On Demand Seminars Now Available: Nonprofit Technology Consulting Skills Register Here Read Technical Requirements Read More About On-Demand Seminars "On Demand" means that this seminar is available anytime that works best in your schedule. Also included is a 30 minute phone consultation with the instructor, so you can ask questions and get feedback on your particular situation.

 

Detailed Content Description | Related Reading | Faculty | Delivery Options
 

The field of nonprofit technology consulting has grown and evolved enormously in the last few years. One of the essential tensions in the field is the sense that technology consultants, in order to do their job responsibly, have to become communication and management consultants as well. As nonprofits get more sophisticated and the technology develops to address mission critical needs, this tension is only getting worse. These seminars will address that tension head on, by identifying appropriate roles in the consulting process and by helping technology consultants ground their work in the communication needs of the organizations they serve.
 

The seeds of success and failure of a nonprofit technology project are planted during the planning process. Although more and more wise consultants are insisting on planning, most of the time this planning, however well intentioned, is deeply flawed. But the flaws may never fully come to light, so it's easy to just keep repeating the same mistakes, because they come so naturally. This seminar will cover:

• specific tools for understanding the communication needs of the organization
• models for requirements documents that empower both you and your client
• addressing how clients encourage bad behaviors in consultants
• consulting skills that help clients be more proactive and responsible in their role
• defining your own role clearly.

This seminar is right for you if you are expected to manage technology projects for nonprofits and especially if you have a role in technology planning.
 

One of the biggest frustrations facing technology consultants is resistance. Sometimes resistance emerges early on and sometimes it only emerges late in the process of implementation. Sometimes the resistance comes from the top and sometimes from the front lines. Sometimes it is active and clear and sometimes it is altogether passive aggressive. Regardless of the pattern, it's frustrating for advocates, planners, and implementors. This seminar will cover:

• key steps for dissolving resistance during the planning process
• techniques for helping clients articulate objections and concerns
• creating agreements about technology that last
• how not to be a naive technology evangelist
• the myth of technophobia

This seminar is right for you if you've ever been disappointed in a client's support for a project, if you have ever overpromised or underdelivered, or if you have a strategic interest in cultivating more forward thinking nonprofit clients.
 

Nonprofit technologists face a lot of failure, at least if we measure by some of their more ambitious hopes and promises. Some of these failures are inevitable, because we are still in an experimental phase of the development of our field. But some are clearly due to flaws in the projects themselves, and these can be prevented or mitigated. This seminar will cover:

• the five major problem areas
• the most common and preventable flaws
• how to responsibly address project flaws after the fact
• lack of essential change management components and how to restore them
• improper staffing and mismanaged commitments

This seminar is right for you if you work on many technology projects and you are in a position to see patterns in them and act on them, or if you want to be aware of those common patterns and minimize their impact on you or the project.
 

Here are a few related articles by Michael Gilbert. They are listed in chronological order.

• An Open Letter to Nonprofit Technology Funders
• The Role of the Executive Director in Nonprofit Technology
• The Permeable Organization
• Asking the Wrong Questions: Challenging Technocentrism in Nonprofit Technology Planning
• A Stack of Problems: Five Ways Tech Projects Fail

 

These seminars will be taught by Michael C. Gilbert, the author of Communication Centered Technology Planning, the only book of its kind for this profession. He was the Founding President of the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network, the professional association for nonprofit technology consultants and staff. He is the Editor of Nonprofit Online News, the longest running online newsletter covering civil society and the Internet. For more information about Mr. Gilbert, please see his bio.
 

Our pre-packaged online seminar here consists of three 90 minute sessions.

Live Online Seminars: These are presented at a scheduled date & time, broadcast live, and include live Q&A time with the instructor. Live online seminars presented by The Gilbert Center are open registration seminars, which means that anyone can attend. Please see our calendar for upcoming events. You can also read technical requirements and other basic facts for this seminar delivery option. (Please note that our calendar of live seminars only goes out a couple of months and not all topics will show up there.)

On-Demand Online Seminars: On-demand means you can attend at a time that is most convenient for your schedule. It consists of the recordings of the most recent live presentation, and comes packaged with a 30 minute phone consultation with the instructor so you can ask questions about the seminar materials and how they can best be put to use in your particular situation. You can also read technical requirements and other basic facts for this seminar delivery option. The catalog of seminars available on-demand is listed down the right-hand side of that same page, and also the calendar page. (Please note that not all topics are available yet for on-demand viewing. See the On-Demand Info page for a complete list of current options.)

Private In-House Sessions: If you have a group of people to whom you would like to offer training, please consider our private, in-house seminars. Which means you can hire us to present this and any of the seminars listed on this site, as well as custom sessions, for your group privately; online or in person at your location. Please contact us for more information if you're interested.

 

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