Jane Zhang covered 5 cutting-edge technology trends to watch out for in 2014, 5 more practical trends and how they affect the nonprofit sector, and practical tips on how to get your nonprofit prepared.

1. Tech Trends &
Best Practices for 2014
Jane Zhang,
Executive Director at TechSoup Canada
Director of Online Services at the Centre for Social Innovation
Slides and presentation prepared by Joyce Hsu

2. What is the World of Tech
Offering in 2014?
3D Printing
ChefJet, the first restaurant-approved food printer, uses
water to melt sugar into shapes. Unfortunately the
samples didn’t taste very good, but the technology is
there.
3D Printing can now be used for printing
customizable prosthetic limbs.

3. What is the World of Tech
Offering in 2014?
Wearable Technology
Google Glass is a hands-free, optical headmounted display that shows and captures
information.
FitBit tracks daily activity, calories burned,
sleep & weight. The data is uploaded
wirelessly so you can check progress via
mobile or an online dashboard.

4. What is the World of Tech
Offering in 2014?
Wearable Technology
The Hövding is a wearable technology that relies on
advanced motion sensors to employ airbags for cyclists.

5. What is the World of Tech
Offering in 2014?
Robotic Technology
The Parrot AR Drone is an app-controlled helicopter,
equipped with a camera. Smartphones, tablets and
other mobile devices with iOS & Android operating
systems are compatible with Parrot AR Drone.
Amazon is experimenting with Prime Air, an
unmanned aerial drone that aims to deliver
packages in 30 mins or less.

6. What is the World of Tech
Offering in 2014?
Even More Advanced Robots
ACM-R5, an amphibious snake-like robot from
HiBot Corp, Japan is designed to aid in search
and rescue operations.
Tawabo, a robot tour guide at Tokyo Tower,
speaks Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English.

7. What is the World of Tech
Offering in 2014?
Even More Advanced Robots
Google’s driverless car is a project
that involved developing technology
for autonomous cars. There are
currently 3 states in the US that allow
the testing of automated vehicles.

8. What is the World of Tech
Offering in 2014?
Modular Phones
Motorola’s Project Ara aims to develop a free,
open hardware platform for creating highly
modular smartphone.

9. What is the World of Tech
Offering in 2014?
Virtual Reality
Oculus Rift is an upcoming virtual reality headmounted display. Consumer version is expected
to become available later this year.

10. However …
These cutting-edge technology trends are unlikely to
impact your charity’s day-to-day operations in 2014.

11. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#1 Responsive & Adaptive Design
Why is this important?
 Mobile devices are overtaking PC sales
BetChemy Ventures, May 2013
 There are 1 billion smart phones in use and this
number will grow to two billion in two years
Ericsson Mobility Report, June 2013
 Your website needs to be optimized to respond
to any device your supporter is using, otherwise
your call-to-actions, important content and
donation forms may be missed

12. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#1 Responsive & Adaptive Design
What’s the difference?
 Responsive web design is a single template with
flexible images and fluid grids
 Pro: Easier and cheaper to implement
 Con: Pages load slower, content not fully optimized
 Adaptive web design utilizes scripting to adapt to
various sizes
 Pro: Pages load faster, content and web design fully
optimized
 Con: Requires advanced knowledge of JavaScript
and CSS
 You can also combine both responsive and
adaptive

13. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#1 Responsive & Adaptive Design
Resources to help you get started:
 Free Responsive Templates
 HTML5 & CSS: HTML5up, HTML5Templates,
 CMS: Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla
 Email templates: ZURB, Antwort, Campaign Monitor
 Coding resources for creating adaptive design
 LessFramework
 StackOverflow

14. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#2 Dynamic Data
Why is this important?
There is an oversaturation of static infographics
on the web – people are becoming dull to the
medium
moz.com/ugc/infographics-are-dead-long-live-infographics

15. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#2 Dynamic Data
Dynamic Data?
Dynamic data combines both static images and
text (searchable content is better for SEO).
Create dynamic data where users can watch,
click and really explore your data

16. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#2 Dynamic Data
Good Examples
 Why Your Brain Craves
Infographics
neomam.com/interactive/13reasons
 Air BnB’s Annual Report
airbnb.com/annual

17. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#2 Dynamic Data
Good Examples
 Google’s Think Insights Databoard
think.withgoogle.com/databoard
 WarChild Holland Annual Report
annualreportwarchild.org

18. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#3 Modular Technology & Integration
Why is this important?
Modular technologies and a good
integration strategy will determine how agile
and “future-proof” your nonprofit can be –
especially with little or no internal IT
support.
The modular approach allows you to:
 Customize your tech solution to fit your
needs
 Better integrate with existing
technologies

19. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#3 Modular Technology & Integration
Customize Your Tech Solution to Fit Your Needs
Taking a modular approach to CRMs
will help your nonprofit find the best fit
for your needs without paying for
features that you won’t use:
 Sumac offers add-ons that have
distinct functionalities. All of the addons are useful, but not all nonprofits
need them (i.e., course registration
add-on, case management add-on,
etc.)

20. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#3 Modular Technology & Integration
Integrating with Existing Technologies
Think about how to integrate the
technologies you are using to improve
efficiency.
 Salesforce, integrates with over 250
applications, including EventBrite, Social
Media, SAP, Oracle EBS, Microsoft
Dynamics, etc.

21. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#3 Modular Technology & Integration
A Few Tools that allow Modular Design
 Constituent Relationship Management (CRM)
 CiviCRM
 Salesforce
 Sumac
 Content Management System (CMS)
 Wordpress
 Joomla
 Drupal

22. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#4 Hybrid Cloud & Internal IT Infrastructure
Why is this important?
Allows all nonprofits (including healthcare organizations) to enjoy benefits of
both:
 Benefits of the Cloud: User-friendly, self-service features without expensive IT
resources
 Benefits of Internal servers: Store sensitive information that cannot be hosted
outside of Canada
If your nonprofit has not set-up a hybrid cloud/IT system, design your cloud
service usage with a hybrid future in mind and make sure future integration is
possible

23. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#4 Hybrid Cloud & Internal IT Infrastructure
What it could look like:
 Highly sensitive
information hosted
internally (e.g. patient
information)
 Productivity processes
on the cloud (e.g.,
meeting minutes,
collateral materials)

24. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#4 Hybrid Cloud & Internal IT Infrastructure
Cloud Productivity
 Dropbox
Tools
 Smartsheet
 Huddle
 Evernote
 Skydrive
 Google Docs
Cloud Productivity
 Office 365 for Nonprofits
Suites
 Google Apps for
Business
 Zoho

25. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#4 Hybrid Cloud & Internal IT Infrastructure
A Word on Data …
Technology has made data collection and data sharing very easy. As a nonprofit, consider:
 What kind of data are you collecting? (And why?)
 What can you accomplish with the data that is freely shared?
 Are you contributing data to the sector/larger mission?
 How are you collaborating with other nonprofits on a national and international scale?
Read more on TechSoup Canada’s website:
 Under Blog > Take The Next Step with Data Sharing for Nonprofits
www.techsoupcanada.ca/en/community/blog/take-the-next-step-with-data-sharing-for-nonprofits

26. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#5 Mobile Beacon Based Sensors
What is it?
Essentially a wireless sensor network that can be used for routing,
monitoring and tracking.
Why is this important?
Gives nonprofits the potential to create more engaging experiences
and to improve operations

27. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#5 Mobile Beacon Based Networks
Example: Geofencing
Geofencing is a virtual perimeter around any
geographic area. It can be used by nonprofits for:
 Improving event participants’ experiences (e.g.,
attendees could automatically check-in to an event
zone using a geofence app, you can send a phone
alert/notification to an event attendee when they
enter or leave a geofence area)
 Keeping track of your nonprofit’s assets (e.g., your
office manager can receive a notification when a
laptop leaves your office)

28. 5 Tech Trends for Nonprofits
#5 Mobile Beacon Based Networks
Example: Apple’s
iBeacon
Apple’s iBeacon is a transmitter that
notifies nearby iOS 7 devices of their
presence.

29. Best Practices
There are certain trends in the use of technology that are
essential for success:
 Content Marketing & Curation
 Targeted Communications
 Data Informed Decisions

30. Content Marketing & Content Curation
The “spray & pray”
approach is no longer
effective when it comes
to marketing.
Good content marketing
& curation is the best way
for your nonprofit to build
brand loyalty and engage
with your supporters.

31. Targeted Communications
Donors and supporters have
different motivations to give and
different experiences interacting
with your nonprofit. Speak to them
properly to inspire positive
responses.
 Loyal Donors don’t want to read
“Let me introduce you to our
mission”
 Prospects don’t want to read
“As you may know, we’re
raising money for … ”

32. Data Informed Decisions

33. Questions? Comments?
Jane Zhang,
Executive Director at TechSoup Canada
Director of Online Services at the Centre for Social Innovation
Slides and presentation prepared by Joyce Hsu