Ever wonder what it takes to get a IT system up and running as a nonprofit under 25 people? In these difficult economic times, it’s really important to get your act together regarding your nonprofit’s finances. When I started out in the tech industry in the 1990s, IT departments were still pretty devoted to heavy iron. Servers and hard drives everywhere complete with a networking core were de rigeur for even a modest office setup.
I no longer believe that that should be the case anymore. I think many nonprofits can get away with a kind of virtual IT system where the files reside primarily on Amazon’s S3 and any more specific applications can be set up remotely (maybe even on Amazon EC2 which now supports Windows servers). Even better, you can get by without having to pay some IT guy thousands of dollars a year for maintenance. The suggestions that follow are for you to follow should you want to create a IT infrastructure for your nonprofit that keeps labor costs down as much as possible.
Here’s a suggested IT system for nonprofits under 25 people:
Software
Use Google Apps for your e-mail and file storage solution. There’s a nonprofit version that you can get if you’re a 501c3. It’s a far superior solution to untagged and unclassified documents on a shared hard drive which is how many nonprofits have stored their documentation over time.
Cost: $0.
Unfortunately, Google Docs are just not ready for primetime. Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint are still superior solutions if you need to get down and dirty with your documents. You can get Office 2007 for $16 at Techsoup. However, try out Open Office and compare. Personally, I think the jump in quality from Open Office’s Writer to Office’s Word is worth the $16.
Cost: $16 per user.
You still need to buy antivirus software for each computer. When you buy your laptops and desktops, say no to the optional antivirus software. Just go over to Techsoup and pick up 25 copies of Norton 2009 for $70.
Cost: $70 for all 25 users.
CRM sofware for basic fundraising purposes can be had for free from salesforce.com Foundation. That’s 10 licenses for $0. We’re assuming your org has no more than 25 people. If more than 10 people need to see your CRM at a time, extra licenses are available at a pretty massive discount.
Cost: $0.
There are tons of decent vendors at a price point under $300. I recommend looking at GiftWorks and DonorPerfect.
Hardware
Buy desktop computers for everyone but make sure to buy laptops for everyone who needs mobility. The price points between the two kinds of computing have declined to the point that it’s now a business decision more than an IT budgeting issue. Here are a few tips:
- Go to Dell’s website and buy Optiplex desktops and Latitude laptops with 4 year ProSupport plans. This will give you a chance to space out your purchases yet still have them get serviced for at least 4 years. It also means you won’t need a tech guy to fix these computers, you’ll just need someone to call Dell.
- These computers come with Vista. Never run Vista with only 1 GB of memory. It will be too slow and your employees will suffer needlessly. Always buy 2 GB of RAM for each computer.
- Buy the desktops with the added Wi-Fi USB stick. Wireless is much cheaper to install so even the desktops will be wireless.
- Buy the cheapest 17-inch monitors Dell will have you buy.
Cost: $1100 per computer.
Networking
Internet, Internet, Internet. You can’t skimp on networking as it is the backbone of what makes this low-cost configuration work. It also means you’ll need to pay for someone to network you unless you know how to do this yourself. Chances are you won’t or you wouldn’t be reading this post! It’s not rocket science but it’s certainly not for the uninitiated.
Find yourself TWO ISPs. You can get a cable provider such as Comcast or Time Warner and a regular DSL connection through Speakeasy or your local telecom.
You then buy an Internet router and then buy yourself a regular wireless access point. You will need a specialized router like the Cisco RV042 which has auto-failover. This means that if the cable connection goes down, it auto-switches to your slower DSL connection. Why such an elaborate scheme? Your employees will stop working if the Internet goes down. It’s just that plain and simple. You need Internet running all the time to make this system work.
Cost: $600 for the Cisco Linksys RV042 10/100 4-Port VPN Router
File Storage and Backup
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that file servers are no longer necessary. Instead, your small nonprofit can use the workgroup edition of JungleDisk. The way this works is that the JungleDisk application spends all it’s time synchronizing your files with Amazon’s S3 service. Your files are up on the Web automatically and every few minutes are being backed up into another copy. This service alone eliminates the need to have a file server sitting on your system always waiting for a nightly tape backup. It also means practically instant business continuity in the event of a disaster.
Even better thing about JungleDisk? You have 24 hour Web access to your files.
Cost: $ 0.15 per GB. Yeah, that’s right 15 cents per GB.
Final budget over 4 years:
Software: $680 for MS Office and 4 years worth of Norton Antivirus
Hardware: $27500 for 25 computers
Networking: $5400 – $7200 for a router, access point and Internet access
File storage: Assuming a total of 100 GB in the first month and a growth rate of 3% per month, JungleDisk will cost you $1566
Not bad huh? That’s a total of $36,946 for 4 years worth of reasonable computing for 25 people. Mind you, there may be some hidden costs in the third or fourth year of operation. Hopefully, you may have outgrown your hardware needs or want to add services at that point. The great thing about this configuration is that it’s so barebones that you’re not actually painting yourself into a corner with anything. And frankly, that’s one of the biggest headaches for any IT Director worth his or her salt. You almost never want to subject the patient to a course of treatment that you can’t back off from. It’s the Hippocratic oath for IT people. Above all, do no harm and hopefully I haven’t done so. Just so you know, this is a path I’ll be charting on my own as my nonprofit comes into being.
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