Nonprofit technology roadmap template, one page

This is the page described in Nonprofit technology roadmap on one page. It fits on one side of letter paper when printed, and it is meant to be filled in by one person over two weeks, checked with the finance lead, then signed by the executive director. The Word file and the Docs copy are identical. Neither asks for an email.

What is in it

The page has six blocks, in this order from top to bottom.

The header carries three fields: Organization, Fiscal year, and Prepared by. Prepared by is one name, the person who owns the page.

The system inventory is a table with six columns: System, Purpose, Owner, Annual cost, Renewal date, and Decision. It ships with twelve blank rows. Owner is a person’s name, never a department. Annual cost is all-in, including seats, add-ons, and any consultant who maintains the system. Renewal date is the day auto-renew fires, less the notice period. Decision is one of three words: Keep, Replace, or Retire. A total line under the Annual cost column sums the table.

The three moves block has three numbered rows, each with four fields: Move, Owner, Cost, and Done when. Move is one sentence naming the system and the action. Owner is one name. Cost is written as hours and dollars, for example 60 hours, $3,000 one-time. Done when is a sentence you could check with a yes or no. There is no fourth row on purpose.

The stop list is five short lines, each with a Reconsider on date beside it. Use three to six. Each line names one thing the organization will not buy, pilot, or start this fiscal year.

The security basics checklist has five items, each with a Yes or No box, an Owner, and a Last checked date:

1. Multifactor authentication on every account that offers it, admin accounts first.
2. Same-day offboarding, and accounts idle 30 days are disabled.
3. Backups stored offsite and restored from in a test within the last twelve months.
4. Automatic updates on for every laptop and phone.
5. Password manager in use, no shared passwords in email or chat.

The budget line has four fields: Subscriptions and hardware (the inventory total), One-time costs (from the three moves), Training, and Total, with a fifth field for Total as a share of operating budget.

The sign-off has four fields: Signed by, Title, Date signed, and Review date. Review date is twelve months after Date signed.

How to use it

Fill it in this order. The order matters because each block depends on the one before it.

1. Fill the header. Write your own name in Prepared by.
2. Fill the inventory from invoices and admin consoles, not from memory. Do the Owner column last, and ask each person named whether they agree. Total the cost column.
3. Mark every row Keep, Replace, or Retire. Sort the Replace and Retire rows by renewal date.
4. Pick the three moves from that sorted list. Write the Done when sentence before the Cost, because the cost changes once done is specific.
5. Write the stop list from everything that was asked for this year and did not make the three moves.
6. Answer the five security items today, not as you intend them to be. A No is useful. A guessed Yes is not.
7. Fill the budget line from the inventory total, the three moves, and a training figure. Divide by the operating budget for the share.
8. Sign it, set the review date, and put the review date in every owner’s calendar.

The page is reviewed at six months for the three moves only, and rewritten from the top at twelve months. Keep the old page. The inventory changes less than you expect and the renewal dates carry over.

When not to use it

Do not use it during an executive director transition or a merger less than six months out. Fill the inventory only and leave the rest for the incoming leadership.

Do not use it in the middle of a CRM migration. The migration is the year’s only move. Write the page after cutover.

Do not use it if you already have a technology director and a funded multi-year plan of your own. This page adds nothing to that plan except a summary, and the summary can be produced from the plan itself.

Do not stretch it to three years. The Review date is twelve months out, and the renewal column already holds every date beyond that.