Community IT Innovators Nonprofit Technology Topics

Community IT is starting a new series today: Nonprofit AI. Midweek we will share 10-15 minutes of updates about AI and nonprofits - including current news stories, tips, definitions, use cases, frameworks, and resources.

Whether you are an AI novice wondering how to catch up quickly, or an AI early adopter always looking for a new tool you can use at your nonprofit, we hope you will join us every Tuesday for another quick update on ...

Community IT CEO Johan Hammerstrom walks through how to think about your nonprofit IT budget at any time, but particularly if you anticipate facing steeper challenges and may have to scale back. What are the three “buckets” of your IT needs, and how can you best manage your costs while keeping efficiency and functionality? What is a nonprofit IT budgeting strategy that will work for you in 2026? 

More extensive resource on nonprofit...

Senior staff at Community IT share what happened in nonprofit IT in 2025: AI and non-AI. What tips and advice have you missed? 

Top Nonprofit IT Stories of 2025

As is our tradition, we asked some of our senior staff to talk about the most important nonprofit IT stories of 2025. This year, Carolyn gave them two categories – something in AI – or something that might not have gotten as much attention because it wasn’t something in ...

Are you the tech helper in your family? In your office? 

Community IT intern Jack Woodard on lessons learned over years of helping less-tech-savvy people learn the technology they need to do what they need and want to do.

Takeaways on How to Be a Tech Helper

Be patient

• People who are having trouble with tech get very frustrated, and they also get very down on themselves for not being able to understand it. They aren’t setting out t...

What scams are circulating and how can you protect yourself and your organization?

Nonprofit Cybersecurity expert and Community IT CTO Matt Eshleman runs through common scams and new tactics that we are seeing at nonprofits and simple steps you and your staff can take at this time of year to be better protected.

Takeaways on Nonprofit Cybersecurity for the Holidays

Common scams

• “Your package couldn’t be delivered” … this email trie...

Johan Hammerstrom hosts the podcast this week, interviewing Carolyn Woodard on her nonprofit IT management capacity growing pet project.

100% of nonprofits struggle with IT management capacity – whether it’s optimizing limited budgets, selecting the right tools, or building sustainable tech staffing models. Or just knowing where to turn for trustworthy, professional advice. We need structured connection to share best practices and e...

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...