Public Computing Services Democratizing Information

This document tracks the past, present and future of our program activities. We hope it tells readers the story of how we got started and how we plan to fund our activities as a nonprofit serving public charities.

The Early Years

2005 & 2006

When PCS launched, we spent 50% of our time developing web sites for non-charitable entities. Our founder conducted this activity from his home office. This was primarily an investment in fund-raising, both economic and social capital. The income funded the organization while we worked on establishing our activities for charities. This activity also forwarded our purposes by enhancing our web development skills and recruiting potential sponsors and referrals. The web development skills we use on non-charitable projects are the same we needs for our charitable projects.

Fortunately, we were immediately able to devote 15% of our time to building and maintaining web sites for public charities. We want to help them achieve on-line success without breaking the bank. The savings to them means more money in the hands of the grassroots organizations dedicated to making positive change in the world. This results in more connected communities and more effective organizations.

At the same time, we devoted 25% of our time to developing the organization. We recruited board members, researched funding sources, and learned how to operate a nonprofit.

The remaining 10% of our time went to on-site information technology (IT) maintenance for public charities. We set up routine maintenance, upgrade software and ensure critical operations are working.

2007-2009

We were soon able to spend no time on corporate sites and more time on public charity sites, on our way to 100%. From 2007-2009 PCS devoted approximately 65% of its time to building and maintaining web sites for other nonprofits.

When an organization contacts PCS, we implement a generic nonprofit web site minimally customized with their contact information and mission. For their monthly fee, PCS maintains their web site. We will host the web site on our servers if the organization does not already have a web host, or if their host can't support the needs of the web site.

PCS continued to devote 10% of its time to on-site information technology (IT) maintenance for public charities. Many nonprofit organizations don't have a network manager or technology support staff. Some have a staff member (accidental techie) who has fallen into the job of technical support but has limited knowledge and not enough time to do the job. We help them further their missions by offloading IT overhead and making their IT infrastructure more effective, enabling them to extend programming and more adequately meet the needs of their targeted communities.

We offer an initial consultation to develop a technology plan. We then oversee the implementation of that plan and, where possible, automate its maintenance. We provide emergency services at an hourly rate.

We still spent 25% of our time on program administration, but expect that to continue to decrease.

Where We Go From Here

2010 +

Computer-related Services to Charities

Ideally, we want to reach a point where we devote nearly 100% of our time serving public charities. By extension, the tools we provide should help them provide information technology to the families they serve. 75% will probably be a more realistic estimate.

To break it down, PCS will devote approximately 15% of its time training charities to use their web site and local networks. We will offer one on-site class for their staff and volunteers. We will conduct annual 'refreshers' with particular emphasis on bringing new hires up to date. In between classes, on-line help will be continuously updated to address interim issues.

We plan to devote 10% of our time developing software to meet the needs of public charities. All of the software distributed by PCS is and will be Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). We participate in the FOSS community by fixing bugs and contributing features developed while serving members' needs. PCS contributes all of the software it develops or customizes to the FOSS community so that it can further the missions of all organizations.

The bulk of our time (the remaining 50%) will still be devoted to installing and maintaining web sites for public charities.

Computer-related Services to Families

To make sure that everyone has access to information, we'll probably need to devote 20% of our time to serving families directly. We'll fill in the gaps that our nonprofit members can't reach.

Our intention is only to provide services to under-served families. Our loose definition for that is families that can't be served by other public charities. We want to do what we can to make sure everyone has access to computing services, but we prioritize families that don't have any other options

We hope to give families better access to social, civic, educational and economic opportunities. When a family contacts PCS, we provide an initial consultation to assess their existing Internet access, if any. We help them find low (or no) cost Internet-enabled computers, Internet connections and Internet services.

We plan to devote approximately 15% of our time conducting training classes to teach families where to find and how to use low-cost computers and services. We will offer these classes through, e.g., community education that can support them.

PCS will provide technical support to families as time permits (about 5%). We will provide emergency services at an hourly rate. We expect that low income families may not be able to afford support fees. From donated funds, PCS will provide 'scholarships' for families that can't afford support charges.

Finally, it seems unlikely that any organization would ever be able to devote less than 5% of its time to administration.