Back to Capital Region
Happenings
Tech
Valley
nonprofits can learn from
Austin
's mistakes
Friday, February 22, 2008 - 11:45 AM EST
The Business Review
– by Pam Allen
A recent study of
Austin
,
Texas
' technology-driven economic development offers solid advice for the
Albany
,
N.Y.
, region's nonprofits: Don't expect a work force of young, wealthy
20-somethings to dip into their reserves as readily as their older, more
established counterparts.
Many
will be newcomers to the area who are limited to relationships within
their small, high-tech work force, with few affiliations outside the tech
community. To that end, non-profit groups must re-think the way in which
they ask for donations, one local expert said.
Organizations
must educate themselves about the cultural differences of the high-tech
world, including the use of language. Nonprofits must then use that
information to educate the high-tech work force about their
service
s, said Judith Saidel, co-chair of the Nonprofit Executive Roundtable, who
was speaking Thursday to members of the Albany-Colonie and
Schenectady
chambers of commerce.
"'Partner'
may mean one thing to us, and another to them," said Saidel. She
explained that in the world of technology, "partnering" means
suggesting ways to improve day-to-day-operations. In the language of
nonprofits, the word means money or other donations, in-kind
service
s or volunteer time.
High-tech
individuals also look at "donations" as sharing what they know.
"They're
interested in sharing their business principles and what they've
learned," Saidel said.
She
was one of 33 people who visited
Austin
in 2003 to study the effects of the city's high-tech development. Since
Tech
Valley
is in the incubation stage, nonprofits are in a position to learn from
Austin
's mistakes, she said. One of those included turning to a select few
wealthy donors and neglecting the stable base of smaller contributors.
Another
is to steer clear of such tags as "cyber-stinginess" and
"sudden affluence syndrome," labels that are used to describe
individuals in the high-tech industry.
"We
have to be careful we don't absorb a stereotypical view," Saidel
said.
pallen@bizjournals.com
| 518-640-6812
|
