Description

Webinar Series: The Accidental Techie - How to Support Your Nonprofit Without an IT Background

Three Thursdays, November 7, 14, 21 ~ 1:00 - 2:30 PM Eastern

One of Idealware’s most popular signature topics is back for 2019!

Nearly every small nonprofit has a staffer who stumbled into being the go-to techie around the office. They often have little training—just a good head for technology and the patience to deal with the many issues that come up in a busy office.

Are you one of these “accidental techies”? This course is designed to give you a boost—in knowledge, resources, and confidence—to help you embrace your role and thrive as an intentional techie. Over three weeks, we’ll show you how to get through the big and small IT issues that most nonprofits face.

Throughout this course, you will:

• Familiarize yourself with the basics of your organization’s infrastructure.
• Learn the fundamentals of networking and backing up shared files.
• Discover best practices of an effective software administrator.
• Explore new software options.
• Review security risks and safety principles.
• Discuss technology planning and how to help organizations get what they need from their technology resources.
• Learn how to keep IT responsibilities from taking over your job.

We’ll provide you with articles prior to each session to help you get started thinking about the topic. In addition, between each session, participants will complete worksheets to help them make progress within their own organization.

Whether you’ve been figuring out IT issues on the fly for years or had IT greatness thrust upon you, this course can save you time, improve the effectiveness of your existing technology, and build a solid foundation to tackle future IT challenges.

Course Schedule

All sessions take place on Thursdays at 1 pm Eastern and last for 90 minutes.

November 7: Hardware Infrastructure Basics
Computers, printers, phones, routers—there are a lot of gadgets that can turn glitchy.  During this session, you will learn the basics about the hardware in a typical office and review common troubleshooting techniques to keep them up and running. You’ll also learn what you need to know to network computers, keep them connected, and reliably back up files.

November  14: Managing Software and Security
How do you decide what software to choose when there are hundreds of options, each with their own unique features? And once you’ve chosen a software package, how do you manage it so that your organization gets what it needs and is protected from security threats? You’ll get answers to these questions and more by reviewing frameworks to choose and administer your organization’s software.  

November 21: The Human Side of Technology
IT isn’t just IT. A big part of the job is working directly with people—both to fix small problems and undertake long-term planning. In this last session, you’ll develop strategies for leading large-scale technology projects and pass on tips from our own in-house IT expert on the best ways to work one-on-one with your colleagues.

About the Presenter

Joshua Peskay

Joshua is an expert trainer for Idealware and Vice President of RoundTable Technology, a technology service provider in New York and Maine. Joshua has been helping nonprofit organizations improve their use of technology since the early 1990’s and has worked with more than 1,000 organizations. He specializes in helping organizations be strategic about their technology and make smart choices about services, support, and management.