Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

Beth Kanter interviewed me for Blogher recently, and one of the questions included “… you work as an independent consultant …” Well, those days are numbered. I decided several weeks ago, for a variety of reasons, to retire my independent consultant hat. I’ve been doing this work for more than 10 years now, full time for about seven of those years. It’s been an important part of my life for all of this time. I had decided to leave it two years ago to go to seminary, then, when I left seminary, I picked it up again briefly. I have now realized I need to set it down for good.

I’m not leaving nonprofit technology, though, just this particular role - I expect to stay involved, keep connected, keep prodding and poking, and keep learning. I expect, in one way or the other, to be putting on a nonprofit hat. For right now, I’m the part-time coordinator of NOSI. Whatever emerges next, you’ll hear about it, for sure. (In other words, no I don’t exactly know what I am doing next, yet.)

Being an independent consultant was, for me, a way to feel like I was using my skills for the greater good. I got to be a geek, and feel like I was really making a difference in the workings of organizations, and, hopefully, in people’s lives. And, I think I did that. And I also spent lots of time wrestling with the demons of consultancy and for-profit-hood (or “for-little-profit-hood” as one consultant once put it.) If I had it to do over again, I would have started a nonprofit technology organization 10 years ago. Although it certainly could be argued that would have just involved different demons. Perhaps I’m now more ready to wrestle those.

In any event, I have a lot of other skills and knowledge besides databases and coding: skills and knowledge in teaching, in writing, in working with organizations, in facilitation, in religion and spiritual practices, and in working with people, that I want to use now. I want to more directly work with people and organizations, primarily focused around faith and spirituality. I want to see people’s real faces, and hear their real voices. I want to smell the sweat of working for change in our society, from the inside out.