Leadership Opportunities for Volunteers at Nonprofit Technology Resources

On This Page Learning Opportunities Training Coordinator Curriculum Coordinator Software Acquisition Coordinator Software Evaluation Coordinator Nonprofit Computing - Scrapbook Coordinator Newsletter Editor In Chief Market Research Coordinator Public Data Coordinator Contacting Us

Learning Opportunities These are the only learning opportunities NTR offers to people who are not, necessarily, associated with a nonprofit organization. If you can spare three or four hours once a week or so, you can help while you learn. Computer Fixer No previous computer experience needed. We provide free introductory training and as much "hands-on" learning as you want. While you learn, you'll be helping to manage and repair the donated equipment in our warehouse. This is a great way to find out if you really like computers - before you enroll in a more formal course of study. Hardware Transporter No qualifications except a strong back needed to move and load donated equipment. Your help is really needed - and you get free training in hardware fixing. Hardware Driver Free hardware "fixer" training is also available if you have a vehicle and time to pick up donated equipment. You can help us get computers from individuals and businesses that would like to donate but cannot bring the equipment to our warehouse.   Training Coordinator and Trainers Help NTR find and organize people who would like to teach classes to nonprofit staff and volunteers. This is a fairly complicated task, since we need to create our training schedule several months in advance. The coordinator will determine the qualifications of each instructor, help trainers design their classes, set up firm dates for classes and work with other staff and volunteers to see to it that the classes happen and the students are happy. This volunteer spot could possibly be shared by several volunteers and might eventually become a paid position as we grow and create interest in our services among foundations and corporations. Trainers who volunteer their time with NTR will gain valuable hands-on teaching experience facing a demanding audience. Unfortunately, we will not be able to accept volunteer trainers till we have found a coordinator... Curriculum Coordinator While NTR's classes and the materials used in the classes are already well thought out, the person filling this position will help to guide the development and improvement of our courses and the production (or selection) of reference materials the students can take back to the office. This effort will have to take into consideration the fact that while nonprofit staff members have some training requirements in common with "business users" of computer software, they also have needs which are unique to the nonprofit work that they do.

Software Acquisition Coordinator Our clients and students will be better served if NTR has a constant flow of new software to examine and use. We need a small group of people or one productive and independent soul who will keep after the updates to software, locate review copies of new products, write pleading letters for software and site licenses on packages we use with more than one computer and generally help to feed the ever growing need to know what's out there that might be useful for nonprofit groups.   Software Evaluation Coordinator NTR should be able to produce detailed reviews of nonprofit-specific software. We should also be able to write reviews of commercial packages which have applications to nonprofit tasks. This work should be conducted by a committee. At this time, we are looking for someone willing and qualified to lead the committee, as well as people who would like to work on the committee. This committee won't start meeting till we have chosen a leader who will take responsibility for its progress. While this committee might do better in face-to-face meetings, it's quite possible for it to meet online.   Nonprofit Computing - Scrapbook Coordinator There are frequent mentions of issues relating to nonprofit computing in the public press and nonprofit-specific newsletters. This person would help to collect these materials. The coordinator would be responsible for collating material collected by staff and other volunteers into a beautiful and well organized scrap book.   Newsletter Editor in Chief Philadelphia has only a few newsletters aimed at the nonprofit community as a whole, and nothing is published for nonprofits about computing or information management. The volunteer editor-in-chief of this publication would be responsible for working with contributing writers, editing their contributions, and guiding the layout & publishing of a periodical newsletter.   Market Research Coordinator What are nonprofits doing with computers? What would (or should) they do, if only they knew how? Does technology help improve the quality or effectiveness of human service organizations? Can community organizations build cleaner, healthier neighborhoods if they know how to use computers? Can community development organizations increase local employment opportunities more effectively if they have good computing skills? These are but a few of the questions that NTR must seek to answer in order to effectively serve the nonprofit groups in the Delaware Valley. Public Data Coordinator Where do nonprofit organizations obtain information about the community they serve? Often it comes from published sources such as statistics mentioned in newspapers, magazines or government publications, but a lot of information is "gathered" for nonprofit staff by their friends, co-workers and other people who know their interests and point them to interesting tidbits of crucial information. The person taking on this position will help gather and organize information that is sent to NTR, posted publicly in online sources, or found by diligent research for the purpose of sharing with the Philadelphia nonprofit community. Nonprofit Technology Resources 1508 Brandywine Street Philadelphia PA 19130 Call Stan Pokras 215-564-6686. Or send him an email message.

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