Community Youth Center, San Francisco

Computers, printers, and Internet connectivity can make a huge difference to a nonprofit, enabling new modes of outreach, research, and communication. But the way computer systems are set up and maintained can make all the difference between technology that causes problems and technology that helps an organization achieve its mission.

Community Youth Center (formerly known as Chinatown Youth Center), based in San Francisco, was established in 1970 to deal with the problems affecting the area's Asian youth. With its many programs, it now helps its clients face complex challenges including family conflict over acculturation, difficulties in school, economic hardship, and increasing gang membership. Programs also include substance abuse prevention, domestic violence prevention and education, higher education/financial aid counseling, and services assisting recently arrived immigrants as they transition into the public school system.

CYC's Technology Challenge

In the summer of 2002, CYC had eight computers to help its 16 staff members conduct research, communicate, share files, and maintain its Web site. The computers were mostly old (Pentium 166 or 200) and many had problems due to virus infestations and spyware. Only five of the computers were connected to the Internet, and three of those had to share one dial-up account. The computers were not networked, making file sharing awkward. Only one machine was connected to the printer.

This set-up made many office tasks cumbersome and slow: staff had to wait in line for up to one hour to get on the Internet or to print, since these tasks involved interrupting the person with access.

The existing Internet connection was slow, which made complex research activities difficult. Staff members resorted to conducting research after work from home, often to find themselves in a catch-22 because while they were now able to find the information they needed, they didn't have printer access on their home computers and couldn't take their research back to work with them.

Because of all these problems, communication with the organization's constituency was mostly limited to postal mail.

In addition to the technological problems, CYC was also facing a number of additional organizational challenges: The organization was in the process of looking for a new executive director and considering moving. It had also recently changed its e-mail and Web host. Volunteers were managing crucial aspects of technology such as the Web site, causing continuity problems when they left the organization.

Planning for Better Technology

CYC's board and staff recognized that installing a network was crucial. When it was informed by United Way about the Teaming For Technology Program, it gladly accepted the offer for help. Sponsored by the United Way of the Bay Area and IBM, this program assists Bay Area nonprofits in using technology effectively to increase the impact of their work in the low-income communities they serve. CompuMentor acts as Teaming for Technology's technology expert, providing a consulting services team to work with participating agencies.

Board members, staff, and the technology team had discussed the option of installing a wireless network, which would offer more flexibility in the current location and would also ensure that the network would not have to be rewired after a move. The organization went ahead and purchased some wireless cards.

CompuMentor began work with CYC at this time, and was asked to install the wireless cards. But each computer had a different problem, and what should have been a 20-hour project quickly escalated into many more hours of work. Fortunately, when the consultant was fixing some minor networking problems at another CYC site he realized that these other computers had wireless cards that were not being used. After confirming that the cards would not be needed, the consultant pulled the internal wireless cards and got them working in short order at the main office.

CompuMentor also recommended that the organization review its existing technology management practices, tools, and training to ensure a high standard of ongoing technology support. This would allow the organization to stabilize the technology it used daily so staff could focus on the important mission-driven work they was doing. And by taking care of the day-to-day problems, CYC staff would be free to plan for technology at a higher level.

Lessons Learned

The biggest challenge CYC faced in its wireless project was making inexpensive wireless cards work with its older computers. Although CYC was lucky to have found the solution to this challenge within the organization, this happened because key people recognized the technology resources that were already available -- a skill CYC is now adept at. The organization learned that one of the most important aspects of technology management is knowing what you have and what state it is in. It has also learned to evaluate technology upgrades not only by price, but also on compatibility with existing systems. CYC has now grown to a size where people on staff can be dedicated to managing and planning for technology.

But the organization wasn't the only group that learned something: the technology consultant learned a somewhat painful lesson in pride. Although he had doubts about using the cards in the older computers, he thought he could make them work. By trusting to his tinkering skills instead of his planning and project management skills, he only bought himself hours of frustration. The job of consultants is often to question a client's assumptions, trust past experiences about what is feasible, and keep site of the project timeline. Many hours of work are worth more than a few inexpensive wireless cards.

CYC Today

Work goes much faster at CYC these days. Staff can access a printer whenever they need one instead of waiting in line for an hour. Where the organization was communicating with its constituency by postal mail, it now has an e-mail list of 100 recipients -- saving time and money. When it hosts events, it now sends out Evite invitations to events -- which also saves money and allows the organization to more accurately predict who will attend.

The organization has high-speed Internet access on nine computers (including five that were recent donations), which speeds up research and other online tasks. The staff is able to share files and communicate easily over e-mail. The Web site, which was managed mainly by volunteers, can now be updated by staff.

Overall, the organization has estimated that the changes have saved each staff member up to an hour of waiting each day. Staff are able to finalize projects without being interrupted by others for print jobs or interrupting others.

While the process was not without a few bumps, the experience was a valuable one for an organization that now understands the value of technology planning and can concentrate more on helping its constituents, and for a consultant that has been reminded to trust his own experience and keep the big picture in mind.