Tate Hausman, dotOrganize

Many of us mythologize the bleeding edge. We fill our minds with "first mover" success stories like the MoveOns and Dean campaigns of the world that make headlines for using brand new tools. We secretly dream that we too might get our hands on a bleeding edge tool that skyrockets us and our organization to success. And we feel a little ashamed and nervous when peers talk about Second Life, Frappr, and Meebo because we're still struggling with our email.

Dreams of breakthrough success drive innovation and experimentation. But when we prioritize the bleeding edge over basic needs, we do a huge disservice to our organization and our cause.

The vast majority of social change organizations don't want to and aren't in a position to use bleeding edge tools. It's not for lack of information, or cost, or technophobia. To put it bluntly, it's because most organizations don't have their basic tools and databases in order. And they're the first to admit it.

A few months ago dotOrganize set out to learn what social change organizations actually need from their tools. The 400 individuals we polled stuck to the basics. Between 70% and 95% either used or wanted to use standard tools like email alerts, online donation tools, and content management systems. Emerging technologies like text messaging, social networking tools, and wikis scored in the 30% to 40% interest range. Rates of people actually using those newer tools were in the single digits. And none of the tools we asked about were bleeding edge technologies - they've all been widely available for years and have entered the general lexicon. Truly bleeding edge tools wouldn't have even registered on the scale.

We learned that the more bleeding edge the tool, the less it has perceived value. This inverse relationship isn't at all surprising given what we discoverd from the rest of the survey. Today's technology isn't meeting social change organization’s basic needs. Nearly 60% of respondents said that their satisfaction level with their tools was somewhere between "frustrated" and "it's a disaster." Only one percent of respondents said they were completely satisfied with their tools.

The survey revealed that more money didn't correlate to mastery of technology. Even organizations with large budgets and dedicated technology staff focus on their basic needs, rather than bleeding edge tools. When asked to make open-ended comments about their needs, virtually no one asked for anything bleeding edge. Instead they asked for systems that interoperate and share data freely, better tech support, and better training.

In other words, organizations want to get their house in order before pushing the boundaries. They understand that building new additions on a weak foundation is a recipe for frustration and disaster.

It's easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of bleeding edge tools. But what social change organizations really need is enterprise class software that meets their needs at affordable prices. That doesn't require bleeding edge technology. But delivering that at prices that nonprofits can afford, now that would be bleeding edge.