Technology Assistance for Organizations Serving Communities of Color
Funded by: W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Project Details
NPower has completed a three-year project to identify, understand, and respond to the specific technology needs of organizations serving communities of color. The goals of this project were:
- To build NPower's understanding of the barriers that keep organizations serving communities of color from using existing technology capacity building services
- To modify and tailor our on-land and online services to reduce barriers
- To put our lessons and modifications into action by working directly with organizations serving communities of color
- To evaluate our effectiveness and sharing our findings across the NPower Network and the field at large
Year One
In 2004, we conducted community-based research to help us gain first-hand knowledge of the unique needs and barriers of organizations working in communities of color. Our Year One Report presents our findings and describes the implications for the NPower Network.
Year Two
During the second year, we applied the learnings from year one to modify and improve our service delivery to organizations that serve communities of color. Read our Year Two Report.
Year Three
In year three, we completed projects in six NPower affiliate communities - Detroit, Seattle, Portland, New York, Indiana, and Washington, D.C. As we found in our research, we learned in practice that the more we invested in relationship building and responsive, flexible approaches to our services, the more our services improved. More information about our project and findings can be found in our Kellogg Project Findings summary (PDF) and our Year Two Principles to Practice article.
Our six affiliate projects also resulted in a series of case studies which highlighted our work with organizations across the country. View our case studies:
NPower Greater DC Region, Life Pieces to Masterpieces & LINK
NPower Indiana & Dayspring Center
NPower Michigan & the St. Frances Cabrini Clinic
NPower NY & St. John?s Bread and Life Program
NPower Seattle: the Operational Emergency Center
Resources Related to Communities of Color
As part of the first year research, the consulting firm BCT Partners completed a literature review of resources related to communities of color, technology, and capacity building organizations. These resources fall into several categories:
Multicultural Marketing, Media and Demographics: Resources that identify efforts to build, maintain and market products and services that serve new and emerging populations.
Managing Diversity: Resources that view diversity as an inclusive concept that pays special attention and appreciation for pluralistic approaches to staff, boards of directors and contractors.
Digital Divide and Community Technology: Resources that refer to the digital divide as the gap between those who have benefit from computers and the Internet and those who do not. Current definitions of the digital divide include access, training, content, technical fluency and applications.
Nonprofit Technology and
Ethnic Philanthropy and Volunteering: Resources that present how different ethnic groups have been and can be engaged to participate in technology-enabled fundraising activities and volunteering opportunities.
Technology Toolkits for Nonprofits: NPower is creating and publishing a series of 3 informational toolkits that can either be downloaded here on the website or requested in hardcopy or CD form. These toolkits are a great way to get free access to information on key strategies and decisions for nonprofits.
Please note that these resources are only a small selection of the many resources available on this subject, and do not represent any particular endorsement by NPower or the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
