Video: Equity Guide for Nonprofit Technology

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Equity Guide for Nonprofit Technology Webinar
with Tristan Penn, Equity and Accountability Director at NTEN.

Why a 2025 technology equity guide for nonprofits?

Nonprofit technology is marked by inequities within our organizations and our sector.
You can see this in staffing and processes, and the way technology tools are implemented. Learn to use the free NTEN Equity Guide for Nonprofit Technology as an active and regular part of your strategy discussions and policy review processes and as a resource for evaluation.

Join Tristan Penn to learn how nonprofit staff can use technology strategically in racially equitable ways to meet our missions and community needs.

Worried about inherent bias and inequity built in to the technology your nonprofit uses?
Wondering how to implement strategies and frameworks to make sure your technology use aligns with your organizational values?

Navigating technology can be challenging for nonprofits, especially with the inequities in our sector. How can you use technology as strategically and equitably as possible to advance your mission?

Join Tristan Penn to learn about the NTEN Equity Guide for Nonprofits Technology. This session will explore how to use the NTEN Equity Guide as a key part of your strategy and policy reviews. You’ll learn how to implement technology in racially equitable ways to better meet community needs. Get a head start on building a more equitable tech future for your organization.

As with all our webinars, this presentation is appropriate for an audience of varied IT experience.

Community IT is proudly vendor-agnostic, and our webinars cover a range of topics and discussions. Webinars are never a sales pitch, always a way to share our knowledge with our community.

Presenters:

Tristan Penn is the Equity and Accountability Director at NTEN, where he works to promote, coordinate, and evaluate best practices that support Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Liberation. His work focuses on equitable development and capacity building within the nonprofit sector. He manages a staff, community, and board-specific DEI Taskforce, creating long-term work plans and goals for equity initiatives both within NTEN and across the broader community.

In his role, Tristan supports and coaches conference speakers and course faculty on creating equitable presentations and manages an annual community survey to gather demographic data and assess customer satisfaction and goal alignment. He is also responsible for designing and implementing audit processes to evaluate the staff, board, and volunteer policies outlined in NTEN’s Equity Commitment, and for developing appropriate methodologies to measure the impact of NTEN’s equity efforts.

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-five 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 happy to learn about this equity guide for nonprofit technology from Tristan Penn at long time Community IT partner NTEN.

Transcript below

Reddit Discussion Q&A and Resources

Here is the Equity Guide link – free download from NTEN: https://www.nten.org/change/equity-guide-for-nonprofit-technology

Here is the companion “Tech 28” guide for nonprofit board members – what questions should you be asking about tech at the nonprofit as you provide leadership, guidance, risk assessment, and strategic planning? https://word.nten.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/The-Tech-28.pdf

AI and Equity

Q: I’ll start with a big obvious one. Many nonprofits really started to worry more about equity in the IT tools they are using when AI hit the big time and disturbing revelations about bias/exclusion, power relationships, and the environmental and community impacts of data centers came to light.

How can nonprofit leaders and staff use this guide to tackle their relationship with AI tools?

A: Howdy! Tristan here 👋 – Great time presenting earlier and I love this question because it is so relevant and appropriate given the ever-growing influence and presence that AI has made in our work, overtly and covertly.

The beauty of this guide is that is truly broad enough to include basic tech tools, as well as advanced tools such as AI. Instead of getting incredibly specific, it instead guides nonprofit folks to ask questions and investigate the tool and what data and information they may be sharing with, say, and AI tool. This is where the guide really shines; Tech tools are always going to be doing exactly what they were built to do. It’s incumbent upon us as the potential user to make sure that we are cautious and prudent with what organizational data and information we are willing to share with whatever tool is being considered.

Next Steps to use the Equity Guide for Nonprofit Technology

Q: For staff members at nonprofits who have read this guide, what are some next steps you recommend? What are priorities or first steps to take to bring this topic to the attention of leadership?

A: I think a great first step is to find an element that spoke to you in the guide. Whether it is the staff professional development aspect, or the funding of tech aspect; find the element that feels like you know a LOT about. Start there. If one tries to overhaul everything at once, it makes for a very chaotic-spread-thin mindspace for whoever is trying to change things. One bite at a time.

Q: Examining nonprofit technology from an equity perspective is definitely a “nice” thing to do, but what makes it essential? Do you have any real-world stories of a nonprofit that used this guide to create a strategic advantage for themselves or the community they serve?

A: (Tristan) It is important because if there isn’t a focused and intentional examination/analysis of HOW we are implementing things, policies, practices, and tech then that leaves no room for any changing and altering of outdated policies, practices, and tech. And I don’t think anyone wants outdated tech in their catalog 🙂

Additionally, I think it is important because oftentimes when things get examined and altered/changed through the lens of equity, the greatest chance for staff satisfaction, organizational satisfaction, community member trust, and sector-wide reputation is at its highest; rising tides lift all ships.

A: (Carolyn) In the guide you talk a lot about planning for the strategic use of tech by your organization and for your mission. That helps you have a clear vision so that you can ask for and accept help that fits within your long-term goals, and – however painful – reject tech help that doesn’t fit within your goals because it will not improve equitable outcomes either around tech or in the communities you partner with.

At Community IT we have multiple examples of clients who were able to develop stronger, much more trust-based, relationships with funders through having a clear strategic plan for tech. During the pandemic we had a client who was able to pivot quickly to remote learning – and get funding for it – because they had already been planning for and supporting their students’ tech needs, had the strategic plan, and had partners in place like Community IT who their funders understood could deliver. Developing those long-term relationships around tech strengthen nonprofits’ ability to grow their mission around sustainable tech that supports them in more equitable ways.

Transcript

Equity Guide for Nonprofit Tech Webinar

Carolyn Woodard: I want to welcome everyone to the Community IT Webinar Equity Guide for Nonprofit Tech. My name is Carolyn Woodard. I’m the Outreach Director for Community IT and the moderator today. At Community IT, we think a lot about technology. We’re technologists and administrators and technical people in general, and we think a lot about ethics. We only serve nonprofits, so we’re in tune with our nonprofit clients. We think a lot about how things work and what is happening to the community. I have to admit that before seeing this guide, I hadn’t really thought about applying an equity lens to technology in general and to how we were using technology. I’m really excited about this webinar today.

I would call myself—and our organization—at the very beginning of our equity journey around technology. I’m looking forward to this presentation. I’m very happy to hear today from our guest Tristan Penn from NTEN, who is going to walk us through using their free Equity Guide for Nonprofit Tech. They also have a companion resource for nonprofit boards concerned with technology use, equity, and inclusion. You can download that from their website as well.

First, I’m going to go over our learning objectives. We hope that by the end of the hour today, you will understand equity issues impacting nonprofits through technology tools and processes that we use, learn how funding equitable nonprofit technology ensures better outcomes, discuss the role of nonprofit technology in disrupting existing inequitable models, and learn the role of your board in tech equity discussions and assessments and why these types of discussions rise to that board level. I’m so happy to welcome Tristan Penn. Tristan, would you like to introduce yourself?

Tristan Penn: Hi, my name is Tristan Penn. I use he/him pronouns, I’m Navajo, and I’m the Director of Equity and Accountability at NTEN. I’ve been with NTEN for about seven years in October. It still feels like I’m the new person, and maybe I’m desperately holding on to that new person role, but I’m not new there now. I’ve been working in nonprofit for about 21 years; the bulk of that, 14 years, was in youth development, mental health, and education.

I worked with a few nonprofit organizations across the Midwest and the West Coast. I come with a lot of experiences, as I’m sure we all do who work in nonprofit, but I am happy to be here to present on our Nonprofit Guide for Technology. I’m happy to be in discussion and dialogue with you all about things that are going on with everyone.

Carolyn Woodard: Thank you. I’m so glad to welcome you. Can you tell us a little bit more about NTEN?

Tristan Penn: Absolutely. NTEN is a national nonprofit. A lot of times nonprofits have a direct service arm. For example, the Humane Society has the place where you go to look at the animals, and that’s their direct service point. NTEN doesn’t really have that. Our service point is helping other nonprofits. We’re a capacity-building nonprofit for the sector through the lens of tech.

Before you joined the call, Carolyn and I were talking, and Carolyn identified herself as an “accidental techie.” That’s really the type of person we engage with. Maybe not just an accidental techie, but just accidental in whatever role you went into. We’ve all had that story where you’re the operations director, but you came in as the volunteer coordinator, and all of a sudden you assumed this role and had to learn as you went and “build the plane” as you go. Those are the experiences we’ve had, and that’s where NTEN steps in.

More than 21 years now—I believe it’s around 23 years ago—NTEN decided with technology in particular, that as the internet and all of this really great tech was happening around 2000, people were learning as they went. They wanted to create a collective and a community resource for folks to get together and learn from each other and provide training and insight. And so NTEN was born.

From that “accidental techie” mantra, we’ve expanded. Now we do everything through the layer of tech, but tech touches so much more than just the IT director. As an operations director, a CEO, or a programs director, we’re all technologists. We engage and interact with technology, and it’s incumbent upon us to stay up to date and be in community with other folks who have similar experiences.

We provide resources and community. We have an online forum for all sorts of folks that is fairly active. We have tech clubs that happen in person across the country in a host of cities. Our big event each year is our NTC, which is the Nonprofit Technology Conference. It’s in Detroit this year. It brings around 3,000 nonprofit folks from around the country to come together and talk about the things that are important, attending sessions all through the lens of tech. Sometimes it’s very broad and rooted in advocacy, and other times it’s very granular, like how to transition from one CRM to another and what the lessons learned were.

I told Amy seven years ago, “I just want to be clear, I am not a tech person. I am a child and youth development programs person.” They said, “That’s what we need, because we’re all tech people, and we need folks that are able to not only work with the community, but have their nonprofit experience rooted in community work.” That’s how I came about, and now I’ve become an accidental techie just by being in NTEN.

Carolyn Woodard: I will put in a plug for the NTC conference. I’ve been several years, and this past year in Baltimore was fantastic. As Tristan said, there are sessions on all different types of topics. It’s member-driven, so members vote on what the sessions are going to be and who the speakers are. There are always amazing keynote speakers, so I can recommend that in Detroit in March. That’s the one thing I might not recommend, is Detroit in March, but it’s going to be a warm gathering of people.

I’ll go ahead and introduce myself. I am the Director of Marketing and Outreach at Community IT. Before I worked here, I was the Tech Director at a large international nonprofit. I have seen both sides of these technology questions.

Community IT is a 100% employee-owned managed services provider. We provide outsourced IT support exclusively to nonprofits. Our mission is to help nonprofits accomplish their missions through the effective use of technology. We are big fans of what well-managed tech can do for your mission. We serve nonprofits across the United States and have been doing it for almost 25 years. We are consistently given an MSP 501 recognition for being a top MSP, which is an honor we received again in 2025.

I host a weekly podcast on different tech topics for nonprofits and this monthly free webinar series. You can access all of our previous webinar videos and transcripts at communityit.com. As Tristan said, we’re a community. We believe that the more educated we all are about technology—even if you’re not, quote-unquote, the “tech person”—the better the nonprofit sector works.

Community IT is vendor-agnostic. We only make recommendations to our clients based on their specific business needs. We never try to get a client into a product because we get an incentive or a hidden benefit from that. But we do consider ourselves a “best of breed” IT provider, so it’s our job to know the landscape, what tools are available, reputable, and widely used, and we make recommendations on that basis.

Tristan, I’m so interested to hear about this guide, because when we think about equity and ethics and potential harms to our communities, there really are two big technology stacks that 99.9% of nonprofits use. You’re either in the Microsoft world or you’re in the Google Workspace world. One of the things we feel a tension around is we can’t really recommend a different technology no matter how ethical or unethical those technology giants are behaving because that’s really what there is. There isn’t a great nonprofit alternative technology stack for nonprofits to use. I’d love to hear more about how we think about that with the guide.

We’re going to leave as much time as we can today for Q&A at the end. You can submit questions through the chat feature. Anything we can’t get to, we’re going to be on Reddit immediately after this webinar at r/nonprofitITmanagement.

As I said, our mission is to create value for the nonprofit sector. We identify four key values as employee-owners: trust, knowledge, service, and balance. We seek always to treat people with respect and fairness, to empower our staff and clients to understand and use technology effectively, and we recognize that the health of our communities is vital to our well-being.

I’m going to put a thought question in the chat: What equity issues around technology at your nonprofit are worrying you the most right now? I’ve thought about this in terms of “seen” and “unseen.” What are you aware of, and where do you worry that you might be missing technology equity issues—things that you don’t know that you don’t know? Please feel free to put that in the chat. I will not name names in the transcript, but it really helps our community when we know we’re not alone. I’m going to turn it over to Tristan.

Tristan Penn: Absolutely. I am going to get into it. I love all of these questions. Carolyn, can you re-frame that question again?

Carolyn Woodard: The question for the chat was the seen and unseen issues. Is there something that you’re aware of on your equity journey that you are really thinking about? And do you have any sense of something that’s maybe unseen, that you have a blind spot around?

Equity Guide to Nonprofit Technology

Tristan Penn: Oh, okay. Cool. I think we’re going to cover them in this presentation. We’re in this work together, obviously, even though we come from different sectors or different types of nonprofit work. I think that’s the one thing that I really love about nonprofit in the years that I’ve been involved—I get to have so many great connections with people who are just so wonderful and dynamic. We’re all doing work that is important to us, but more importantly, it’s upholding our sector in a really beautiful way. I just wanted to name that specifically during a time like this, where things feel wonky and uncertain. I know a lot of us have seen since February, when federal funds were frozen, that things have become very tenuous for a lot of us—both regionally and for our own organizations—and what that means for sustainability and financial stability. That is the context I am coming with as we talk about equitable usage of technology.

This guide is going to cover three sections: usage, funding, and creating. Using technology in equitable ways is a part of equitable work. I love to start here because this is where I really love to get analytical. Carolyn added the link for downloading the Equity Guide. It is much longer than what I am presenting. If you feel called to incorporate this into your work, we have a facilitators guide that is a part of the download as well.

Usage: Nonprofit Tech

A big part of equitable usage of technology is making sure that you are promoting that equitable usage for your staff and your constituents. I had a mentor in the past that really stuck with me. If you are wanting to provide any sort of service or product and you’re so focused on the customer or the community member always being right, that is not the best way to get your impact out there. What you do is you start out with your staff, because those staff members are not going to be able to believe in the mission if they themselves are not being taken care of in a holistic way.

That means not assuming any technology expertise. That may mean not assuming that folks know how to use a Gmail account or know how to use Google calendars or Microsoft Teams. Oftentimes folks think that is an inherent practice that everyone just knows. That is a really tricky thing to get into if you’re assuming that those baseline things like email or Slack aren’t something that you need to provide training and onboarding to. The way NTEN uses Gmail and Google Calendars is not going to be the same way another organization uses them. Don’t assume even the most basic pieces of technology are an expertise that folks have. You still are required to provide a good onboarding to how that technology is used in relation to the work.

Moving along with that, making sure that the training is accessible. Are your trainings captioned? Is it online or in-person? How can we best serve those who are getting that training in a way that they’re going to receive that information comfortably? I used to work in education and was a long-term sub for kindergarten for a while. It was a beautiful thing to see kids learn in so many different ways. I would offer the word “differentiation.” How are you differentiating your training as best as you can to match the learning style of any employee that you may have?

Examine your professional development. Is it happening only once when they walk through the door on their first day, or is it happening consistently throughout their time at your organization? Equitable use promotes that that’s happening consistently. We all know we get emails about updates on terms or new tools. Providing training for those updates creates a flywheel of training for your staff.

Also, what stakeholders are present when you’re creating those trainings? Are there community members that are a part of the training process? And here is another one: working from home. When the pandemic came about, you’d be surprised at how many folks approached NTEN asking why they should provide tech for folks who already have laptops at home. That’s an assumption. If you are requiring technology for work to get done, it is incumbent upon you to provide that for your staff. The “Bring Your Own Technology” approach is a barrier for folks who maybe aren’t making very much. That may be their whole first paycheck, and that’s just not tenable.

Data Use

Let’s talk about data use. Minimizing extractive data practices is at the top of the list because I know a lot of you are thinking about the hot topic right now: AI. I do want to say that AI is probably the headline of extractive data policies and practices. A way to navigate this is making sure that you are being prudent and critical of new tools that are coming in. That means going through with a fine-tooth comb and understanding exactly how they have their hands on your organization in terms of data—data that you are willingly sharing and data that you may not know you are sharing. You don’t want to inadvertently share any of your constituents’ or community members’ data with a company and then find you can’t get it back. Now it’s out there and you have to do a crisis management plan to let the community know you messed up.

I would caution folks to ease up on the urgency to acquire new pieces of technology just because they’re shiny and new. Those terms come and go. AI is different, but it still holds that mantle of creating a shiny luster for a lot of folks. A lot of folks come to us and say they’re missing the bus or they’re behind the ball on AI. But does it even make sense for you, or are you just hyped up on this new thing and don’t know how it fits into your home? I’ve been a part of that where I’m like, “We didn’t need this,” and somehow it’s getting shoehorned into my work.

Slowing down ensures that the tools you have are what you want to be using and that you have a deep understanding of what data you’re sharing. That means having a protected stored data plan. Is it on the server? Is it in the cloud? How are you monitoring it to make sure it is secure?

Encouraging self-determination is a bit more tactical. How are you collecting data from your staff and community members? Here is the example I’m going to use: At the top of the call and in my name right here, it says Navajo. I’m half Navajo and I’m half Black. Growing up in central Kansas, there were standardized tests we would take—the scantron forms—and we’d do the demographic stuff first. Our test was called the ITBS test, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Oftentimes, there were only five options and it was “pick one.” I identified with both. I can no sooner pick one than rip myself in two; both of my parents would be upset by that. But I was forced to choose.

I would encourage “self-determination,” which means providing more options for folks. A very specific tactical piece of that is making some of those demographic fields multiple-selection. Those of us who work in tech or live in Excel spreadsheets are probably thinking that makes for messy reports. But that’s the human experience. Humans are not Excel spreadsheets. They are nuanced and beautiful. When you’re collecting that data, add in the self-determination of multiple selection. We’ve learned that people appreciate that. People who have multiple identities feel more seen and are more inclined to participate in your organization.

Finally, how do you procure technology? Are you spending those funds in a smart way? Do you have a technology roadmap? I remember I was working years ago for the Boys and Girls Clubs. I was the area director over clubs in a specific part of town. Admin had gotten this grant. They quickly submitted it, got this money, but didn’t know how they were going to spend it. So they bought a bunch of iPads—about 200 of them. There was no forethought about giving these to kids—they needed bumpers because kids drop things. What software needs to be installed on all of them to keep them safe from questionable websites? All of those things were not thought of. I was responsible for distributing them and it didn’t feel good.

I told them we needed software and cases, but it wasn’t a part of the budget. So what did those iPads do? They sat in a closet and collected dust for three years. That’s what I mean when folks are chomping at the bit to fold something in, but there’s no forethought on how to be a good steward of those tools. I don’t know where those iPads are now, but we all have that story of the closet full of iPads. How are you keeping things sustainable? And how are you planning for if any of the people implementing IT find a new job? Is there a contingency plan for the knowledge that person has? Thinking about those technology strategic plans is important, even more so now than then.

Funding for Technology

Okay, so let’s talk about funding really quick too. I eluded to it a bit with those grants that were like, oh, we need the money and then now we don’t know how to implement it. We’ve painted ourselves into this corner. I think a few things if you are in conversation and partnership with any philanthropic organization, a foundation, these are good guidelines to have in your back pocket to ask of if you have not only like a grantee funder relationship, but like an outside like, hey, we work in the same community.

I’m very familiar with you all and we run into each other online or offline. And I happen to get wind of more opportunities for funding, or I’m a part of a community team to inform how they’re going to fund. That’s oftentimes we get those like asks, right? So investing appropriately in technology, and that means being more as a funder, being more succinct and clear, and giving depth to technology in whatever funding you’re giving out, and not just it being like technology, 30 percent, 10K, that’s it. How are we supposed to tease that out? You know, providing and suggesting to funders that there needs to be much more explanation, and also in that potential grant, being able to line out how this grant is also going to fund the contingency that we talked about, the technology strategic plan, or the long-term security of these tools that we’re going to have to buy to implement this work program tool.

So thinking about that, when you have access to those funders is important. I think also just personally and like organization-wide of investing in whatever technology you’re folding in and doing it, again, same way, following that strategic plan that you have is like, is it, you know, is it timely? Are we doing this because my mom used to tell me this, you know, when we were out shopping, I’d like roll up to the cart with like a toy and she’s like, is this a want or a need? And it’s like, you know, it’s always just a want. So really asking yourself that, you know, organizationally, what is this a want? Because we’re like feeling the pressure that there is no pressure, you know, because it’s shiny and new. Or is this something we actually do need that would enhance our work, our impact and our mission?

I think also, you know, a few other things in terms of funding are support, experimentation and failure. And that is specifically the failure piece when oftentimes I consult with other organizations, when they bring me in to be like, we’re doing this project management piece, we need some like, you know, structure and like guidance on how to like change into it, to offer insight on like decision making and like project planning.

Oftentimes, I’ll tell them, where are you folding in failure? Where are you folding in failure into your work? And I know that’s harsh on a lot of people’s ears. But one thing I will offer is that what program or project that you have ever done hasn’t had a hiccup, hasn’t had failure. And if you are expecting perfection across the board, you will disappoint yourself. Fold in failure into your work and your implementation and into your whatever tool that you’re funding. And make sure that not only is it folded in and expected, because it will happen, we’re human, that’s what happens.

But also that there’s no punitive strings attached to any failure or a specific person that it is. It just didn’t work out. We knew there was going to be some barriers and hiccups that we were unaware of. And being okay with that and releasing people from this like, oh my gosh, we failed, I’m going to get a horrible write up. I’m, you know, that can make people show up in a better way when you fold in failure and it’s expected into whatever thing, you know, tool that you’re funding. So that is funding, corporate funding. Don’t conflate produce donation with cash funding or product donation. Excuse me, don’t conflate it.

Saying No to Funders

So back to the iPads in the closet, product donating, if they’re donating that closet full iPads, that’s not the same as a cash donation. And also, if it’s just a straight up donation, there needs, you know, it’s hard to say no to donations as a nonprofit. But also this is where the rubber hits the road of, we thank you for this donation of whatever tech that you’re providing. But we don’t accept tech without any sort of safety contingency that’s folded in to that work. It’s what we talked about earlier, too.

Creating the contingency of whatever tech or practice or training is going to be involved. So if they’re not willing to provide, like, a staff person, like 10 hours of their, you know, their month to check in, to make sure that things are updated, not only in the training and professional development, but the tool itself, then we can’t, like, in good conscience and in good faith, implement this tool that you’re generously giving us. We just can’t. It’s not possible. Giving for impact and not visibility.

I love Boys and Girls Club, but, you know, a lot of times it’s where I really learned, took some licks and really learned some hard lessons. And this is one of them where you’re showing, you’re at the club and kids are, you know, everywhere and then, like, a bunch of suits walks in. A suit walks in with the executive director or CEO, and you make eye contact with the CEO and they’re like, this is so-and-so from Columbia Bank. This is so-and-so from Sunflower Bank, and they’re the president. And they wanted to donate stuff, and they showed up today, and so I brought them here so they could volunteer with some kids.

And now you’re like, OK, this is for visibility because there’s cameras everywhere. The comms person’s there all of a sudden, who’s never been in the club. But I say that because that felt not good. That felt not good as a staff member, and that shouldn’t feel good to any of those staff members that walked in with those suits. But oftentimes, where we have the blinders on of it’s money, and it’s donated, and we can’t take no for an answer, or we can’t say no. And so oftentimes, you put staff in unsavory positions because you want it to be visible, but there’s no preparation or forethought with it.

So being able to have your boundaries when you’re interacting with corporate entities is super important when you’re creating that technology strategic plan.

Creating Technology

This is the last section, and so we have about four minutes, so I’m going to try and breeze through this because I want to create time for Q&A, and we’re going to roll into creating technology.

So this is more so if you are interacting with a salesperson or anyone, or you’re creating your own, there are some pieces with that. But if you have an opportunity to be a part of advising, oh, we’re creating this tool for nonprofits, perfect. I have some opinions. I have many. Making sure that you’re following ethical sales guidelines and prioritizing community outcomes and using, more importantly, I love the phrase community outcomes here, because oftentimes the tell is people are like, oh, we have this tool that’s specific for nonprofit work. And they use very corporate jargon that I’ve never heard nonprofit people use.

I always use community members. And so a lot of times they’ll say, you’re clients. And so when they say clients, I’m thinking, how informed are you in creating this tool? Prioritizing those community outcomes for any of those tools that are trying to get sold to you and investigating the price of it as it relates to you and your nonprofit – is the price equitable? Is it scaled to your budget? Do they have a sliding scale where if your budget’s from 500K to 1 million, here’s what we’re offering? And also it’s the same product. It’s not changed as it goes up with your budget. Oftentimes, that happens.

I think another piece of the sales and marketing piece, as you’re getting like sold all of these like flashy new tools, is making sure that if you are getting offered, like some sort of steep discount or pro bono add-on of like, you know, because you’re a nonprofit, we’re going to do this, making sure that the terms of that match your own technology strategic plan and being like, well, you said the terms were like only for six months, but actually, according to us, we and our like guidelines and policy, we need you to provide that training and like constant like security update, like for two years in. And in stating that and naming that, and oftentimes that’s when the deal falls through or whatever.

And so that’s what I mean, you know, I find that at the bottom of this list, being intentional with pro bono services is, as my grandpa always used to say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. If it’s free, there should be some like deep and steep questioning about what is getting offered and from the people who are like cutting the deal. So a few things on like the creating piece. And let’s see here.

We talked about embracing non-profit diversity. That was at the beginning of the presentation. But I think one thing that does stick out to me in implementing any of these like creative technology, creating technology for the sector or for your community is oftentimes it feels as though when you’ve created something, we need to keep it here. We need to keep it within the organizational walls. No one can have it. We have a competitor across town that we can’t share that with. I think that feast or famine type of mentality of that very guarded, this is our stuff and we don’t want big brothers or big sisters to get a hold of this, is so detrimental to the sector.

Oftentimes, all it takes is you being like, I think this other organization that does very similar work to us could benefit from this. I just want our community to thrive and I don’t really particularly care what organization they’re doing it with. I think having that like spirit of camaraderie, community is important and it’s oftentimes it gets lost in specific places. Being able to, if you have something that you’ve created, sharing it with similar organizations across the country, or across your community is important. I think lastly, and then I’ll stop and we’ll go into Q&A, is treating projects as ongoing processes.

So similar to folding in failure, but also treating a project as an ongoing process and it doesn’t really have an end. So what is the one year after we’ve launched? What is the one year checkup? What is the one and a half year checkup? Is there an immediate checkup that we need to do? And what is the process for continually checking in on those things?

Will serve you better as opposed to just leaving it, you know, we implemented it and like fingers crossed, I hope it goes well. Like that’s something that I think, you know, I’ve been a part of and, you know, as a lesson learned, I was like, I didn’t check in on this and it’s been a year and this is falling completely apart. And that’s, you know, failure that I own. I was in my 20s, but like also like, you know, that’s something that like is super important. And it provides a lot of like growth for yourself, but also like it’s important because it impacts the communities that you serve.

Q&A With Tristan Penn on Nonprofit Tech Equity

So I’m going to end here and I’m going to go into not the discussion, but I’m going to go into Q&A. Maybe I didn’t have a Q&A slide. I thought I did, Carolyn, but apparently I didn’t.

Carolyn Woodard: All right. Hope everybody can see that. If you do have questions, go ahead and get them in. While we have Tristan here, we can ask him. I have a quick question. Well, it’s kind of a quick, but maybe a big question. So I noticed in your presentation and your examples, a lot of the examples that you used included power dynamics and particularly power imbalances.

Tristan Penn: Yeah.

Carolyn Woodard: Right. So when you’re getting a pro bono donation or when the suits are walking in to your boys and girls club.

Tristan Penn: Yeah.

Carolyn Woodard: And you said, you feel like you can’t say no to those. And I feel like that is like a kernel of this equity question. So I wondered if you could talk a little bit more about, you gave us a lot of great examples of it happening that you’re in a power imbalance. Do you, through your work and through this equity guide, do you have advice for the people listening about, I want to say fighting that, but strategies to take on those situations where you are not in a position of power, and that is creating an inequity in the situation with technology?

Tristan Penn: That’s such a great question, and I do have an answer, multiple answers. And also, I just want to acknowledge that it’s harder for some people to have tough conversations, specifically when there’s a power dynamic involved, too. I am not one of those people. I’ve always been one of those, I would say, very social people that’s been like, this is wrong, and I don’t know why this is, regardless of who it is. And I feel like it’s become more honed as I’ve gotten older, and a bit more sweeter and respectful, but still firm.

And I think that really, you know, it starts with you. And is that something that is within you to do? And I, you know, when I’m helping facilitate groups or like discussion where I’m not a staff member, I’m just there as a facilitator, oftentimes I have the opportunity to say, I want to name a power dynamic in this room. And that is that the C-suite is here, and all of the staff members who are experiencing this thing are here, and there may be folks who don’t feel comfortable. That is, you know, speaking their full truth. And I think it really does just start by naming that power dynamic, and that can like exist in like staff meetings, but it can also exist in, you know, maybe not, you know, in the moment. But also, like, I think it exists across a lot of different, like, you know, categories, too.

Oftentimes, I was the only Black person working in an all-white organization. And so I, you know, I feel like at times, I didn’t really have the safety to say what I needed to say. And also, I think that encourages folks who are, you know, part of the majority who are white, you know, in that example, to be able to speak up, because there’s a lot more, there’s a lot less at risk for them, too. And I think that’s something that, like, folks have to be comfortably uncomfortable with, with speaking up and naming power dynamics, because that’s the whole point of, like, a hierarchy, is to, like, not name the hierarchy, but for it to be heavily implied. And so I think that that really is, you know, being able to, like, name it is important.

But I also want to just, like, call out, if you are part of, like, a marginalized community and you’re, like, one of one in whatever organization you’re in, being able to, like, I tell people this, specifically folks of color that are, you know, the only person in their, like, white nonprofit, it’s like, if you continually are running into this mental calculus, it’s not worth it. Get out. You don’t have to speak up in these meetings. And I know that’s a luxury to be like, I’m leaving, I’m quitting or whatever, or I’m shifting to another organization. But also long term, I’ve been there where it weighs on you and it’s much more taxing to continue to stay in an organization where you are running into both organizational issues, but also just for yourself, the anxiety that comes with that too.

And so I always quote this rap song, it’s called No Role Models, but it’s like, don’t save them. They don’t want to be saved. And so I think you have to do that calculus of like, is the juice worth the squeeze for me bringing it up? Happy to, but if this is going to fall on ears that aren’t listening, then I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to name that power dynamic. It’s not worth it.

So I think it’s like a both and of like, yes, name it. But also that calculus of risk for folks who are marginalized is much higher. That job may be on the line for them as opposed to like one of their white colleagues doing it. Or like if it’s for a queer person, it’s like that calculus and like that risk may be higher for them than like a cis-hetero-person. And so I think there’s a lot of dynamics that inform how you name a power dynamic or don’t name it.

Carolyn Woodard: Yeah. Yeah. You might not have the job, you might not get the grant, you might not have the donor. But I really, that stood out to me of what you were talking about, maybe more to think about.

And the other thing that I think you said a couple of times was the learning piece. And nonprofits are learning organizations for the most part, but sometimes we can get so busy with what we’re doing, that we don’t spend that time on making sure everyone knows how to use the technology, everybody’s onboarded correctly. But also maybe there are some learning opportunities as well around equity and power and being able to name what’s happening and around the technology as well. Sorry, I’m going to have to go quickly.

Tristan Penn: No, that’s fine.

Carolyn Woodard: But I could talk to you all day basically. I want to go quick over our learning objectives, which I think you hit on. And definitely, if you, if the people will download this Equity Guide, you crunched tons of information into this tiny little presentation. So I definitely recommend people to go look at the full thing.

But we wanted to understand equity issues impacting nonprofits and technology. Learn how funding equitable nonprofit technology ensures better outcomes. Like you said, have that strategic plan, be able to go to your funder with this strategic plan and be able to identify why getting a short-term something or a donated something doesn’t fit with what makes sense for your organization. Discuss the role of nonprofit technology in disrupting existing inequitable models and learn the role of your board in tech equity. We didn’t quite get to that one, but there’s a whole other report, PDF, that you can get with some questions for your board members to talk about technology and equity. So that will help people.

I know we’re almost at time, so I’m trying to be respectful of the people who have joined us, but I do want to invite you back to our first webinar of 2026, which will be January 21st, from 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific, on Zoom. This is our annual Nonprofit Tech Roundtable. We have our experts from Community IT. Having your smart friends who know a lot about technology and a lot about nonprofits, and you can sit around. They’re going to tell us what the trends were, what they’re expecting trends to be, and you can ask them your questions. So it’s a great opportunity and experience, and it’s very popular every year. So I’m always excited to moderate it.

And this year, we are adding in our Director of Client Services, Jenny Huftalen, and she is just amazing. She has this wealth of experience talking to thousands of our clients over the years about what they’re worried about, what’s happening, what they’re seeing, what they’re doing, what they’re preparing for. So I’m really looking forward to that. I’m going to drop the link in there, but you can also find it on our site at communityit.com.

It’s Wednesday, January 21st at 3 p.m. And of course, you can sign up for any other webinars there, and there’s lots of free resources as well.

You can join us on Reddit in just a minute. I’m sharing that as well. It’s r/nonprofititmanagement.

And I just want to thank you, Tristan, so much for your time. You know, an hour of anyone’s time is a gift, and we appreciate you giving us the benefit of your experience, walking us through the concerns that are in this Equity Guide. And I hope too, I hope our audience can use it, and I just want to thank you for joining us today.

Tristan Penn: Well, thank you very much. I appreciate being here and happy to talk about, you know, everything under the sun as it relates to tech. I’m so happy to like be in dialogue with you, Carolyn. Thank you so much for inviting me.

Carolyn Woodard: Thank you. And I was saying, I know you have a whole other presentation on AI.

Tristan Penn: Yes.

Carolyn Woodard: And I would love to have you back in 2026, and we’ll talk about all of the equity and power dynamics and security and trust issues with AI, all of the AI tools. So I look forward to that as well. Thank you, everyone who joined us in the audience. Thank you those who are listening on the podcast, seeing us on YouTube. And we will see you in January 2026. Thank you, Tristan.

Tristan Penn: Thank you.