Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

Why a 2025 technology equity guide for nonprofits? 

Part 1 covers introductions and a deep discussion on the issues of equity in the technology your nonprofit staff use and how they use it. Part 2 delves into questions of funding tech at nonprofits and touches on creating technology tools and applications that can disrupt inequity in our communities, finishing with Q&A.

Nonprofit technology is marked by inequities within our orga...

Why a 2025 technology equity guide for nonprofits? 

Part 1 covers introductions and a deep discussion on the issues of equity in the technology your nonprofit staff use and how they use it. Part 2 delves into questions of funding tech at nonprofits and touches on creating technology tools and applications that can disrupt inequity in our communities, finishing with Q&A.

Nonprofit technology is marked by inequities within our orga...

Technology Association of Grantmakers held their 2025 Conference in Atlanta. Jenny Huftalen and Carolyn Woodard attended and share the takeaways and trends in philanthropy for tech.

The takeaways: 

• Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG) convenes members bi-annually to share knowledge and experiences on technology used at foundations and funders. 
• Four trends stood out from this year’s conference: AI, Data, Cybersecurity, and ...

What Do Nonprofits Need to Know About Penetration Testing?

Nonprofit Cybersecurity expert and Community IT CTO Matt Eshleman explains what penetration testing is, why some nonprofits may need it, and why other nonprofits may not, or may not need it until after a basic assessment and vulnerability scanning. 

Do you have someone urging you to get expensive pen testing, and you aren’t sure if you really need it, or if it is just checkin...

October is ESOP Employee Owner Month

An Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP, is a legal structure used in the U.S. to create an employee-owned company. Essentially, an ESOP is a type of retirement plan that invests primarily in company stock, holding the assets in a trust for the staff. 

Community IT is 100% employee-owned. This structure means our staff participates in the company’s success. Not all ESOPs are 100% employee-owned....

A Panel Discussion with Matthew Eshleman and Ian Gottesman.

In part 1, Ian and Matthew discuss an approach to cybersecurity for nonprofits, taking the first steps, and 3 steps you can take to prevent at least 80% of attacks. In pt 2, they talk about making cybersecurity training more engaging, and lessons learned this year. They finish by taking audience questions.

Our nonprofit cybersecurity experts discuss the current state of risk...

A Panel Discussion with Matthew Eshleman and Ian Gottesman.

In part 1, Ian and Matthew discuss an approach to cybersecurity for nonprofits, taking the first steps, and 3 steps you can take to prevent at least 80% of attacks. In pt 2, they talk about making cybersecurity training more engaging, and lessons learned this year. They finish by taking audience questions.

Our nonprofit cybersecurity experts discuss the current state of risk...

Today Carolyn talks with Johanny Torrico about her recent promotion to an executive position that the Community IT Board created for her: President and Chief Operations Officer.

This conversation provided an opportunity to delve into Johanny’s strategic vision for the company’s future. We explored how the new position was created to recognize her role guiding the company through a period of significant growth and innovation in the p...

Nonprofit Cybersecurity expert and Community IT CTO Matt Eshleman offered his take on these trends. Listen for expert advice on avoiding new computer viruses and making sure your organization is protected from Attacker-in-the-Middle attacks on MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication), particularly for important accounts like your Executive Director and CFO.

Fighting Viruses

• Virus attacks have been increasing. These computer viruses are ...

Change Management Lessons with Debbie Cameron

Build Consulting Partner Debbie Cameron and change management expert in a webinar on when you can rescue a nonprofit technology project using change management techniques. 

In part 1, Debbie describes the philosophy of change management and how these techniques work in helping the people at your organization understand and adapt to big changes. In part 2, she discusses how to rescue a fai...

Change Management Lessons with Debbie Cameron

Build Consulting Partner Debbie Cameron and change management expert in a webinar on when you can rescue a nonprofit technology project using change management techniques. 

In part 1, Debbie describes the philosophy of change management and how these techniques work in helping the people at your organization understand and adapt to big changes. In part 2, she discusses how to rescue a fai...

Do you have important files in your nonprofits’ Google Drive that are associated with their owners’ personal gmail address? Google lets you migrate those files to Shared Drive so your organization never loses access to them. 

Google Workspace is fantastically easy for nonprofit start ups to set up and doesn’t take a lot of technical know-how to manage until you grow to a larger staff size. 

One of the common issues we run into is own...

Vanguard Communications’ Chief of Innovation Brenda Foster shared tips and practical advice on getting started using generative Artificial Intelligence AI tools at your nonprofit in a way that matches your mission and values.
Learn how to prompt, when and how to use AI tools, and when not to.
Learn how to evaluate the outputs and feel good using AI at your nonprofit.

In part 1, Brenda explains the various types of AI and wa...

Vanguard Communications’ Chief of Innovation Brenda Foster shared tips and practical advice on getting started using generative Artificial Intelligence AI tools at your nonprofit in a way that matches your mission and values.
Learn how to prompt, when and how to use AI tools, and when not to.
Learn how to evaluate the outputs and feel good using AI at your nonprofit.

In part 1, Brenda explains the various types of AI and wa...

Does your nonprofit know what to do when a staff person clicks on a suspicious email and instantly regrets it? 

David Dawson is a Senior Engineer at Community IT on the escalation team for our help desk. Recently he led the response to a cybersecurity incident at a nonprofit client. In this Community IT podcast, he answers Carolyn’s questions about the flow of the response, best practices, and gives tips on how your nonprofit can be...

Peter Campbell is the principal consultant at Techcafeteria, a micro-consulting firm dedicated to helping nonprofits make more affordable and effective use of technology to support their missions. He recently published a free download powerpoint on Managing AI Risk and had time to talk with Carolyn about his thoughts on developing AI policies with an eye to risk, where the greatest risks lie for nonprofits using AI, and how often t...

On September 30th Microsoft will only support a new unified multi-factor authentication control configuration. What does this mean for your nonprofit?

In March 2023 Microsoft announced that after September 30th, 2025, they would no longer automatically support “legacy” multi-factor authentication controls in the Microsoft 365 Entra ID and General Admin administration portals. The methods your staff are using now will not automatical...

Learn how to run this valuable training tool from Community IT Chief Technology Officer and resident cybersecurity guru Matthew Eshleman, who explains how to carry out a cybersecurity tabletop exercise for your nonprofit and why this type of active testing is so valuable to your security planning. 

In pt 1, Matt and Carolyn go over what a tabletop exercise is and how they fit into your cybersecurity planning for your nonprofit. In p...

Learn how to run this valuable training tool from Community IT Chief Technology Officer and resident cybersecurity guru Matthew Eshleman, who explains how to carry out a cybersecurity tabletop exercise for your nonprofit and why this type of active testing is so valuable to your security planning. 

In pt 1, Matt and Carolyn go over what a tabletop exercise is and how they fit into your cybersecurity planning for your nonprofit. In p...