Technology Association of Grantmakers held their 2025 Conference in Atlanta. Jenny and Carolyn attended and share the takeaways and trends in philanthropy for tech.
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The takeaways:
- Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG) convenes members bi-annually to share knowledge and experiences on technology used at foundations and funders.
- Four trends stood out from this year’s conference: AI, Data, Cybersecurity, and our own health.
- Almost every session and keynote spoke to the prevalence of AI in our lives, in philanthropy, and in the nonprofit space. If you are feeling FOMO or feeling that you don’t know enough about AI, rest assured no one really knows what they are doing either. We also heard several fascinating use cases where nonprofits in partnership with funders are using AI in thoughtful and impactful ways.
- Data and database cleaning and organizing was also a trending topic. Several presentations stressed the need to work on your data processes and governance before throwing an AI product at your data and expecting it to clean it up for you. Again, thoughtful attention to the human side of data is necessary to make the AI work well.
- Several speakers stressed the need to weave cybersecurity throughout your operations and realize that IT and cybersecurity touch every staff member at your organization. Starting with anti-virus software not being built-in to your purchase, IT has constantly packaged cybersecurity as something additional and separate. But that is an inadequate viewpoint. Weave cybersecurity into everything and keep yourself and your organization better protected.
- Finally, our health. IT in philanthropy is all about people. People need to be healthy, which can require a pause to reflect even in chaotic and stressful times. Several speakers and attendees talked about the need, as ever, to re-focus on the essentials: the communities we partner with, the deep knowledge we have about the assets we hold and the challenges we face, and that we do this work because we have hope for a better future.
It’s clear that the intersection of technology and philanthropy is evolving rapidly. These trends can feel like a lot to navigate, but remember that the strongest solutions always come from a thoughtful, human-centered approach. To hear more about these four trends from the Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG) conference, we invite you to listen to our podcast episode. Community IT is here to help your nonprofit or foundation thoughtfully weave technology into your operations so you can focus on your mission.
Presenters
Jenny Huftalen has been providing Account Management services for Community IT’s partner organizations since 2007. Now as Director of Client Services, she is responsible for ensuring those partner organizations are receiving the right combination of IT support services that meet their organizational needs and goals.
Before joining Community IT, Jenny worked in a similar role for a best practice healthcare research and consulting firm. Jenny enjoys Community IT’s commitment to serving progressive organizations that are devoted to making a positive impact on their communities and the world at large. She earned a BA in political science from Union College, with minors in economics and history. She hopes the discussion offered listeners practical clarity on navigating the future of AI, data, cybersecurity, and our health as trends in philanthropy for tech.
Carolyn Woodard is currently head of Marketing and Outreach at Community IT Innovators. She has served many roles at Community IT, from client to project manager to marketing. With over twenty years of experience in the nonprofit world, including as a nonprofit technology project manager and Director of IT at both large and small organizations, Carolyn knows the frustrations and delights of working with technology professionals, accidental techies, executives, and staff to deliver your organization’s mission and keep your IT infrastructure operating. She has a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from Johns Hopkins University and received her undergraduate degree in English Literature from Williams College.
She was delighted to have this podcast conversation with Jenny hearing her perspective on the most pressing trends in philanthropy for tech coming out of the TAG conference.
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