CapTech Skilled Volunteers Amplify Cabarrus Nonprofit Impact with Strategic Technology Plan
G.A.I.N. – Powered by Lowe’s
Habitat for Humanity Cabarrus County is on a mission to build strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter across Cabarrus County, North Carolina. By partnering with low-to-moderate-income families, volunteers, and community sponsors, Habitat of Cabarrus builds new homes and performs critical home repairs to maintain the affordable housing stock in Cabarrus County. Habitat Cabarrus believes that everyone should have access to a decent, affordable place to call home.
Apparo’s G.A.I.N. (Growth, Agility, and Innovation for Nonprofits) Grant Program provides nonprofit participants with the tools, training, and other support they need to implement and sustain their technology and process improvements. G.A.I.N. delivers a one-year journey of technology and process improvement to a cohort of nonprofits to help them overcome their technological challenges and amplify their nonprofit impact. The G.A.I.N. program is generously sponsored by Lowe’s.
As a part of Apparo’s G.A.I.N. program, Habitat of Cabarrus was supported by CapTech consulting skilled volunteers through an evaluation of their technology framework and delivery of prioritized recommendations. Volunteers provided many affordable and free quick-win recommendations and will continue providing advice and guidance for implementation.
Upon implementing their technology plan recommendations, the organization anticipates saving 40+ hours per month by eliminating manual processes and implementing centralized systems. They also anticipate risk reduction through increased cybersecurity awareness training, implementing multi-factor authentication and other tools, and enhanced data and password handling. Habitat plans to implement technology improvements that meet more grant criteria, as many require a secure data infrastructure. This, along with better documentation that creates more compelling and data-backed storytelling, allows the organization to look forward to pursuing and securing additional funding opportunities, increasing revenue growth. In addition to these improvements, Habitat of Cabarrus plans to create secure, user-friendly systems for client applications. Better technology tools will enhance outreach, transparency, and trust with the community and improve their overall client services.
Nonprofit Technology Plan Team Reflections:
- “I wish I could have Apparo’s support and the volunteers alongside me for everything! I’ve said this before but I’m dangerous enough to know our deficiencies, but it was validating to hear from experts what we needed to work on, and the fact that you’re willing to support me with my website, so now I’m not paying $150 an hour to fix our website will make such a huge difference. Funders and grantors go to our website, and now I won’t have to say that I haven’t updated it. Having timely, accurate information on our website can make all the difference for a funding opportunity, so this work is really important. I really appreciate the support, and as a small nonprofit, the extra capacity this gives us is amazing. I’m just really grateful.” – Willlmarie Austin
- “When we work on projects like this, we get an opportunity to get out of our comfort zones and explore some technical areas that we aren’t always most familiar with. These types of activities give us satisfaction that we’re exploring something new and supporting a good cause at the same time. This project was a mutual benefit and a fantastic experience. Given the opportunity, I would support them forever, if possible, but my team has also been fantastic partners throughout this project, so I thank them as well.” – Roopa Ghanta
- “This project was so cool because I got to learn so much about Habitat for Humanity. I have friends who have volunteered hands-on with Habitat in other counties, so to see this process and be able to look under the hood was such a great opportunity. Thank you, Allie, for facilitating meetings and ensuring everything ran smoothly. You (Allie) were so responsive and made sure that we could all collaborate easily.” -Aadaya Jain
- “It’s been awesome working with this team. Thank you for letting us join your journey and learn more about how nonprofits operate. That isn’t a place where I’ve had much experience, so it’s been great to see a smaller-scale operation and have an inside look at the nonprofit world. Thank you, Allie, for connecting us all. It’s been an awesome trip together.”- Zakaria Ihiri
