TechSoup - a must have for every social entrepreneur.

 Are you in TechSoup?  You should be.  This 20+ year old non profit is one of the best resources out there for NGO's and social entrepreneurs.  I don't usually focus on a single  organization in this blog, but after visiting the TechSoup Headquarters in San Francisco recently and interviewing some of its 100+ staff, I came away convinced that the 200,000 NGO's that currently subscribe to its newsletters and use its services are onto something tht every non-profit – and every high tech company tht wants to support the NGO world – needs to be part of.

What is TechSoup? A non-profit created in 1987 to help other non-profits obtain and use technology to heighten their impact. It does this through its web sites, events, and community-building initiatives and by helping companies and foundations optimize the philanthropic impact of their technology donations.

What  does TechSoup do?  Many things, all of them useful.

• Distributes technology donations to NGO's and libraries  (products, software, etc) through its Product Catalogue. NGO's can request donations through TechSoup, which administers the donation programs for its partner donor firms, insuring that NGOs meet each donor's requirements.  NGOs pay a small fee.

• Distributes information on technology and social good. The free TechSoup By the Cup e-newsletter is a weekly summary of key innovations for social entrepreneurs and NGOs. TechSoup's New Product Alerts  gives NGO IT staff an early heads-up on new product offerings from TechSoup partner donors.

• Produces technology events for NGO's.  The N2 Conference – Remixing the Web for Social Change – is one of the best events NGO's can follow or attend to track how technology is used to make social change. This year's N2Y4 was on mobile activism.  NetTuesdays is an offline meetup that brings NGO folks together F2F.

• Recycles used technology products so they can sold or donated instead of being thrown away.  Recycled products are far less expensive and far more environmentally considerate that new products.

• Trains NGO's in technology geared to their needs.  TechSoup's Learning Center offers articles, events and webinars that serve a range of NGO s from online marketing to technical fixes.

• Provides Community.  The TechSoup Community offers discussion forums, blogs, surveys, event listings, etc.  I have used it for information on creating donation badges for a non profit website, among other questions.

• Covers the world (or at least major parts of it).  The TechSoup Global Network has 35 global donor partners who have donated over $310 million in products and services to over 45,000 organizations.   TechSoup Global hosts 400,000 unique visitors a month from 190 countries – 25% of TechSoup's traffic.
  

• Posts Recipes.  Yes, that is recipes for making soup, posted on a TechSoup wiki.  They come from all over the world.  My favorite is Cucuzza,  is from Sicily. 

Whether it is IT advice, hardware or software donations, or a community that can support non profit online needs, TechSoup is the one organization that every NGO needs to be part of.