Today’s typical nonprofit organization uses a variety of information management systems for collecting and storing data, ranging from client and constituent contacts to program tracking and evaluation. While standards for data exchange and inter-software communication are developing in the nonprofit sector, the vast majority of nonprofit organizations face steep barriers to realizing the benefits and leveraging the power of technology. Despite the challenges, as inaccurate, duplicate, outdated and unconnected data create pain within organizations and push them to do something about the situation, and as opportunities pull organizations to adopt new tools such as online fundraising and online advocacy tools, we are seeing an increased need and demand for data integration among nonprofits.

Organizations that succeed in data integration efforts achieve a new, unified view of information that they did not have before. This new insight can result in real results for nonprofits – from increasing staff productivity to informing their fundraising strategies. In short, they are able to become more effective in achieving their missions. The process by which these organizations learn to be more effective, which includes the application of information technologies to share information more effectively, has the potential to be transformational.

This practitioner-focused research conducted by InnoNet's Jennifer Bagnell Stuart and Dahna Goldstein of PhilanTech examines why data integration is a growing trend in the nonprofit sector. Building on past research into data integration in foundations, the authors explore the presence and nature of conditions that facilitate the uptake and determine the success of integration solutions, as well as themes and emerging trends in data integration approaches. The research includes responses from the innonet.org online community and in-depth interviews with nonprofit practitioners. This paper first appeared in the Spring 2007 issue of the Journal of Information Technology in Social Change, and is reproduced here at www.innonet.org with permission from The Gilbert Center.

Read more:
About the research project
About PhilanTech
About the Journal of Information Technology in Social Change
The full report (pdf)
Appendices (pdf)
Topic presentation at the Nonprofit Technology Conference, April 2007 (pdf)