TechSoup
{{Short description|US nonprofit organization based in San Francisco}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = TechSoup
| logo = TechSoup_Logo.svg
| logo_size = 180px
| type = Nonprofit technology
| founded_date = 1987
| founder = Daniel Ben-Horin
| location = San Francisco
| origins = CompuMentor Project
| key_people = Founder and Chief Instigator: Daniel Ben-Horin
CEO: Rebecca Masisak
| focus = Technology Donations and Data Services
| revenue = US$30.8 million
| num_employees = 203
| homepage = {{URL|meet.techsoup.org}}
}}
TechSoup, founded in 1987 as CompuMentor and later known as TechSoup Global, is a nonprofit international network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provides technical support and technological tools to other nonprofits.{{cite news |title=Guidestar International and TechSoup Global Combine |date=April 15, 2010 |work=Nonprofit Quarterly| url=http://nonprofitquarterly.org/2010/04/15/guidestar-international-and-techsoup-global-combine/ }}{{cite news |title=10 awesome technology nonprofits you should know about |first=Lyndsey |last=Gilpin |date=June 23, 2015 |work=Tech Republic| url=http://www.techrepublic.com/article/10-awesome-technology-nonprofits-you-should-know-about/}}
History
After discussing the technology needs of nonprofits with members of the WELL, Daniel Ben-Horin founded CompuMentor (later TechSoup). His objective was to create a program in which those with technology skills ("mentors") volunteered to assist nonprofit organizations with information technologies. In 1991, Fred Silverman, Apple Computer's manager of community affairs, praised CompuMentor as "a perfect marriage of technology and volunteerism."{{cite news |title=COMPUMENTOR AND HANDSNET OFFER HELP TO THOSE HELPING OTHERS |first=Lawrence |last= Magid |date=11 March 1991 |newspaper=The Washington Post | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1991/03/11/compumentor-and-handsnet-offer-help-to-those-helping-others/cde9bf14-5036-4534-adba-8ceec0f01d42/}}
CompuMentor also began soliciting donations of technological products, largely from tech magazines that had large stocks of unneeded software sent to them by companies seeking coverage of their products, which CompuMentor collected and then sold to nonprofits for a nominal fee, originally $5.{{cite news |title=When Tech Innovation has a Social Mission |first=John |last=Markoff |date=April 13, 2008 |work=New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/technology/13stream.html?_r=2&scp=4&sq=slipstream&st=nyt&oref=slogin}}{{cite news |title=TechSoup sees upside for nonprofits in downturn |first=Julian |last=Guthrie |date=March 22, 2009 |work=SF Gate| url=http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/TechSoup-sees-upside-for-nonprofits-in-downturn-3247111.php}}
In 1997, CompuMentor received $350,000 in donations, tying it with the IT Resource Center as the largest Nonprofit Technology Assistance Provider in the U.S.{{cite book |title=From Social Movement to Moral Market |first=Paul-Brian |last=McInerney |date=January 1, 2014|publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804789066 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l8FCAgAAQBAJ&dq=compumentor+changes+name&pg=PA72}}
On May 9, 2000, TechSoup website [http://www.techsoup.org www.techsoup.org] was launched.
In 2008, the organization changed its name to TechSoup Global.{{cite news |title=Disconnecting from the network |first=Tim |last=Mills Groninger |date=May 15, 2011 |work=Nonprofit Times | url=http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/news-articles/disconnecting-from-the-network/}}
As of 2016, TechSoup reported $30.8 million in revenue. It provides technology assistance services and NGO validation services to nongovernmental organizations, foundations, libraries, and other civil society organizations worldwide in partnerships with companies like Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco and Symantec. In partnership with Microsoft, it formed the TechSoup Global Network to support increased distribution of services to nonprofits.{{cite news |title=Daniel Ben-Horin, Founder/President of CompuMentor: Philanthropy and the Next-Generation Web |first=Mitch |last=Nauffts |date=May 2, 2006 |work=Philanthropy Digest| url=http://philanthropynewsdigest.org/newsmakers/daniel-ben-horin-founder-president-compumentor-philanthropy-and-the-next-generation-web}}{{cite web |title=2016 Year in Review |date=2016 |work=Annual Report| url=https://yearinreview.techsoup.org/2016/financials.html}}{{cite news |title=As tech moves toward shared value, what is the role for bridge builders? |first=Catherine |last=Cheney |date=November 25, 2015 |work=Devex | url=https://www.devex.com/news/as-tech-moves-toward-shared-value-what-is-the-role-for-bridge-builders-87320}}{{cite news |title=IRS Gives OK to Outside Good-Faith Determinations for Foundations |first=Diane |last=Freda |date=September 24, 2015 |work=Bloomberg BNA | url=http://www.bna.com/irs-gives-ok-n57982058670/}}
The TechSoup Global Network includes Fundacja TechSoup, a separately incorporated "regional hub" established by TechSoup Global. It is based in Warsaw, Poland, and supports activities in 48 European countries.{{cite web |title=Foundation TechSoup |date=2014 |work=National Forum of Nongovernmental Initiatives
|url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&u=http://ofip.eu/organizacje/fundacja-techsoup/&prev=search}}{{cite web |title=Strengthening Institutional Capacity to Provide ICT Support to NGOs in CEE/Russia: Fundacja TechSoup |date=2015 |work=Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
|url=http://www.mott.org/Globals/Grants/2015/201100026_02_Strengthening%20Institutional%20Capacity%20to%20Provide%20ICT%20Support%20to%20NGOs%20in%20CEERussia}}
Notable programs
= TechSoup.org =
Launched in January 2002, TechSoup.org is a web site serving nonprofits that provides training webinars, community forums and other resources about the use of technology in nonprofit organizations and public libraries. TechSoup partners with Microsoft to distribute Microsoft's product donations globally,{{cite book |title=Green Gadgets for Dummies |first=Joe |last=Hutsko |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & sons |isbn=9780470528914 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2YGutxVsJu8C&q=TechSoup++Microsoft+exclusive}}{{cite news |title=How your church can accept electronic offerings |first=Shawn |last=Schuster |date=March 16, 2015 |work=Gospel Herald |url=http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/54746/20150316/how-your-church-can-accept-electronic-offerings-an-interview-with-techsoups-jim-lynch.htm}} and helps to connect nonprofits and libraries to corporate donors such as Adobe, Symantec, Cisco and Intuit. TechSoup.org also verifies the nonprofit status of organizations seeking donations and matches them to the donated technology products they need.{{cite news |title=The medium data alliance between Guidestar and the Foundation Center: Get your information here |first=Rick |last=Cohen |date=October 24, 2013 |work=The Nonprofit Quarterly | url=https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2013/10/24/the-medium-data-alliance-between-guidestar-and-the-foundation-center-get-your-information-here/}}{{cite web |title=Expanding Microsoft software donations for more nonprofits |first=Akhtar |last=Badshah |date=July 27, 2011 |work=Microsoft Citizenship blog TechNet | url=https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/microsoftupblog/2011/07/27/expanding-microsoft-software-donations-to-more-nonprofits/}}
= GuideStar International =
= NGOsource =
NGOsource, a project of the Council on Foundations and TechSoup Global, is an online service for U.S. grantmakers to receive equivalency determinations, which are legal certifications that a non-U.S. NGO is equivalent to a U.S. public charity, thereby reducing the cost and complexity of international grantmaking.[http://www.ngosource.org/News/Pages/press-release-treasury-irs-rule-change-2012.aspx "Treasury and IRS Rule Changes Reduce Barriers to Global Grantmaking"], NGOsource, September 24, 2012 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104054113/http://www.ngosource.org/News/Pages/press-release-treasury-irs-rule-change-2012.aspx |date=November 4, 2012 }} Launched in March 2013, it helps U.S. grantmakers streamline their global philanthropy.[http://www.cof.org/files/Bamboo/programsandservices/legalinfo/documents/RelianceStandardsAnalysis-FINAL.pdf "Explanation of Proposed Treasury Regulations: Reliance Standards for Making Good Faith Determinations of Equivalency Determinations"], Council on Foundations, September 24, 2012 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204045812/http://www.cof.org/files/Bamboo/programsandservices/legalinfo/documents/RelianceStandardsAnalysis-FINAL.pdf |date=December 4, 2013 }} According to its website, NGOsource was active in 126 countries as of 2018.[http://www.ngosource.org/about-us/global-partners NGOsource About Us]
= NetSquared =
NetSquared organized local actors to collaborate in open innovation challenges, as well as monthly face-to-face meetups. NetSquared was organized into local chapters that had monthly meetings. Chapters went by such names as Tech4Good or NetSquared Chicago.{{cite news |title=So where do you belong? |first=Geeta |last=Padmanabhan |date=January 15, 2014 |work=The Hindu |url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/so-where-do-you-belong/article5566506.ece}} NetSquared's "ReStart Slovakia" challenge provided recognition and seed funds to help launch the "Open Courts" project to promote transparency in Slovakia's judicial system.[http://techpresident.com/news/wegov/24224/website-opens-infamously-corrupt-courts In Slovakia, a Website Shines the Spotlight on Infamously Corrupt Judiciary] TechPresident, July 31, 2013 TechSoup Connect became the successor to NetSquared in 2021, and each chapter continues to be led by a volunteer who produces local events, in-person and online.{{cite news |title=TechSoup Connect: Your New Community Events Program |date=8 October 2021 |work=TechSoup Blog |url=https://blog.techsoup.org/posts/techsoup-connect-your-new-community-events-program}}
= Quad =
In February 2022, TechSoup launched a subscription service, Quad, which it described as "TechSoup's peer-to-peer community where nonprofit organizations connect with tech experts and each other to do great things."{{cite news |title=Introducing Quad |date=3 February 2022 |publisher=TechSoup |url=https://page.techsoup.org/introducing-quad}}{{cite news |title=Quad from Techsoup |date=17 May 2023 |publisher=Reddit |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/k12sysadmin/comments/136wmls/comment/jkihuac/?context=3}}