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Nonprofits are relatively underserved by tech workers. I've tried to get many of my friends to join me but the allure of bigco paychecks is simply too much. Thi

Nonprofits are relatively underserved by tech workers. I've tried to get many of my friends to join me but the allure of bigco paychecks is simply too much. This is a pretty general answer but so's your question :) I think if you pick a nonprofit with a mission that you feel passionate enough about to really give it your all then there's a good chance for you to quickly become a double-digit percentage of global technical productivity in a particular charitable domain. For me it's been developing tools (mobile app and website) to help people with substance abuse issues communicate with their loved ones, themselves, and medical professionals.

Vinnl 8y ago
I'm very interested in pursuing a path like that, but I have two reservations about it: 1. Colleagues. The fact that non-profits are underserved by tech works, also means that you're less likely to have talented colleagues to learn from. 2. When they're not tech organisations. There might be a lack of understanding of both the opportunities and challenges for tech in their specific area, and I'm not sure I'd have some influence in helping with that. I really don't want to be the person who maintains a Wordpress site for a non-profit, and don't think I'd actually be that effective in contributing to their mission that way either. What are your reflections on that?
nrjames 8y ago
Working with nonprofits can be very rewarding. I do ~15 hrs/week volunteer nonprofit data analysis and dev work. However, working with nonprofits can also be extraordinarily frustrating, so make sure you have the tolerance and communication skills required to work with people who do not necessarily have a lot of technical knowledge or skills before committing. This is a generalization, of course, but it's worth keeping in mind. Sometimes it is like trying to provide over-the-phone technical support to 50 clones of my parents at the same time.

Vinnl 8y ago

I'm very interested in pursuing a path like that, but I have two reservations about it: 1. Colleagues. The fact that non-profits are underserved by tech works, also means that you're less likely to have talented colleagues to learn from. 2. When they're not tech organisations. There might be a lack of understanding of both the opportunities and challenges for tech in their specific area, and I'm not sure I'd have some influence in helping with that. I really don't want to be the person who maintains a Wordpress site for a non-profit, and don't think I'd actually be that effective in contributing to their mission that way either. What are your reflections on that?

nrjames 8y ago

Working with nonprofits can be very rewarding. I do ~15 hrs/week volunteer nonprofit data analysis and dev work. However, working with nonprofits can also be extraordinarily frustrating, so make sure you have the tolerance and communication skills required to work with people who do not necessarily have a lot of technical knowledge or skills before committing. This is a generalization, of course, but it's worth keeping in mind. Sometimes it is like trying to provide over-the-phone technical support to 50 clones of my parents at the same time.