At the CT Association of Nonprofits 6th Annual Conference, Ami Dar, the founder of Idealist, spoke about using online tools to communicate more effectively within an organization. His 70-person company uses Google Docs to share documents and Skype to hold video calls with each other around the world, using the internet and avoiding phone bills.

He urges nonprofits to embrace these tools, which bypass traditional hierarchies, and create a more streamlined organization. His organization’s adoption of these methods was driven by the younger generation – provided the tools, but without a mandate to use them, they naturally tended to them – a fine formula for nonprofits.

WAKE UP CALL: Will you allow the younger generation to drive change in your organization? What steps will you take to lead the change? The next time you email a document to a colleague, try posting it on Google Docs instead.

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