High-tech culture

Like the small-but-enormous gulf between the socially innovative city of Seattle and the software-rich suburban communities east of Lake Washington, there seems to be a disconnect between the cultures of not-for-profit organizations and high-technology industries. In fact, high-tech workers told Good News/Good Deeds that their firms inhabit a culture that's part nerd, part cowboy, and part tactical soldier — a stark contrast to Seattle's infamous civic culture of overextended "process" and "nice."

"Our members are used to getting things done, to moving quickly," relates Lisa Davisson of Microsoft Alumnet, the not-for-profit created by and for former Microsoft employees — some with great wealth. Its mission is to help them keep in touch with each other, and help them figure out what to do with their time, money, and desire to make a difference. Hers is one of a number of new groups being set up by wealthy young people who've benefited from being in the right place at the right time — whose stock options have given them more life options than they ever anticipated. Many want to give something back to their communities. Yet these high-tech workers find the culture of many not-for-profits plodding, wasteful, or bureaucratic. "[Techies] live in the mindset of the battlefield," explains one ex-Microsoft executive. "They're not really into process."

While they may be using community meetings and processes to identify and meet needs, not-for-profits seem to be lagging behind business and government in making use of new technologies. According to Susannah Malarkey, executive director of the industry-funded Technology Coalition, one in three jobs in Washington state is directly linked to technology-based business. Yet it's not-for-profits whose creativity, know-how, volunteer grit and expertise have the potential to infuse the new media and the technology field with the human values and community-oriented content that make not only better communities, but good business.

Some companies see that. Progressive Networks has targeted its RealImpact/WebActive division to use new technology to expand networks of social activists. And, before it went out of business, the local Internet service provider Brigadoon worked with over 120 not-for-profits to demonstrate how a presence on the Internet can enhance their work. Those not-for-profits, ranging from the Bellevue Art Museum to El Centro de la Raza, the Latino community action center, claim that sites on the World Wide Web and access to computers have increased the capacity of their programs in unexpected ways, including bringing in new clients and volunteers. "While Brigadoon did a great job of helping set up nonprofit websites, it simply failed at its core business of providing Internet services," one local high-technology executive explained. "We've just begun to see what might be possible when nonprofits really get creative with this stuff."

Some not-for-profits are reaching across the psychological gulf to connect with high-tech firms in a most effective way: by getting passionate individuals on their boards. Others are hiring staff, who have enough money but want more meaningful work, away from these companies. In addition, a number of high technology developers and retirees are putting energy into applying business savvy to social problems. Social Venture Partners (SVP) is a group of technology professionals who have created their own philanthropic organization. As of November 1998, SVP had 110 members who pledged to give at least $5,000 a year for two years. They use their entrepreneurial savvy to leverage their pool of expertise and money to support collaborative solutions to problems of children and education. So far SVP has made seven grants.

But these "investors" are not just giving money; they're playing hands-on mentoring roles. They're learning about the slower "business" of social change. They're working with other people who suddenly have wealth to help them channel their philanthropy. And, according to SVP executive director Paul Shoemaker, the group deflects media requests to cover "Microsoft millionaires" instead to cover the projects they fund. One notable result: KING-TV's 1998 documentary on "Poverty in the Land of Plenty" featured the SVP-supported Project Look. That project puts computers, training, and mentors in three low-income apartment complexes to help grade-school children in Burien and Sea-Tac.

Research and observation show that kids with access to computers and the Internet perform better in school than kids without access, according to Trish Millines of Technology Access Foundation. Not-for-profit groups like Powerful Schools, Project Compute and the Technology Access Foundation in Seattle provide after-school computer access and training to kids and their families.