Collaborative Technology Projects

There are incredible possibilities for nonprofits to transform the way they affect social change. And organizations make the biggest gains by using technology as the means to collaborate with sister nonprofits in serving constituents.

You may have read "The Power of Many " article on the Alameda County Childcare Eligibility List ( CEL) project and how it changed the way low-income families accessed subsidized childcare. Removing unnecessary drudgery from the parents' workload and providing vital information and broader access to qualified clients for childcare providers, all in one simple system, now helps low-income parents looking for childcare save time.

This type of collaboration doesn't happen overnight. It took a lot of effort, many years, and thousands of dollars for the CEL project get to where it is now. And ongoing requirements threaten the sustainability of the project, even now. So how do you know if you're ready to undertake something like this?

All of these types of projects are different, so there's no simple and easy path that will guarantee a successful end. There are a hundreds of different ways to make a collaborative project work, but there are thousands of ways for one to fail!

This article will lay out the key areas you need to think about to maximize your chances of success. By looking realistically at some of the critical factors you can reduce the risk that you'll waste effort on a project that doesn't succeed.

So what do you need for a collaborative technology project to work?

The Idea

Your project needs a purpose that meets peoples' programmatic needs. If the project doesn't address an issue that's important to participatants, the chances of getting people involved will be slim.

Ask:

• If this worked, how would it change the way you interact with your constituents? Is the new way good for what your organization is trying to do?
• How would this change the way you share information with constituents and other organizations? What other activities would this affect?
• Is this idea best developed in a collaborative setting?

The Partner Dialogue

Collaborative projects need an active, respectful dialogue among the partners. If you don't already have that, you'll need to develop it quickly. You also need the right people talking to each other at the right times. Many nonprofits relegate technology projects to technology people in their organizations, but most of the dialogue in a collaborative project is about developing, negotiating, and compromising around programmatic and financial activities.

Collaboration requires building trust among the parties involved, and that requires a relationship. You may already have good links with the people you need -- through an umbrella organization, local networking, other mission based projects, or meetings or a common funder who has brought you together.

Ask:

• Do you already have a forum for starting this dialogue?
• Who else do you need in the dialogue (maybe funders, constituents, or an external expert)?
• How can you best organize the dialogue so that one or two people can't hold up the project, but so you can still get the participation you need?
• If you don't have a forum, how can you inspire the right people in the room to discuss the project? How will you develop the relationships with the people you need?
• Do you need to start off with something smaller to build trust among organizations and to develop capacity to work together?

Project Champions

Project champions are just one element of successful project leadership. ButEven though the role tends to be informal and develop organically, you need to put effort into making sure the position is covered. Sometimes just one person takes on this role, but often it is spread among different people as the project progresses. Still, it's a critical role that is often overlooked, especially in collaborative projects where there isn't a clear hierarchy and many of the regular cues for defining the role are missing.

Collaborative projects are some of the hardest to bring to fruition. There are many obstacles along the way that cause people to give up or the project to get derailed. To keep things going, the project's benefits and vision need to stay at the front of people's minds. When goals are slipping, or a difficult obstacle is encountered, there needs to be enough momentum and leadership to get the project back on track. Champions are your internal activists: the ones who get people on the team fired up about the project, keep things going through the hard times, think a few steps ahead about what's coming up, and turn up the heat at crucial moments.

A successful champion is generally well respected by the group, a good communicator, a believer in the project, and a problem solver. This gives that person significant leverage to affect change.

Take a champion approach to the project yourself, but you can also take an active approach to developing champions within your group. Take time to identify people you think would be qualified, approach them individually to get their commitment to the project, and continue to develop their interest and commitment throughout the duration.

To identify potential champions, ask yourself:

• Who can influence others to provide resources?
• Who can influence others to reach agreement?
• Who else really understands the potential of the project?
• Who won't give up if things get tough?
• Who has a history of completing complex projects?
• Who can sell the idea to others?
• Who will find the time to push others to action when the project comes up against problems?

The more people who take on a champion role for your project, the better its chances of completion. There is one pitfall though: champions tend to have strong personalities and may want to steer the project in a particular direction. If too many people attempt to do this you will have more difficulty gaining agreement.

Resources

Don't underestimate the importance of tackling this issue early and often. Successful projects need significant investment up front and will likely require ongoing funding for running costs, maintenance, and upgrades. After initial investment, you'll need to develop a sustainable plan for funding the project.

You don't need to know where all your resources will come from right at the start, but you need to begin working on it right away. A large project is unlikely to even get started without a grant or some other central fund.

Funders can be major players in getting a collaborative project off the ground. They often provide the resources and mandate to get people in the room together. This can be a useful way to build immediate leverage with participants.

Ways to fund initial planning and development:

• Initial investment from participants: While lots of projects start this way, it's a difficult case to make once you get past the idea stage. The project will most likely be successful if you're looking at ways to cut participants' costs.
• Use volunteers: If you have in-house expertise managing a technology project, you may be able to use volunteers to develop a new application. Don't underestimate the amount of in-house time that will still be needed. This is a risky route, but the savings can be huge.
  Funders: Getting a grant is probably one of the most common ways to kick-start a project. Sometimes funders don't just provide cash; they also push for collaboration, suggesting or mandating the partners, and championing the project.

One of the toughest parts of most projects is building a sustainability plan. Often it is much easier to get initial funding together than to get ongoing commitments. Most funders do not want to be involved in supporting a project indefinitely and there are very few technology projects that meet their potential without ongoing investment.

Some ideas to consider for ongoing funding:

• Participants can commit to providing funding from their own budgets in the future.
• Split up responsibilities for different aspects among the participants.
• Part of the project may include developing an independent fundraising strategy.
• The project can be designed so that it's self-sustaining through constituents' fees.
• An individual participant can take on the responsibility for maintenance.

There are many aspects to a collaborative project and these are just a few of the key things that will apply to all of them. But, don't be discouraged. To make a collaborative project work, the first thing you need to do is collaborate with someone. Start talking to people, building support, and refining your idea so that it becomes something lots of people are interested in.