The Strategic Use of Information Technology by Nonprofit Organizations: Increasing Capacity and Untapped Potential

doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00730.x

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Wiley InterScience

Public Administration Review

Volume 67 Issue 3, Pages 474 - 487

Published Online: 11 Jun 2007

Published on behalf of the American Society for Public Administration

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The Strategic Use of Information Technology by Nonprofit Organizations: Increasing Capacity and Untapped Potential

Darrene Hackler ¹ Gregory D. Saxton ²

¹ George Mason University
² State University of New York

Correspondence to Darrene Hackler is an associate professor of government and politics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Her research focuses on the local political economies of cities with regard to telecommunications infrastructure, technology industry, and female entrepreneurship. She is also interested in information technology innovation in the nonprofit sector. She is the author of Cities in the Technology Economy (2006, M. E. Sharpe) and has published work in Urban Affairs Review, Journal of Urban Affairs, Journal of Urban Technology, American Behavioral Scientist, and Annals of Cases on Information Technology.
E-mail: dhackler@gmu.edu
Gregory D. Saxton is an assistant professor of public administration at the State University of New York, College at Brockport. His research focuses on nonprofit organizations and civic engagement, technological innovation and management, and social movement conflict. His work has been published in Social Science Quarterly, The Public Manager, the Journal of Peace Research, the Journal of Political Science, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, International Interactions, and the American Review of Public Administration.
E-mail: gsaxton@brockport.edu

ABSTRACT

How are nonprofits using information technology to enhance mission-related outcomes and boost organizational performance? The authors examine a large-scale survey of nonprofits' technology planning, acquisition, and implementation to assess the strategic use of IT in these organizations. They evaluate nonprofits' strategic technology-use potential by examining IT-related competencies and practices that are critical for the successful strategic employment of technology resources. Several promising developments are found, alongside significant deficits in the strategic utilization of IT, especially in the areas of financial sustainability, strategic communications and relationship building, and collaborations and partnerships. To boost IT's mission-related impact, nonprofits must enhance their organizational capacities in long-term IT planning, budgeting, staffing, and training; performance measurement; Internet and Web site capabilities; and the vision, support, and involvement of senior management.

Received: 14 March 2007; Accepted: 16 May 2007;

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00730.x About DOI

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