It requires some vision and leadership to recognize that in today’s world, you can’t succeed – let alone reach anywhere close to your potential – without excellent technology systems supporting and enabling you every step of the way…. And that getting there requires a serious investment.

Not just investing in technical things built by tech wizards, it’s larger and more transformative than that. We’re talking about investing in a wholesale, all-in, evolution of organizational culture and process in order to allow you to thrive in today’s world. 

Of course an investment implies a return on investment, an ROI. If you do it right you’re not flushing money down the toilet. You’re strategically allocating resources to enable yourself to make more, do more, and do better. And that is exactly what happens when it’s done right. 

But the tricky thing about measuring that ROI is how quickly this new way of working goes from revolutionary to the new normal. 

When people first get exposed to working with a team of technology problem solvers on hand to help them do everything better, more efficiently, more impactfully, more opportunistically – it’s nothing short of revolutionary.

At last they have strategic and tactical partners on hand to help understand their needs, help adjust the tools to meet them, help ensure support and training happen, and help ensure quality and integrity stays high. At last they can start cutting inefficient workarounds and busy work out of their days, so they can focus on their areas of expertise. At last they can spot new opportunities or ideas and execute on them quickly.  

People who had given up hope and turned cynical about your technology systems start returning to the table. They’re often somewhere between cautiously optimistic and ecstatic as the things they’ve hoped for and requested for years actually start to happen.

That’s a fun stage – the renewal of hope and ideas and optimism.

But after a little while a funny thing happens. It just becomes normal.

Imagine if the air quality in your office used to be terrible and unhealthy, and finally it got cleaned up. Initially there would be relief and celebration. You might even have some people who continue to show up every day remembering how bad it used to be, feeling grateful for each breath of fresh air. But eventually most people will eventually just adjust to breathing normally. New people might never know it was any different. Of course that’s how it should be – people should be able to breath fresh, clean air.

The same is true for technology. People deserve to have the support they need to do their jobs.

Over time, with a robust organizational approach to technology, you gradually see every single player on your team playing a more skilled game. Bit by bit, your fundraisers can trust the tracked history of relationships with their most important constituents, and coordinate touchpoints more sensitively. Bit by bit, marketing and communications specialists can target and reach people more accurately based on their history and involvement with your cause. Bit by bit, your programs can be directed to the right constituents at the right times. Bit by bit, time stops being wasted on inefficient manual workarounds and clunky handoffs, replaced by the efficient processes of a well-oiled collaboration machine. New possibilities are strategized and acted on quickly.

This is how technology should be. 

But it's easy to forget over time, because when things are working it all feels so normal. So functional. Doing technology right doesn’t look like fireworks. It looks like daily, normal, competent work. Smart, efficient, opportunistic work, instead of inefficient, limited, extremely frustrating work. 

So over time, as the trauma of the old way of doing things starts to fade, people get used to things working how they should. They get used to being able to get what they need, to trust the data, to have smart people helping them act on new ideas and opportunities. It becomes the new normal, in the best way.

What’s the ROI on everyone getting better at their jobs? Some of it is quantifiable. Maybe all of it is. But it sure gets squirrelly to try to add it all up. 

But with a longer term view, and a clear recollection of where you started, you start to recognize the essential, game-changing role that beautifully-stewarded technology played in helping your entire organization finally live up to its potential.