CompuMentor
12334 SE 23rd Place
Bellevue, WA 98005, USA
(206) 643-2320
melissas@well.com
(1)
CompuMentor
89 Stillman Street
San Francisco, CA 94107, USA
(415) 512-7784
dbh@well.com
1. Basic computerizationassistance to nonprofits and schools, with an
emphasis on low and moderate budget institutions: In 1993, CompuMentor
worked actively with 351 nonprofits and public institutions, 290 of them
in the San Francisco Bay Area. Of these, 286 were assisted by 345 mentors;
the balance were assisted by staff. There were a total of 651 matches
(since many of the groups were assisted more than once).
2. Scholarship programs, geared to providing computerization services to
agencies who might otherwise be foreclosed from even low cost technical
assistance: Current scholarships enable us to extend services without
charge to agencies serving the homeless; mental health system client
organizations; and nonprofits addressing the needs of children and youth,
as well as to low-budget nonprofits in specified counties.
3. Computerization and telecommunications-focused consultation, training
and support projects for nonprofits, public schools and other public
institutions, and private foundations. These projects are managed by
in-house staff and conducted with a mix of in-house staff, volunteer
mentors and specialized contractors. Much of our project work has involved
telecommunications-based network development and training, supporting
collaborative public service work on a regional, statewide and national
basis. Other projects involve consultation on Information and Referral
services automation and collaboration, and guidance for foundations on
technical developments that are critical to their grantees' present and
future effectiveness. Our project work is supported by direct contracts
and by grants from a variety of sources. CompuMentor has provided recent
consultation, training and support to a wide variety of clients including
LatinoNet, Marin Jobs Consortium, Marin Community Foundation, the
Foundation Consortium on School- Linked Services, the Alameda County
Grants Information Committee, Representatives for Infant Services in
Alameda County, California Department of Education's Healthy Start Field
Office, Hewlett-Packard's K-12 Education Program, Center for Collaboration
for Children, Mental Health Client Self-Help Project, California
Department of Developmental Services.
4. A software distribution project that makes high quality, new software
available to nonprofits throughout the country.
Abstract
CompuMentor is a not-for-profit organization operating in California and
also, increasingly, on a national scale, whose main purpose is to match
skilled computer users (volunteer mentors) with nonprofits and other
public service groups that need their skills. In recent years CompuMentor
projects have included 1) basic computerization assistance to nonprofits
and schools, 2) scholarships programs for agencies with no funds for
technical support, 3) computerization and telecommunications-focused
consultation and training for nonprofits and public institutions, and 4) a
software distribution project specifically for nonprofits and public
schools. In addition to our regular work, we are now starting to design a
scaleable model of our organization that we hope to share with other
groups around the country, with the intent of providing nonprofits in
other communities access to the services we've made available in the Bay
Area.
Keywords
Community service, nonprofits, not-for-profits, schools, volunteers,
computer consulting, mentoring.
MISSION
CompuMentor's mission is to help nonprofits and public agencies
better manage their resources and serve their clients--by better
understanding and using computers. Since we started in 1987 in San
Francisco, CompuMentor has assisted more than 800 organizations. At the
heart of our technical assistance are the thousands of highly skilled
computer mentors who volunteer their time to help nonprofit organizations
and public agencies become more productive and effective. Our priority is
to serve those organizations that are the most foreclosed from traditional
avenues of technological advancement. We consider the San Francisco Bay
Area to be our primary base of operations and "laboratory" for our
methodology; we develop statewide and national programs as appropriate.
An important element of our mission is to develop a sense of shared
purpose and community among the technologically adept and altruistic
individuals who constitute the "mentor pool."
PROGRAM
CompuMentor was formed in 1987 with the mission of tapping the energy and
commitment of skilled computer users (mentors) on behalf of the nonprofit
sector. We now work from a national database of 4000 mentors (35% of whom
are in the San Francisco Bay area) whom we interview, orient and match
with nonprofits and with public schools. We also provide services via a
consultant bank or directly by our professional staff in cases where these
forms of assistance are the most appropriate and effective. CompuMentor
has encouraged the development of affiliates; fourteen such organizations,
all explicitly modeled on CompuMentor, now exist across the country
(Affiliates in Chicago, Boston, Schenectedy and New Orleans are actively
making matches; other affiliates are in earlier stages of development). We
also offer services directly to national networks and to large scale,
multisite training and support projects outside of the Bay Area.
RECENT ACTIVITY
In the past few years our activity has included
THE FUTURE
While we have had great success in the Bay area and California, there are
still a tremendous number of nonprofits and public service agencies that
do not have access to services like those we provide. While we continue
with our local community, we are also beginning to design scaleable models
of our organization that we can share with other groups throughout the
country, in hope that they will be able to implement similar programs for
their own communities. For more information, please contact either of the
authors. We welcome others who would like to be involved with this kind
of work.