NPower (USA)
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Bold text:This is an article about the nonprofit organization. For the UK energy company, see npower (UK).
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| Established | 1999 |
| CEO | Barbara Chang |
| Network Office | New York |
| Website | http://www.npower.org |
NPower is a network of locally based nonprofit organizations providing technology assistance to other nonprofit and community organizations. Founded in 1999, the NPower Network today includes twelve local affiliates, who provide a wide range of IT-related services to more than 4,000 nonprofit organizations annually.
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[edit] Mission
NPower's mission is to help other nonprofits use technology to serve their communities better. Through hands-on IT planning and implementation; skill and fluency based training; volunteer matching; and innovative technology consulting, we have helped tens of thousands of nonprofit organizations learn to employ IT to increase the reach and impact of their work.
[edit] Philosophy
From the outset, NPower's operating approach has stressed that by leveraging IT, many nonprofits can achieve more than just incremental improvements in their organizations and programs - the kind that result, for example, in more cost-efficient operations. We also believe that organizations at almost any stage of development can begin to employ IT to acquire transformative new capabilities.
At the same time, our experience has taught us not to view technology development as a panacea or as something that is justified for its own sake. Rather, effective IT development in nonprofits works best when it reflects and supports a larger process of intentional change management: one keyed to continually monitoring and achieving all the internal and external conditions needed for success.
[edit] History
The first NPower opened its doors in Seattle in 1999, providing hands-on technology assistance -- from classroom training to strategic technology planning to web site and database development -- to nonprofit organizations in the Puget Sound. In response to the need for similar services in other communities, NPower Seattle partnered with Microsoft Corporation in 2000 to develop other NPower programs around the country -- and the NPower Network was born.
A national organization, officially called NPower and also known as NPower Network, evolved in 2003 and formed officially in 2004 to provide support and strategic leadership to the Network. This is the web site of that national organization.
