Increase Impact by Thinking Differently About How to Invest in Digital Infrastructure

Making communities safer. Paving more pathways to good jobs and careers. Increasing access to quality mental healthcare. Providing housing for the unhoused. Ensuring kids can read by the 3rd grade. These are just a few of the critically important and extraordinarily complex problems we ask human services and other nonprofit organizations to address. Unfortunately, far too often, these organizations are stuck with outdated technology and siloed data that limits their visibility and constrains their capacity—hindering their ability to take these challenges on.

For too long, we as funders have treated nonprofit technology as an expense—a required spend to operate the organization. I challenge all of us to consider a different model: technology as an investment, as the down payment for future growth, capabilities, and organizational capacity. Furthermore, it is a necessary investment, not an optional one. We would never ask the Ford Motor Company to stop investing in its manufacturing capabilities, yet we continually ask service organizations to create more value without the long-term investment in their capabilities. That must change.

Read more from Ballmer Group co-founder Steve Ballmer, sharing why it’s so critical that funders invest in strong technology infrastructure for nonprofits that are making an impact, in this piece for Social Solutions: Forging a Path for Greater Social Impact Through Technology Investments.