Nonprofit IT Budgeting with Johan Hammerstrom

Community IT CEO Johan Hammerstrom walks through how to think about your nonprofit IT budget at any time, but particularly if you anticipate facing steeper challenges and may have to scale back. What are the three “buckets” of your IT needs, and how can you best manage your costs while keeping efficiency and functionality? What is a nonprofit IT budgeting strategy that will work for you in 2026? More extensive resource on nonprofit IT budgeting:Discovering the Value of Your Nonprofit IT Budget webinar with Johan Hammerstrom.Takeaways: In decades of assisting hundreds of nonprofit clients with putting an IT budget together – often coaching how to create and talk about the budget with stakeholders, executives, and board members – Community IT CEO Johan Hammerstrom has come to think of your nonprofit IT budget in three “buckets.” Every nonprofit has a different budget process, so take that into account when connecting your IT needs and priorities to your own process.Remember that your IT budget is not a technology task. It is a technology + business needs task. You need to incorporate the big picture. And don’t forget that IT is just another strategic asset that you manage like your lease, your programs, your payroll. Don’t make assumptions about what is “too expensive.” If you want to recommend something in your IT budget, make the case for itNecessity/Non-NegotiableLicenses and subscriptions are non-negotiable. Luckily, licenses are usually predictable, fixed costs per seat.Infrastructure needs to be current.Cybersecurity is non-negotiable. Make sure your protections are following best practices. Use your financial auditing process and insurance checklists to update and upgrade your cybersecurity.Can Postpone (and Plan For)Laptop replacements. Redesigning your website. Older server replacement/moving to the cloud for all functions. Everything that can be postponed should come down to a business decision.Discretionary (Can Postpone Indefinitely)Updating systems like a CRM or other software. Where there is no critical immediate impact of not updating, the organization can make a long term plan to do the updates relative to other, more critical and immediate needs, knowing that times and needs may change, costs may come down, AI may change the software/system landscape entirely.When facing difficulty with funding, you will need to prioritize immediate needs and long-term needs.Having a relationship with your funder where you can talk about your planning and decision making can help. Having a nonprofit IT Roadmap is a big help.Community IT knows 2025 was very challenging to our nonprofit sector. With all of the budget challenges our friends and colleagues are negotiating, we hope we can help nonprofit IT be the least difficult to manage. _______________________________Start a conversation :)Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/email Carolyn at [email protected] LinkedIn on reddit/r/nonprofitITmanagementon the Community IT websiteThanks for listening.