Realigning Technology Infrastructure for Foundation Grantees

Robin Hood's Management Assistance team (MA team) was constantly being bombarded with urgent requests from grant recipients for assistance on a wide range of technology issues. As a foundation that actively seeks to build the capacity of its grant recipients as well as leverage the participation of other funders , the team developed a solution that would be an important first step in helping improve the effectiveness and outcomes of individual organizations.

The MA team enlisted the help of several grant recipients and pro-bono assistance from Deloitte and Touche ("Deloitte") to better define these needs and how Robin Hood could most strategically address them. They learned that the most pressing issues at their grant recipients were inadequacies in basic infrastructure and networking, the difficulty of finding reliable staff to install and maintain these systems, the challenge of training staff in the use of this equipment, and the need to plan for technology acquisition, implementation and training. Enter NPower NY.

NPower NY staff worked with the MA team at Robin Hood and Deloitte to design a technology initiative for the foundation's grantees. The goal of the initiative was to define a set of hardware and software standards, to assess where grant recipients currently stood with regard to their existing infrastructure and to work with those who were assessed below the standard to reach these critical benchmarks. Nearly 75% of the foundation's 100 grant recipients came to the orientation sessions introducing the initiative and the assessment process will begin during the summer of 2001. Deloitte created a sophisticated interactive assessment form that will be completed by grant recipients and NPower NY has begun to meet with a few of the grantees that need immediate assistance with PC and LAN maintenance. NPower NY will also lead the implementation phase of the initiative as it rolls out this summer. For Robin Hood, the project will hopefully lead to more sophisticated technology solutions for intra-agency communication and outcome tracking.

"This is such a wonderful gift" says Natasha Davis, Executive Director of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), a grant recipient of the foundation. " We would never be able do this on our own and with our funder, Robin Hood, and their partners NPower NY and Deloitte, we have access to the highest quality technology assistance available. We are thrilled to be a part of this initiative and hope that other funders will stand up and take notice of this effective solution to the technology conundrum for non-profits."