurity, but how do you know if your data is as secure as it needs to be? Do you know all the tools you use that store crucial data and how that data is protected? Explore best practices to p...

Cybersecurity expert and Community IT CTO Matt Eshleman walks us through the strategy behind creating a strong cybersecurity culture at your nonprofit.  Whether you are a large organization, small start up, comfortable with technology or not sure what you need, cybersecurity is something that everyone at your nonprofit needs to think about. This podcast covers the basics and gives you a foundation...

In today’s interview, Carolyn talks with Luke Casey, one of our IT Business Managers. ITBMs are kind of a strategic planner, IT consultant, and tech expert rolled into one. Luke has 18 years of experience in IT in both the public and private sectors, from starting in the Help Desk to working his way up through Team Leadership positions, System Administration, and IT Project Management before joini...

Join Community IT CEO Johan Hammerstrom and nonprofit AI expert Sarah Di Troia for a conversation about using Artificial Intelligence with ethics both within your organization as staff do their jobs, and with your community as you work with your partners, volunteers, and funders to achieve your mission.  Part 1 covers basics about AI and the ways nonprofits are using AI in innovative ways. Sarah a...

Join Community IT CEO Johan Hammerstrom and nonprofit AI expert Sarah Di Troia for a conversation about using Artificial Intelligence with ethics both within your organization as staff do their jobs, and with your community as you work with your partners, volunteers, and funders to achieve your mission.  Part 1 covers basics about AI and the ways nonprofits are using AI in innovative ways. Sarah a...