Jill Fruchter — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:34:26 GMT

Great article. As someone who has worked with non-profits in an educational technology capacity, specifically as a producer of multimedia resources and websites for small to mid-size museums, I also find the incentives and challenges of working with non-profits equally compelling. At the moment, I am in the corporate sector because of the first issue Olga brought up – a non-profit’s cash reality. In a grant-funded position, work gigs were too short-lived, especially as funds got diverted into bricks and mortar projects (museum expansions). What I wanted to add to the discussion was the issue of sustainability and maintenance. For example, after creating an award-winning online interface for a collections management tool, there is currently little funding to keep the work going. And, it’s worthwhile work if winning the top award in its category from the American Association of Museums is any indication. Sigh. So, I find that the issues of sustainability and maintenace of designing/building technology for non-profits is another issue to tackle in the context of Olga’s article and its subsequent comments. Build it, love it, done is not the answer. As we all know, there is no “done” with technology projects, especially now with the desirability of integrating social networking features and user-generated-content (where appropriate). I think the problem of “done” thinking is also related to Olga’s point where she discusses how a single project gets chopped up into smaller parts, all vendored out to different groups. Ultimately, maintenance and sustainability isn’t really it’s own part, but needs to be built into the project plan, design and build all along.

Boxes and Arrows: Comments by Jill Fruchter