3. Technology can benefit us all
Norah: Just one example
• Since getting online, 78 year old
Norah has lost weight and her
diabetes has much improved
• Her blood pressure has reduced
significantly and her diabetes has
improved
• And her arthritis has all but
disappeared – so Norah has begun
learning to play the ukelele
4. But we could do with some help…
• 88% of our network think they could be doing
more with digital tools
(survey responses from our most tech-savvy centres)
• 78% of charity professionals think the sector will
miss fundraising and income generating
opportunities if it doesn’t engage fully with digital
(Lasa)
• 59% of charities said that they would require
training and support to use social media
(Go ON UK)
5. And people are making things, but how
do we find out about it?
6. The question is not how we can use
technology….
…it’s what do we want to achieve
and how can technology help us to
achieve it?
7. Nyree is offering new services
• Nyree Scott and her team support minority groups
who speak different languages to improve their
computer and internet
“Using the latest technology means that real
conversations can take place, and the technology
gives people a real chance to exchange ideas and talk
together a lot more easily.”
8. Nicola is measuring impact
• Nicola Wallace-Dean knows how important it is to
measure the impact of the work she does in her
community
“I needed a tool that would help me to monitor attitudes to
see if they changed. I didn’t have the budget to spend on
anything fancy, and didn’t want our events to become form
filling sessions. I found a free tool which allowed me to
track changes easily by asking six key questions. “
9. Kim &Blackpool CVS is saving money
Most organisations are looking to save money – and
Blackpool CVS is no different.
“I looked at Google to help address problems we’d been
having with our server, which was costly to maintain. It’s
saved time and money, and has been particularly useful as
anyone with an account can log in from any computer and
see what’s happening”
11. It’s about the local impact you can have
and the millions of people we can support together
with technology to help us be bigger, better, stronger
and help us scale
The micro economics are important too.I wanted to talk about Norah, 78 from Rotherham.Using the internet has changed Norah’s life.If just 1% of diabetes sufferers used the web to improve their condition as Norah did, that would save the UK £145m a year in the cost of medication
My work doesn’t just bring me in contact with amazing people like Norah who have used technology for amazing personal impact. I also meet lots of community organisations – and in the UK online centres network some of the most tech-savvy community organisations I’m sure – and although there are exceptions, I’m shocked at how little digital tools are embedded into how they run their organisations.88% could do more
And it’s not as if great tools don’t exist!
http://www.communityhowto.com/stories/google-translateI want to tell you about three of those exceptions – Nyree.
http://www.communityhowto.com/stories/using-outcomes-star-starting-pointNicola – outcomes star
http://www.communityhowto.com/stories/projectmanagement/googleappsKim Wood – Google Apps ….. And he also uses EventBrite to run events he “wouldn’t be able to run without this tool to do the admin for me”
Nyree, Nicola and Kim, and the other people who have given us case studies for the site, are all motivated and skilled in finding and using digital tools. But most people working in the community aren’t – that’s why with help from Nominet Trust we’re launching Community How To. A place to find, rate and discuss tools on the site or tell us (and others) about tools you already use.This new service is one way in which we want to help community organisations to use digital to be better.