AI Artificial Intelligence at Nonprofits with Matt Eshleman

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

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1 yıl önce 23:58

MP3•Bölüm sayfası

The pace of new AI tools and uses on the market is like a rocket. Does your nonprofit have questions about cybersecurity, opting out, or best practices when using AI?

Microsoft released a new AI Governance Framework for Nonprofits joining many institutions putting out guidelines and studying the impact of AI on nonprofits and the ways nonprofits are using AI. Many nonprofits are approaching AI very cautiously, or may not have developed policies yet to use AI securely. Or your nonprofit may have ethical questions about using AI at all.

How do you even attempt to opt out of AI tools that are packaged with an update of tools you already use?

How do you communicate with your staff the ethics your organization expects staff to use when using AI?
Nonprofit Cybersecurity expert Matt Eshleman shares his thoughts in this podcast on the importance of AI Artificial Intelligence at nonprofits. Some key takeaways:

Understanding that you can use your organization values about using AI without opting out of everything.
Opting out is difficult as tools you already use add AI enhancements and upgrades. It can be done but must be intentional.
Cybersecurity concerns are valid concerns when using AI.
Understand when an AI is public and your queries and its responses will be part of a public data set, and when an AI tool is private to your own organization’s data.
AI for automation can be a very beneficial add to nonprofit productivity and ability to do more with less.
Having someone or a team at your organization “own” training for secure and productive AI use is a good concept to embrace.
Some nonprofits are very tech-savvy and will be exploring AI uses for mission use cases.
- Almost every nonprofit is going to be using AI for increased productivity unless they plan to be vigilant and intentional about opting out.
Pay attention to the tools and reputation of the vendors.
- Larger organizations have a higher level of reputation to maintain and more resources to spend to get their AI tools right.
- During this AI bubble where so many new vendors are rushing to enter the market, nonprofits should be intentional about vetting new tools and vendors before committing.
- When updating existing tools, research and evaluate and understand the new AI enhancements, and communicate them to staff.
AI will be transformative to the nonprofit and every other sector.

As the Chief Technology Officer at Community IT, Matthew Eshleman leads the team responsible for strategic planning, research, and implementation of the technology platforms used by nonprofit organization clients to be secure and productive. With extensive experience serving nonprofits, Matt also understands nonprofit culture and constraints, and has a history of implementing cost-effective and secure solutions at the enterprise level.

Matt has over 23 years of expertise in cybersecurity, IT support, team leadership, software selection and research, and client support.

Matt holds dual degrees in Computer Science and Computer Information Systems from Eastern Mennonite University, and an MBA from the Carey School of Business at Johns Hopkins University.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

223 bölüm

#Tech #Community IT Innovators #Nonprofit #Nonprofit Technology #Nonprofit Management #Fundraising #Charity #Non-Profit #Business #Communities #Nonprofit Leadership #NGO #MSP #Managed Service #Outsourcing

AI Artificial Intelligence at Nonprofits with Matt Eshleman

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

published 1 yıl önce

Paylaş

MP3•Bölüm sayfası

The pace of new AI tools and uses on the market is like a rocket. Does your nonprofit have questions about cybersecurity, opting out, or best practices when using AI?

How do you even attempt to opt out of AI tools that are packaged with an update of tools you already use?

Understanding that you can use your organization values about using AI without opting out of everything.
Opting out is difficult as tools you already use add AI enhancements and upgrades. It can be done but must be intentional.
Cybersecurity concerns are valid concerns when using AI.
Understand when an AI is public and your queries and its responses will be part of a public data set, and when an AI tool is private to your own organization’s data.
AI for automation can be a very beneficial add to nonprofit productivity and ability to do more with less.
Having someone or a team at your organization “own” training for secure and productive AI use is a good concept to embrace.
Some nonprofits are very tech-savvy and will be exploring AI uses for mission use cases.
- Almost every nonprofit is going to be using AI for increased productivity unless they plan to be vigilant and intentional about opting out.
Pay attention to the tools and reputation of the vendors.
- Larger organizations have a higher level of reputation to maintain and more resources to spend to get their AI tools right.
- During this AI bubble where so many new vendors are rushing to enter the market, nonprofits should be intentional about vetting new tools and vendors before committing.
- When updating existing tools, research and evaluate and understand the new AI enhancements, and communicate them to staff.
AI will be transformative to the nonprofit and every other sector.

Matt has over 23 years of expertise in cybersecurity, IT support, team leadership, software selection and research, and client support.

Matt holds dual degrees in Computer Science and Computer Information Systems from Eastern Mennonite University, and an MBA from the Carey School of Business at Johns Hopkins University.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

223 bölüm

Toate episoadele

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

1
Community IT Voices: Tiff Parker, IT Business Manager 13:21

5 gün önce13:21

13:21

In today’s interview, Carolyn talks with Tiff Parker, an IT Business Manager at Community IT. They talk about her background, how she got into a technology career, and what brought her to Community IT in this role. Tiff reflects on her early interest in GIS Geo Information Systems mapping, her years as an “accidental techie” at a nonprofit with increasingly senior roles and responsibilities as she gained experience and expertise managing nonprofit IT, and her move from nonprofit IT Director to her role now providing technical and strategic guidance to multiple clients. The Community IT ITBM service provides an outsourced IT manager to clients at a reduced cost to hiring and having an IT manager on staff. These managers are a resource dedicated to matching technology solutions to clients’ business needs. To do this well requires an ongoing conversation with the client to continually understand their business needs, and then effective communication with client staff and leadership about the ways specific technology solutions can meet those business needs and how to budget for technology. The ITBM makes recommendations on IT investments, training programs, maintenance, and licenses. They help the client be forward-looking, and act as a vendor-agnostic, trusted advisor with deep knowledge of the nonprofit IT software and platforms available. Because Community IT works in partnership with clients to manage long-term IT needs, the ITBM relationship with the client makes them a true asset. “I’m an IT consultant and I work specifically with nonprofits. I help them leverage technology to meet their mission. …I really love working with the clients. I have a wide variety of all different sizes, different areas they focus on … I might see their name pop up on the news and think “Hey, I’m helping them with their technology.” It’s that nice connecting feeling of helping other people accomplish their great work.”Tiff Parker Tiff Parker joined Community IT Innovators as an IT Business Manager (ITBM) in October 2023. She brings over 17 years of experience working in nonprofit technology. As an ITBM, she guides clients through implementation of effective technology investments and utilizing efficient IT services in direct support of their missions. She also assists clients with long-term planning, budgeting, and strategic goals. Prior to coming to Community IT, Tiff was the IT Director for an environmental nonprofit where she was responsible for the overall vision, planning, implementation, management and support of their various information systems, data, policies, and processes. Tiff graduated from Virginia Tech in 2007. She holds the Microsoft 365 Fundamentals MS 900 certification. _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

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Microsoft Nonprofit Tech Conference Reflections with Ryan Ozimek 30:19

12 gün önce30:19

30:19

What does the future hold for nonprofit technology from one of the giants in the industry? Ryan Ozimek, founder of Soapbox Engage and long time nonprofit IT thought leader, reflects on the trends and topics from this recent conference for the sector from Microsoft – particularly the embrace of AI and the potential of AI tools to impact the nonprofit sector. In its second year, the Microsoft Global Nonprofit Leaders Summit drew nonprofit sector and IT activists from around the world to discuss new tools, new partnerships, and new needs. Listen to Ryan Ozimek in conversation with Carolyn Woodard on his reflections on trends that were discussed and explored at this conference Some Key Takeaways: Big changes are happening fast – Ryan sees this era as strikingly similar to 1999 when we all got online on this new thing “the internet.” To prepare as a nonprofit: don’t feel you have to dive in the deep end but be aware that in a short time we will all be swimming in this pool. Generational change is painfully evident in AI adoption. How does the nonprofit sector take full advantage of young people understanding new technologies especially AI, intuitively? AI is everywhere and will be everywhere. How can we use it best in our sector? How can our sector push AI tools to be better? Two and a half things for nonprofits to prepare to be able to find opportunities in this new world: Start with what problems we are trying to solve and fit the tech to that. Be prepared to be more agile and more nimble than ever before. AI agents can help you build the framework to describe your needs. Practice asking AI “what are the types of questions I should be asking you to help me solve my organization’s problems?” It’s important to deeply understand the tech savviness of your nonprofit. How ready are you for change? Opportunities are also coming at us really fast and not every opportunity will be a good fit. Last year at this summit the message was “Copilot is your copilot and it will help you with everything.” This year Ryan heard that multiple agents that specialize in certain tasks/things will be more helpful than a “generalist” AI. You will need to find the AI agent that can help do the exact thing that you need done. We will all need to learn to ask the right AI agent the right questions. What is the expected impact on nonprofit jobs? People will be able to be more productive, more able to help the organization meet the mission. Nonprofits will be augmenting their people with AI agents doing the grunt work. Think now about what you can automate. What is there that you have to have done that a person doesn’t have to do? This will free your staff to better meet your community needs. Let’s meet our missions better and bigger than we ever have, because the world has lots of needs right now. The nonprofit sector/social sector will have more and more challenges in the current environment – so making the sector more productive with AI will help it meet needs that are only growing. _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

1
Nonprofit Data Retention Policy and Cybersecurity Basics with Ian Gottesman 34:11

19 gün önce34:11

34:11

Ian Gottesman is CEO of a coalition of 200+ NGOs and 20 major IT companies working together to improve cybersecurity for the nonprofit sector ( NGO ISAC ). He has decades of experience in executive roles in nonprofit cybersecurity in a variety of organizations. In these challenging times for the nonprofit sector generally, many nonprofits are taking a harder look at their cybersecurity policies to better protect their organization and staff. Community IT recommends getting to a foundational level of basic cybersecurity, and you can download our free Cybersecurity Readiness for Nonprofits Playbook to learn what that means and how to put those basics in place. Three cybersecurity basics to think about : manage your identity, patch your hardware and software, and look out for phishing – train your staff. You will get 80% protection from just doing those three low cost things – why would you want to get 0%? When your cybersecurity basics are in place, Ian recommends strengthening your nonprofit data retention policy and compliance as your first next step. Again, this is low cost in terms of your budget, but will have costs to your organization in terms of staff time and energy. So let this challenging moment motivate your team to take on a sorting-and-retaining-or-deleting project. Some Key Takeaways: Cybersecurity Basics are not difficult and protect you from 80% of hacks . Manage your identity. Accounts must be protected, your staff should be verifying they are who is supposed to be logging in. Patch your hardware and software. The easiest way to do this is reboot – log out, restart, and log back in periodically. Your IT provider or internal IT staff should be patching as part of your cybersecurity strategy. Look out for phishing – train your staff. More than 90% of attacks start out tricking a user into clicking a link. For more information on anti-phishing training, check out this webinar on Cybersecurity Awareness Training Tips . Cybercrimes are crimes. Don’t feel that you were responsible for your own victimization. Clicking on links happens. Huge companies fall for scams. Encourage a culture of openness and sharing around cybersecurity best practices and incident response planning. Make sure your nonprofit culture embraces a team approach to cybersecurity, and that everyone on your staff knows to tell someone when they see something suspicious or make a mistake, and who to tell. Holding cybercriminals accountable in every country should be a bigger goal for our governments and our laws. Nonprofit Data Retention Policy is a valuable project now. Remind your staff not to put in writing in any device or app something they would not want to be public about your organization Creating and monitoring compliance with a nonprofit data retention policy does not require expensive tools but it does require the time and energy of your staff. Avoiding unnecessary reputational risks is worth it. Make sure your nonprofit data retention policy covers emails and messaging in addition to documents and files. _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

1
Microsoft Vs Google Workspace for Nonprofits pt 2 30:30

26 gün önce30:30

30:30

Which platform would you choose if you were starting a brand new nonprofit tomorrow? Learn the differences, how to choose, and when to contemplate changing platforms in this webinar with Community IT Innovators CEO Johan Hammerstrom and Director of IT Consulting Steve Longenecker. Johan and Steve together have over 40 years of experience in nonprofit IT and have worked with hundreds of nonprofit clients as they made crucial decisions about their IT platforms. In part 1, we discuss the basic features of each platform, and acknowledging that most people working at nonprofits do not actually have a choice in platforms, we discuss the reasons one or the other may be a better fit for your organization if you had to choose. And if you are thinking of switching, we recommend you have a very strong business case for the switch, not just personal preferences, and that you practice very good change management if you find you must switch. In part 2, we discuss security, data retention, and the limited options for nonprofits that are not one of these two platforms. That is, there are many reputable third party options for ID management or cloud storage, but very few other options for basics like email, calendar, or the office suite of documents and spreadsheets. We then take audience questions and delve into managing a hybrid solution (and check out the previous webinar Managing Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 Together for more tips.) Microsoft VS Google Workspace Every nonprofit organization must have IT tools and a platform. Google offers its Google Workspace suite at a discount to nonprofit organizations. Many new nonprofits use this suite of tools to start up their organization. For small, young, and growing nonprofit organizations, and nonprofits in the education field, this inexpensive suite of user-oriented essential IT tools is becoming a popular standard. Of course, there’s a competing service provider also offering a suite of cloud-based basic business productivity tools, also at greatly reduced prices to qualified nonprofit organizations: Microsoft . We are often asked to give our opinion over which platform our clients should use. The answer is not as simple as you might think. As with all our webinars, this presentation is appropriate for an audience of varied IT experience. Community IT is proudly vendor-agnostic and our webinars cover a range of topics and discussions. Webinars are never a sales pitch, always a way to share our knowledge with our community. That said, we’re obviously talking about two specific platforms in this presentation, Microsoft and Google – and we find that 99% of our clients are using one or the other, or a hybrid of both. Given that these platforms are widely used by nonprofits, it is in that context that we discuss the choices, advantages, and trade-offs that you could be facing as you choose a platform for your nonprofit. Many questions asked at registration or live at the virtual event will be answered in the transcript. Check back after the webinar for additional resources. _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

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Microsoft Vs Google Workspace for Nonprofits pt 1 27:05

5 weeks önce27:05

27:05

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

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Matching Business Processes and Nonprofit IT with Johan Hammerstrom 30:21

6 weeks önce30:21

30:21

Do you have a technology tool that just isn’t working? How do you get at the root of the issue and find solutions? Sometimes IT staff and directors and executives get really into the cool details of their technology tools without considering the whole organization needs and tolerances. And sometimes executives and leaders want to change IT tools on a whim, where that IT tool is deeply embedded in the functions of the nonprofit organization, and the change impacts all the stakeholders greatly, but none of them were consulted. How can you reconcile those two aspects and do a better job of matching business processes and nonprofit IT? What are best practices in assessing your organization needs and matching them to the available technology tools, thoughtfully making the selection (usually in a hurry and under budget and staff constraints), and then implementing your tool with lots of communication and staff training? CEO Johan Hammerstrom shares some of his insights and experience gained in over 20 years of serving nonprofits with well-managed IT. Don’t ever look at a technology problem as just a technology problem.. If you zoom out enough, technology problems are always part of a larger business problem. It’s really hard to make progress on fixing technology problems if you just have that very narrow focus on the technology itself. The more you can zoom out and understand the broader context for the technology problem, the more you can frame it as a business problem for the organization, the more effective you are going to be at addressing it. At the end of the day, it may seem to you to be a really big technology problem, but it may actually be a relatively small business problem. So trying to look at what constitutes the business problem around the technology solution will help you to get better perspective on how much of a problem this really is to the organization. You may be right that it is a huge technology problem, but if you look at the larger context and it turns out it’s not a huge business problem, just let it go – because you’re not going to get anywhere trying to change that. Some Key Takeaways: Business problem aspects of nonprofit IT What’s the price? What are the cost investments? What are the costs to inaction? Who are the people who are impacted by this technology solution? What was the decision process when the technology was chosen? What is the decision process to choose a new technology now? Sometimes staying with sub-optimum technology solution is the decision that best matches the business needs of the organization. Every “untouchable” ancient IT solution that only one person knows how to keep running actually CAN be replaced. Many vendors for server-based solutions – if they are still in business – will help you move that tool to their cloud-based subscription. If the vendor is no longer in business, that function can definitely be replaced – and should be replaced – with a modern, secure, solution. Your people are the most important component of your technology. Plan for redundancy. _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

1
Cybersecurity Awareness Training Tips pt 2 with Matt Eshleman 32:27

7 weeks önce32:27

32:27

Are your staff as ready as they can be for the next attack? Our cybersecurity training team manages hundreds of clients and shares our knowledge on what works to keep your staff prepared, not just scared. Matt Eshleman, our CTO and cybersecurity expert answers your questions on how to manage frequent, timely, and engaging training . Part 1 covers the cybersecurity landscape and types of threats facing nonprofits, our framework for how to think about cybersecurity and where staff training fits in your strategy, and the basic philosophy of security awareness training. Pt 2 gets into the details and examples of a typical cybersecurity training program, and Matt answers audience Q&A. Cybersecurity Awareness Training Tips We often say that staff training is a foundation for cybersecurity protections . As the risks are always evolving, your training needs to be current too. Gone are the days when your staff could be adequately protected by watching an hour long video with a quiz once a year. But managing more frequent training is difficult. We will discuss the tool we use, KnowBe4 , which makes it easy to stay up to date and administer training to all staff. There are other training tools out there that work for nonprofit staff – the most important tip is to commit to training and to prioritize it as a team. Your staff and leadership are your best defense of the organization you care about. In addition, with new auditing requirements SAS145 your auditor must assess IT risks to your financial processes – and it will be necessary to demonstrate staff cybersecurity training in your audits. Learn about these issues and more with our experts! If you’ve been putting off implementing a comprehensive cybersecurity awareness training regime, don’t wait any longer. Join CTO Matthew Eshleman and host Carolyn Woodard to learn how to implement an up-to-date and flexible cybersecurity awareness training program this year. As with all our webinars, this presentation is appropriate for an audience of varied IT experience. Community IT is proudly vendor-agnostic and our webinars cover a range of topics and discussions. Webinars are never a sales pitch, always a way to share our knowledge with our community. There are multiple cybersecurity awareness training vendors with products that work for nonprofits. We will be discussing the tool we have selected and use, KnowBe4 , which offers nonprofit discounts, but our insights and tips will be useful no matter what training program you are using, or if you want to create and run cybersecurity awareness training in house. Many questions asked at registration or live at the virtual event will be answered in the transcript. Check back after the webinar for additional resources. _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

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Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

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19:31

A week in the life of the Help Desk Team Ever wonder what it takes to be a help desk analyst, or what our Help Desk Team does in a typical week? We’re inordinately proud of our Help Desk Team, the first and usually only point of contact for most staff for most clients. Listen to this presentation on a typical week and learn about the teamwork, expertise, and continual learning that goes into providing excellent IT support service. “You all do such an amazing job, with such great positive energy, and we always get such great feedback from our clients about the service they receive from the help desk. It’s really, it’s so critical to all of the work that we do. So I just want to thank each one of you for all your hard work and your diligence.” Johan Hammerstrom, CEO _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

1
Anti-Doxxing and Nonprofit Staff Safety with Shauna Dillavou 40:09

10 weeks önce40:09

40:09

Shauna Dillavou is the co-founder of Brightlin.es, a security firm working with the nonprofit sector to prevent vulnerabilities. She is a seasoned intelligence analyst with decades of experience working for the US government. She formerly was part of a team locating cartel associates by their online traces, and founded Brightlines to reverse-engineer that experience to protect vulnerable staff from online doxxing and threats to their personal safety. Unfortunately in recent years the threats against nonprofit staff have grown, making this service necessary and timely. We know nonprofits are facing challenges in a challenging time. At Community IT, when we think about and enact cybersecurity for our clients in the nonprofit sector, we generally are focused on protecting the organization, its data, its systems, and its finances, from bad actors. Those hackers are overwhelmingly interested in financial benefits: getting you to wire the money to their bank account instead of your real bank account. While some cyber criminals are interested in gaining insights into your advocacy area or your networks, a majority of cyber crimes against nonprofits are purely financial. But what happens when your nonprofit is involved in an advocacy area, a country, or an issue that has suddenly become controversial? Media attention turns to your spokespeople, your staff, your board, and your volunteers – anyone who has been associated with your organization’s issue. Particularly online. It isn’t long before that online attention can become threats against your personnel. “Doxxing” is a term for when an opponent releases personally identifiable information about you – your home address, phone number, your parents, your kids’ personal information. Doxxing is meant to inspire terror and to shut you up. And sometimes the online rancor, coupled with personal information, can lead unhinged individuals to act on these online threats. In this interview, Carolyn talks with Shauna Dillavou, co-founder of Brightlin.es , a security company that works in the nonprofit sector to prevent personal vulnerabilities for staff who may be in the online media spotlight. With decades of experience in the intelligence community, Shauna co-founded Brightlines to provide resources to nonprofits, foundations, and others who face threats and escalation against their staff or spokespeople. In this podcast on anti-doxxing and nonprofit staff safety with Shauna Dillavou, learn the types of personal threats that are becoming more common, and the steps you should take to protect your vulnerable staff. Community IT is proudly vendor-agnostic and our podcasts and webinars cover a range of topics and discussions. Podcasts are never a sales pitch, always a way to share our knowledge with our community. Brightlines is one of many services that exist to improve the security of your staff, executives, and board members. This interview with Shauna Dillavou explores the parameters of the problem and gives general advice on steps to take if you or your staff are threatened online. _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

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11 weeks önce41:39

41:39

In this interview from December 2024, Director of Marketing Carolyn Woodard talks with Ramunda Lark Young about her journey from growing up in Tulsa Oklahoma to working in Washington DC to founding an online Black bookstore during the 2007-2008 recession. In addition to a website where you can find curated lists of books to fit any interest, Mahogany Books now has 2.25 in-person stores in DC and hosts author events and a podcast. What did it take for Ramunda to believe in her vision of owning a bookstore where Black Books Matter, and how did she follow that vision to success? What does Ramunda do to stay grounded and mentally healthy, and what lessons has she learned on this journey about the importance of seeing ourselves celebrated in the communities around us? We know nonprofits are facing challenges in a challenging time, and we could all use a little inspiration. Join Carolyn and Ramunda for a few minutes to talk about books, entrepreneurship, and community. --- Ramunda Lark Young is Co-Founder and Co-owner of Mahogany Books online and with 2.25 locations in Washington DC, including National Harbor, National Airport, and a new location in Anacostia. Unapologetically Black-owned, family-run and operated, Mahogany Books is a local independent bookstore that believes in social entrepreneurship. They take a leadership role in the African American community by promoting reading, writing, and cultural awareness as tools to improve self-esteem, self-love and ultimately our communities to enrich the lives of motivated individuals. With over 20 years of combined retail book industry experience, Ramunda has witnessed a variety of market highs and lows which helped develop a bookstore model capitalizing on technology while staying true to the independent community bookstore roots that define the core values of the owners. _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

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Expert Tips on Current Trends: Webinar 2025 Nonprofit Tech Round Table How is your organization using AI? What policies do you need? What should you be worried about? Download the Community IT Acceptable Use Policy Template for AI Tools in the Nonprofit Workplace . Steve and Matt also share a veritable "grab bag" of new tools, new chips, and other new issues to keep an eye on that will impact the nonprofit sector using IT in 2025. Join CTO Matthew Eshleman and Director of IT Consulting Steve Longenecker , moderated by Carolyn Woodard from Community IT, in a lively and specific discussion of all things nonprofit tech for 2025 and beyond. It’s like listening in on your smart friends talking about stuff you need to know about but don’t know who to ask. Kick off the new year with a new understanding of trends and practices that can help your nonprofit succeed. This is one of our most popular webinars and podcasts year after year for a reason. We don’t believe a lot of lingo or jargon is necessary to understand what you need to know to manage IT. As with all our webinars, this presentation is appropriate for an audience of varied IT experience. Part 1 covers our introductions, a discussion of hybrid work in the nonprofit context, and tips on new cybersecurity from our expert. Part 2 covers AI, a "grab bag" of new tech and new issues, and audience Q&A. Community IT is proudly vendor-agnostic and our webinars cover a range of topics and discussions. Webinars are never a sales pitch, always a way to share our knowledge with our community. Many questions asked at registration or live at the virtual event will be answered in the transcript. _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

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2025 Nonprofit Tech Round Table pt 1 30:30

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Expert Tips on Current Trends: Webinar 2025 Nonprofit Tech Round Table Is the Hybrid/Remote Workplace here to stay or on the way out? Download the Nonprofit Guide to Remote Work What is the new cybersecurity reality and what should you be doing now to better face the next threats? Download the updated Cybersecurity Readiness for Nonprofits Playbook Join CTO Matthew Eshleman and Director of IT Consulting Steve Longenecker , moderated by Carolyn Woodard from Community IT, in a lively and specific discussion of all things nonprofit tech for 2025 and beyond. It’s like listening in on your smart friends talking about stuff you need to know about but don’t know who to ask. Kick off the new year with a new understanding of trends and practices that can help your nonprofit succeed. This is one of our most popular webinars and podcasts year after year for a reason. We don’t believe a lot of lingo or jargon is necessary to understand what you need to know to manage IT. As with all our webinars, this presentation is appropriate for an audience of varied IT experience. Part 1 covers our introductions, a discussion of hybrid work in the nonprofit context, and tips on new cybersecurity from our expert. Part 2 covers AI, a "grab bag" of new tech and new issues, and audience Q&A. Community IT is proudly vendor-agnostic and our webinars cover a range of topics and discussions. Webinars are never a sales pitch, always a way to share our knowledge with our community. Many questions asked at registration or live at the virtual event will be answered in the transcript. _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

1
4 New Year's Resolutions with Carolyn Woodard 26:28

14 weeks önce26:28

26:28

Set four intentions to make 2025 safer, saner, and more fun for your IT staff and your nonprofit. Now is the month to set intentions for the year ahead. We know nonprofits are facing challenges in a challenging time. Be intentional about setting expectations for yourself and your organization this year and you will take some of the stress off. Director of Outreach and podcast host Carolyn Woodard walks through four resolutions you can make to make 2025 easier on yourself. Put self-care first – set yourself up for mental and physical health so you can do the things your nonprofit needs you to do Put organization care second – up your cybersecurity to meet evolving threats Clean up! – do a spring cleaning of your files, data inventory, and subscriptions Do something fun – take a tutorial, come together as a team Keeping these 4 New Year’s Resolutions will make your 2025 safer, saner, less stressed, and more fun. We provide lots of the resources you need on our site – you just need to set your intentions and keep these priorities through the year. Some key resources: De-Stress! Self-Care for Nonprofit IT Staff Cybersecurity Readiness for Nonprofits Playbook SAS145 Auditing Guidelines DKIM/DMARC and email deliverability Single Sign On (SSO) MFA updates File Structure and Permissions Best Practices Data Governance Subscriptions Inventory Becoming a Learning Organization Using an IT Skills Matrix for team building Skills Matrix Best Practices hosted by Build Consulting Ready to get strategic about your IT? We think your IT vendor should be able to explain everything without jargon or lingo. If you can’t understand your IT management strategy to your own satisfaction, keep asking your questions until you find an outsourced IT provider who will partner with you for well-managed IT. If you’re ready to gain peace of mind about your IT support, let’s talk . _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

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Using Google Groups with Steve Longenecker 38:14

15 weeks önce38:14

38:14

If your organization uses Google Workspace you have access to Google Groups. Kind of like a listserv but so much better. What are Google Groups? If your nonprofit uses Google Workspace , you can use Google Groups to manage tasks via an email group, with granular controls and monitoring if you need it. Google Groups can improve security for email addresses like “donate@mynonprofit” or “info@mynonprofit” if that email directs to a group and is not its own account that’s credentials could be hacked. Director of IT Consulting Steve Longenecker explains the ins and outs of using Google Groups and some issues to consider including Google’s Fedramp certification if you are trying to use Google Groups with federal workers. Since few MSPs can help nonprofits using Google Workspace, please contact us if you have more questions we can help with. We know that so many nonprofit startups start using Google Workspace because it is easy. Some Key Takeaways: Google Groups works like a listserv, allowing multiple people to view and respond to group emails right from their inbox. No new tools needed like slack or discord. Keeping it simple can help your team or volunteers engage easily. Google Groups allows granular permissions and allows a manager to assign certain email threads to specific team members, so you can make sure all donation inquiries get a quick response, for example. Managers can get valuable insight into email thread status and team members can easily collaborate without checking and back-checking to see who is taking which inquiry. Google Groups can be useful in keeping volunteer groups organized and engaged. You can assign any email to Google Groups, making a partly external volunteer team more functional and making it easier for busy volunteers to participate, right from their inbox. Google Groups has many security features that make it preferable to listservs. And Listerv tools are becoming harder to find and manage. Everyone uses email – if you already use Google Workspace you have a listserv tool already available to you, for free, that has many features and security that listservs just don’t have. Google Groups is relatively easy to set up and manage, and Google provides lots of helpful how-to tutorials and advice that are accessible to non-technical managers. If you are trying to use Google Groups with federal employees and encountering resistance, be aware that Google has Fedramp certification . This means your federal friends are allowed to use it from a security perspective. Google Groups is a tool you should consider if you are struggling to manage a team or volunteer group. It is easy to get started and easy to expand as you learn the capabilities. We know that few MSPs serving nonprofits are experts in Google Workspace. Community IT has developed expertise in Google Workspace support since we serve nonprofits exclusively, and so many nonprofits use this platform. _______________________________ Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.…

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