Nonprofits on the honor roll or dropping out?

I remember when I was in school, if students complained about being bored in class the teacher would respond that a class can only move as quickly as its slowest student.  (I’m ignoring the fact that I went to school in the boonies of Oregon with very limited resources and staff, at least for sake of argument here.)

Is this the same concept at work in the nonprofit sector with new media?  Yes, there are terrific examples out there of nonprofits making videos to tell their stories for them, enabling their websites to become go-to news and information portals, producing messages/causes that get picked up by individuals all around the world to fundraise for them.  BUT, many of the nonprofits that I work with are still struggling with the idea that a website is not a parking lot of information that only needs updating maybe once a year.

Is the struggle facing the nonprofit tech community the one of getting everyone up to a certain competency, or to move as fast as the most gifted and see where we can go?

Maybe it’s the day job calling, but I feel a lot of responsibility to get down to basics with those that will more rapidly be left behind, than push the limits with the few straight A kids in the class.

What do you think?

Author: Amy Sample Ward

Amy Sample Ward is trainer, author, and community organizer focused on the intersections of technology and social change. Amy is also the CEO of NTEN, a nonprofit that supports organizations fulfilling their missions through the skillful and racially equitable use of technology.

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