Power of Good

S PowerofGood.com | Elevate Alabama 9 TECHNOLOGY continued on page 10 Technology as a tool sLigHt smiLes appeared and surprised murmurs were heard across the room when James Franklin, CEO of TechBridge, admitted that "Technology is hard." From the head of an international company that sup- ports hundreds of nonprofits each year, it's not the first thing you'd expect to hear. "I understand why technol- ogy is difficult for us," he said. "But that's OK. I also understand how to get started." For some, however, difficult is an understatement. Pamela Mills of the Exchange Center for Child Abuse Prevention said that dealing with technology at her organization has been a night- mare. "We just had three computers whose hard drives crashed on us in the past month. That's hard for us to replace." For people like Mills, buying new technology is nearly impossible, and choosing what to purchase is a bigger challenge. That's where TechBridge comes in. TechBridge, which presented a breakout session on leveraging technology at the annual Elevate conference on June 12 sponsored by Alabama Power, specializes in IT consulting. The focus is helping nonprofits achieve greater success through finding and filling technology needs while cutting the costs. Franklin said the goal is to discover how an organiza- tion can best serve clients. "You're going to serve more people [with technology]. If we do that for enough nonprofits, then it's a better place for all of us." Although many attendees were initially skeptical, he urged them to invest in newer technology. "A lot of times, nonprofits don't think they deserve it," he said. "You don't think you deserve to go out and buy a nice piece of equipment, but you need to feel OK that you're making a wise investment that will help you do your job StOry by gISeLLe CaSaDaban pHOtOS by Wynter byrD James Franklin, CEO of TechBridge, teaches attendees about how technology can make an impact.

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