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In June we received the exciting news that we had received $38,400 in grant funding from the state government to support our goal to build digital capability in the not-for-profit sector. Now we’re seeking your input into this project to ensure that our solution best addresses the needs of the sector.
We bring our own perspective, having worked within the sector, but there is no substitute for hearing the experiences of those who have lived and breathed it.
As such, we’re reaching out to request input into our project. Can you or someone you know help us? Here’s everything you need to know.
For those unacquainted with Zentient, we are a local Perth startup that provides affordable tech consulting and implementation services to the not-for-profit sector.
We’ve worked with a broad range of organisations, and less than three years from our inception, we are already working with some of WA’s most important, such as Lifeline WA.
We’ve helped with tasks such as automating previously manual processes, overcoming data siloes, training staff and importantly bringing in additional membership revenue.
In recognition for the work that we’re doing, we’ve been awarded entry into programs such as Impact Seed Impact2Innovate, Curtin Ignition and Bloom Orbit, and have become a WASEC-endorsed social enterprise.
Not-for-profit organisations face a raft of challenges when it comes to adopting technology, many of which are unique.
At the same time, they employ far fewer persons in tech-related roles than do their corporate counterparts, and consequently depend much more on outside assistance for managing their technology.
Whilst some responsibilities are easily outsourced, there is a danger that in becoming overly reliant on an external provider, organisations are neglecting components which are best led from within. For example, providing staff training or embracing better tools.
Smaller organisations might only have a ‘de facto IT person’ based on whomever knows the most about technology, and may not be able to justify the cost of an external IT support provider. That makes managing their digital environment pretty challenging.
Through this project, our aim is to develop a solution (whether it be a service, a product, or a software) which helps organisations become more technologically self-sufficient and therefore more digitally capable.
We’ll be guided in this process by repeatedly asking ourselves: “what information, tools and support is required for not-for-profit organisations to be technologically self-sufficient?”
In other words, we are seeking to assess the technological responsibilities that organisations have - whether presently managed internally or outsourced - and to explore how we can simplify their fulfilment.
We need your input to help inform our direction. With the grant funding received from the government, we have a mandate to deliver impact, and we want you to tell us how we can best assist you.
We bring our own experience and assumptions into this project, but there is no substitute for speaking to organisations in determining how we should prioritise our resources.
We want to make it as easy as possible for you to share your thoughts with us. As such we will be offering a number of feedback mechanisms, of varying degrees of involvement, which you can opt into using the form below:
Email - we’ll send you an email with more information and any specific questions we think you’ll be able to answer
Survey - we will send you a short survey to complete
Casual interview - we’ll buy you a coffee and ask you some questions
Roundtable discussion - we may plan a roundtable event where you can discuss ideas with others
Advisory group - we’re assembling a group of 6 interested organisations that will meet monthly to most-closely advise the direction we take
Whatsapp group - join a Whatsapp group where I will post quick questions as they arise throughout the project
Early access waitlist - once we have developed a prototype of our solution, we’ll provide you with free early access to it in return for your feedback
Other - we welcome you sharing your experience in any way you can, so let us know if none of these are suitable for you
Organisations who help us will receive early and discounted access to any solution that we develop. If the solution that we are advised to build is a software tool, you’ll receive up to 12 months of free use.
Additionally, we are offering the chance for you to have your ideas built. If you’ve always wished that a tool you rely on did something differently, let us know and we can fill that gap for you.
Finally, you’ll be supporting a local Perth-based social enterprise with the best of intentions. When the rest of the IT sector has an inherent incentive to keep you dependent upon them, we’re trying to buck the trend by genuinely building up your internal capability. Help us help organisations like you across the state.
If you're interested in having your say, you can fill out the EOI form below, or send an email to James at james.audcent@zentient.org.
