Today’s businesses have to up their technology game if they wish to stay afloat, and non-profits, too, are catching on. Social media and other technologies have changed the ways organizations communicate with the rest of the world.

“The Future of Non-Profits: Thrive and Innovate in the Digital Age” is a session in the SXGood track, created and moderated by David Neff, manager at PwC Advisory. He’s also the author of the book by the same name. Neff has worked with non-profits his whole career, and has been presenting at SXSW for several years.

Neff says he hopes this panel gives non-profits new, innovative ideas.

“Every year I usually have a different topic. I cover innovation, social media, online identity, a lot of different topics in that digital strategy space,” he said.

Neff says he brings in five people from various non-profits to come talk about something interesting as it relates to the future of non-profits. The topics range from fundraising, technology, website design and communication.

“It’s a fun, good thing that non-profits don’t usually get to take a part of in South By,” he said.

In recent years Neff says he’s seeing more successful non-profits coming up with long-term planning and an increase in technology spending.

“I think the name of the game is really just getting your strategy in order,” says Neff. “So I start to see non-profits that are not just saying, ‘Let’s experiment with this,’ but they’re advanced. They’re saying, ‘What’s our 3-year strategy around digital fundraising or digital communications or digital customer service?’”

Also important is today’s non-profit website. More organizations are paying attention to the way customers navigate their website, Neff says. The organizations want to know what sort of experience visitors have, and how to make it better.

When it comes to letting younger employees take the reins and experiment with innovative ideas, Neff says, many non-profits are afraid to take the chance on new methods.

“I think, for me, (innovation)’s so important because, how do you get new products? How do you get new ideas with services? How do you recruit new people?” he said. “I think non-profits are just so scared of that failure.”

Social media, of course, is another vital component in today’s non-profit, but, Neff says, no social media “flacktivism” replaces face-to-face connections.

“We have a lot of flack-tivists who are thinking that the ‘Like” button or the ‘Share’ button is actually being an activist, but it’s flacktivism,” Neff said. “It’s not engaging in something in real life that can make change.”

While Neff says it’s still about the in-person experience of the non-profit, there’s been a rise of social-impact startups and B Corps, which he says is a compromise between the non-profit and for-profit.

“I think a lot of people in the future will say, ‘You know, I want to make money and make a living for my family and myself, but I also want to do good.’ And I think that’ll start to replace that old-school non-profit mentality,” he said.

Neff says he hopes visitors of the session come away with new ideas, new contacts and the motivation to try one thing new.

“I want them to hear one thing they haven’t heard, to be challenged in their assumptions and really made to think about what exists outside of what they have right now,” he said. “If I can accomplish that, if I can do that the next couple of years at South By, I think that’s a great meeting.”

When and Where:
Tuesday, March 15
12:30PM – 1:30PM
JW Marriott – Room 208/ 110 E 2nd St

Find out more: Future of Nonprofits Meet Up