IT clinic works with nonprofits to help websites

Serve IT worked with four Bloomington nonprofits to improve their service to the community by helping with technology hurdles.

The new IT clinic, out of IU’s School of Informatics and Computing, worked with Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington, Sycamore Land Trust, Middle Way House and Christole Inc. to revamp their websites and update their databases.

Each nonprofit was paired with a team of four to five student volunteers through the semester-long program.

“Serve IT provides access to and understanding technology and how nonprofit organizations can successfully use it to further their missions,” Bert Clemons from Christole Inc. said. “The program also makes assistance available through volunteers, which is cost effective for organizations that face funding challenges every day.”

One of the most important aspects of Serve IT’s service is the price tag.

“The team brought technology expertise to Christole that we wouldn’t have been able to afford to purchase,” Clemons added. “They worked hard to understand how Christole works with children and adults with autism as well as our relationship with our local and professional community.”

Serve IT worked with Sycamore Land Trust in redesigning their website and donor and volunteer database, with technical support questions and provided them with a used desktop when one of theirs had crashed.

“As a nonprofit with a small staff, having access to free, high-quality information technology assistance is extremely valuable to us and helps us concentrate on our mission of preserving land in southern Indiana,” said John Lawrence, assistant director of Sycamore Land Trust. “Nonprofits often simply don’t have the extra resources to spend on IT, yet using IT well, especially new tools such as social media, is increasingly important to being an effective organization.”

As with the other nonprofits, Serve IT’s team at the Boys and Girls Club sets up 17 work stations in the club’s computer lab, and once a week offers class to 9 to 12-year-olds to help them with the technology.

The clinic has been funded for its first two years by the School of Informatics and Computing and is currently moving in the direction of making the program a for-credit course that will help costs by providing tuition income.

Serve IT is in the process of applying for grants and has already received $8,000 from the Community Foundation of Bloomington and another $20,000 from the Smithville Charitable Foundation.