Is a social sector-wide tech upgrade possible? Leaders weigh in

Coverage of this topic is made possible by IBM Canada. 

Back in March, seemingly overnight, tens of thousands of social impact organizations migrated all of their work online as their teams scrambled to catch up. 

For an already resource-strapped sector, a fundamental shift like this one is almost unmanageable — and wholly unmanageable for some, who’ve had to close their doors or dramatically downsize. Simply put: the sector wasn’t prepared. 

What will it take, now, to bring the social impact world up to speed and enable it to thrive in a post-pandemic, digital society? 

In partnership with IBM Canada, United Way Centraide Canada, and Community Foundations of Canada, Future of Good hosted a #BuildBackBetter digital conversation to answer that very question. Four speakers shared why tech and data are critical tools for post-pandemic social impact work, and what exactly it’ll take to equip organizations with those tools and capacity on the massive scale necessary for recovery. Here are five key insights:

 

Organizational culture needs an upgrade before any tech upgrades can happen

Fulfilling the potential of a tech-enabled social impact world requires a massive shift in sector-wide organizational culture, the speakers said. They agreed that organizations, especially established and older ones, are often risk-averse and resistant to change. This won’t serve them well in this new reality, the speakers said. 

“Have comfort with discomfort,” Yasmine Mohamed, who leads the Institute for Canadian Citizenship’s Canoo project, an app that connects newcomers to cultural experiences, advised organizations unfamiliar with the digital world. “That’s the kind of organizational mindset that long-standing institutions need to take on in order to actually transform and do digital work.”

Michael Lenczner, founding director of Powered by Data, even questioned whether it’s possible to shift the culture of older organizations whose norms and practices are deeply entrenched. “Certainly, it’s not impossible for existing organizations to do that, but I think the lessons that we’ve seen both in the private sector and the non-profit sector are that often it’s new organizations that have that in their DNA that are better able to kind of execute” on embedding data literacy and tech tools into their work.

CG Chen, founder of tech startup Ample Labs, offered a suggestion to bigger organizations without tech baked into their DNA: create a new innovation lab or unit within the organization, foster a tech-enabled culture there, then let that culture permeate the rest of the organization. 

 

Community feedback is essential — and tech can help you get it 

In the rapidly changing environment that is a global pandemic, tech-enabled feedback loops with users are key to adapting quickly to communities’ changing needs, the speakers said. 

Mohamed’s team has had to rapidly reimagine its offering as institutions like museums have closed or fundamentally changed their services during the pandemic. Feedback from the organization’s community has been key to doing this. “I think of our community not as an end user,” she said. “I think our community is our feedback loop, and those mechanisms for feedback being the most critical pieces of infrastructure for us.”

The speakers encouraged any organization thinking of using technology to build feedback into every stage of the design and implementation process, which is antithetical to how much of the social impact world has traditionally worked. Usually, Jason Shim, director of digital strategy and transformation at Pathways to Education, said, organizations map out projects many months or even a year ahead of their launch dates, leaving little room for changes along the way. That simply won’t work in a reality where there’s no way to predict a community’s needs a year from now (and, arguably, it’s never worked).

 

To do any of this, funding expectations need to change 

Shim added that a shift from mapping out projects well ahead of time to a more iterative, feedback-informed design process requires funders willing to back that kind of practice — and the risks and rewards it offers. 

There haven’t traditionally been many such funders, but the pandemic is encouraging some this way, Shim said. “One thing that has emerged are funders really stepping up and being like, ‘We trust you to do the work and understand that things may emerge along the way. Do your thing, and keep us informed.’”

Lenczer was less optimistic. “I’ve yet to see funders having dedicated funding programs for technology,” he said. He said the sector needs “funders who are excited to learn about this stuff and excited to go through the many lessons, many ups and downs. There is no other way to acquire expertise than by just doing it a hundred times.”

 

Technology can boost efficiency — and help you focus on your mission 

The speakers agreed that technology is an essential tool, especially in the fragmented and often chaotic post-pandemic workplace, for building efficiencies. 

For Shim and his team, digital communication, like outreach to the students the organization works with, has been time-costly during the pandemic. He said the organization is working to automate the initial outreach process to a staff member’s entire caseload, to free up time to focus on more personal communication afterward. “The better that we can do our work on the digital and tech front, the more time that we can free up for the things that really matter. And for us, that’s about building those really positive relationships that help with the educational outcomes of our students.”

 

But… not everything should be automated

 While embedding technology and data literacy into the social impact world is an imperative, it’s important not get carried away and take it too far, the speakers said. The sector will always thrive on human connection, they said, and can be bolstered — but not replaced — by technical solutions. 

“Technology is not a substitute for, so many things, such as building relationships. It’s more of a means to an end,” Chen said. “You have a world right now where everyone’s technological dreams have come true, right? This virtual platform is the means to do everything, but what happens when that becomes all you do?”

In partnership with IBM Canada, we’ll dive even deeper into this topic at this year’s Future of Good Summit. Click here to learn more and get your ticket.