Nonprofit organizations never seem to have enough money for the latest technology equipment or support. That’s why a local technology firm has decided to donate its services to five nonprofits selected with the help of a public vote.
Trivalent Group, Inc., a technology firm that provides its customers with service and equipment to better manage, access, protect and store their data, has created a philanthropic initiative called CompassionIT (pronounced “compassionate”) to award technology improvements to local charities.
Employees at Trivalent created the initiative to show their passion for the community by sharing the power of technology with nonprofits that may not be able to afford it. They also want to highlight these organizations for the compassionate work they are doing in our community.
“We hope to raise a greater awareness and focus on the nonprofits,” says CEO Larry Andrus.
The grand prize winner of the CompassionIT initiative will receive at least $30,000 in technology equipment and services. This could be in the form of laptops, desktops, servers, network infrastructure, data center services, software and more.
Beginning October 1, nonprofits can register on the CompassionIT website,
www.TGcompassionIT.com. When the registration ends on October 31, an internal team of Trivalent volunteers will review all submissions and select 20 organizations that will then be posted online for a public vote November 15-30.
The public vote will assist the Trivalent Review Board, made up of internal employees and outside community members, in narrowing down the list from 20 to five, with the winners announced on December 3. Second round voting for the five finalists will take place December 10-21.
From there, the Review Board will select its grand prize finalist with the public’s input and the winner will be announced at a special ceremony on January 10, 2013.
Everyone who enters the contest is asked to complete a M.A.P.S. Assessment as part of the application. M.A.P.S. stands for manage, access, protect and store and this is the foundation of data services Trivalent provides. The M.A.P.S. survey gives Trivalent a way to measure the current state of an organization’s technology infrastructure. In return for completing it, all nonprofits will receive a RoadMAP Report offering suggestions for improvement such as anti-virus software, disaster recovery systems and data backups.
“It gives a good baseline of what they need,” Andrus says.
The four runners up in the CompassionIT contest also win as they will receive a G.P.S. Assessment, which is valued at approximately $4,000. The G.P.S. takes the M.A.P.S. Assessment to the next level with more detailed recommendations and a strategy.
“We give them a roadmap, basically,” says Dawn Simpson, VP of market development.
To enter the CompassionIT contest, the nonprofit must have a 501(c)3 designation and they cannot be a private or educational foundation, a religious organization that does not provide some social services to the public, a school or a government organization.
Trivalent will look at each organization’s submission to see how they serve the community and what impact they have.
The idea for the initiative came from Bjorn Bylsma and Justin Vriesman, senior systems engineers with the company.
“We wanted to come up with a way to do something good with what we know -- technology,” says Bylsma.
Andrus says the CompassionIT initiative may be repeated next year if it goes well and their partners are once again interested in contributing.
If you would like to get involved, here’s how you can:
- Visit
Trivalent Group online to find out more about them.
- Submit your nonprofit nomination on the
CompassionIT site.
- Like Trivalent on
Facebook.
- Follow
@trivalentgroup on Twitter.
Sources: Larry Andrus, Chief Executive Officer of Trivalent Group, Inc., Dawn Simpson, VP of Market Development and Bjorn Bylsma, Senior Systems Engineer
Writer: Heidi Stukkie, Do Good Editor
Logos provided by Trivalent Group.