The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Survey Findings: Technology Capacity

• Civil and human rights organizations are beginning to embrace new information and communications technologies, however, they still have a long way to go;
• Respondents agree that technology capacity is critical to successful pursuit of civil rights goals;
• Technology training has not been a priority for respondent organizations, particularly at the higher levels of management;
• Grassroots affiliates are far behind the national offices in technology capacity and use;
• The civil and human rights community needs assistance in understanding what "accessible" means in the digital age;
• Few organizations have comprehensive communications and/or technology plans;
• Organizations rank themselves high on technology capacity and use, but believe the rest of the civil and human rights community is far behind;
• The civil and human rights community welcomes coordinated efforts to improve technology utilization.

Of the sixty-eight organizations responding to the technology portion of the survey, every single organization indicated that they were connected to the Internet. Furthermore, almost 95% of the organizations indicated that they have a website, and 55% indicated that they update their websites at least once a week. Roughly 15% of the organizations surveyed update their website daily. Moreover, respondents report that they are starting to focus more attention on building internal technology capacity.

While only 13% of organizations reported that their technology capacity was exceptional or very good 2 years ago, more than 50% believe their capacity is exceptional or very good today. This dramatic increase indicates that many respondent organizations are starting to ramp up and join the ranks of the "wired."

The move to embrace technology is also reflected in how the civil and human rights community is connecting to the Internet. Almost 70% of the organizations responding to the survey are using high-speed (digital) Internet connections. Most of these are dedicated circuits (32%) or DSL (26%).

Table 1: Internet Connectivity Technologies Being Used By Survey Respondents

Overall, the level of connectivity among survey respondents appears to be relatively good. However, not all respondents are in the fast lane of the information superhighway. Roughly one-third of the organizations responding still connect to the Internet through a basic analog dial-up connection typically used by individual residential Internet users for their personal needs. Dial-up is a far from adequate solution for multiple users in the workplace when one considers the increasing bandwidth demands that new applications are placing on computers.

Although respondents have started to better integrate technology into their missions, the majority of organizations surveyed are not taking advantage of more sophisticated technologies. For example, while 91% report using e-mail and 68% are using listservs, barely a quarter are using electronic bulletin boards or password-protected websites.

In general, the LCCR members are using the web largely as a non-interactive publishing medium. Survey respondents use the Internet to publish alerts (72%), provide publications (75%), distribute press releases (78%), and educate the public (81%). They are largely not using the Internet to provide training for their members (19%), to provide in-depth electronic reading rooms (12%), or using the web to engage in other interactive activities like surveys or chats. Only 39% of respondents are using the web for fundraising.

Among the materials posted online by respondent organizations, the majority are policy alerts (85%), press releases (79%), traditional action alerts (69%), and general issue discussions (63%). Relatively few organizations are using the web for providing congressional voting records (25%).

Website Services % Using

Table 2: Website Services Being Used By Survey Respondents

The LCCR members responding to the survey are adopting the basics of the Internet, which is a good first step. However, these organizations still have a long way to go toward fully realizing the potential of the Internet to advance their mission. The more advanced tools available on the Internet (962073)ch as interactivity, personalization, and customized content (962061)e largely not being implemented by responding LCCR member organizations.

Civil And Human Rights Organizations Agree That Building Technology Capacity Is Critical To Successful Pursuit Of Civil Rights Goals

Clearly, the civil and human rights community understands that access to and effective utilization of technology is critical for the future success of all Americans in the information age. Within the civil rights community, however, the issue has even greater significance, since unequal access to technology exacerbates existing inequalities.

When asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement that "[b]uilding stronger technology capacity within civil rights organizations will be critical if the civil rights community is to continue serving the interests/needs of underserved communities," 90% "strongly" or "very strongly" agreed that it was. Furthermore, two-thirds of those surveyed indicated that they "strongly" or "very strongly" believed that building technology capacity within the civil rights community would accelerate the "understanding, acceptance, and use of information technology among under-served communities."

The recognition that building technology capacity is important to the effectiveness of the civil and human rights community's mission represents a critical watershed for the civil and human rights community and strongly validates the work and direction of LCCR's Digital Opportunity Partnership.

Technology Training Has Not Been A Priority For Respondent Organizations, Particularly At The Higher Levels Of Management

Technology training is key to ensuring that staff effectively understand and use technology. But, among the organizations responding to the survey, few staff are receiving significant technology training. Perhaps most disturbing, the more senior the staff, the less technology training they receive. For example, more than 60% of support staff received more than 6 hours of training in the past year, while almost 60% of senior staff received less than 6 hours. Barely a quarter of executive directors received that amount of training, virtually no executive directors received more than 20 hours and almost a third received no technology training at all in the past 12 months.

Table 3: Amount Of Training In Last 12 Months By Position

Having a rudimentary understanding of the promise and the capacity of new digital technologies is critical if organizations are to effectively leverage technology to advance their missions. Further, a basic understanding of technology is critical to understanding and participating in communications and Internet policymaking. Ultimately, leadership in this area must emanate from the top. This cannot happen unless senior officials and even Board members are familiar with and understand the value of the new technologies.

Grassroots Affiliates Lag Far Behind Their National Organizations In Technology Capacity And Use

While the technology capacity of the national headquarters of civil and human rights organizations is growing, respondents report far less progress in the field. In response to a survey question, more than 30% said that one-quarter or less of their affiliates are connected to the Internet and almost 50% said that less than half of their affiliates are connected to the Internet. The numbers are almost identical for the percentage of affiliates with websites. In contrast, every single Washington-based organization responding to the survey indicated that they are connected to the Internet and 95% have a website.

However, not all the news is bad. Approximately one-fifth of the groups responding to the survey (19%) report a high level (50% or greater) of connectivity among their affiliates and chapters, with the majority using the Internet to communicate with the national organization. Still, a large number (25%) of respondents stated either that they did not know or were unable to comment on the connectivity levels among their affiliates, suggesting a lack of communication and collaboration with their affiliates and chapters on technology decision making.

Table 4: Comparison Of National Organizations And Affiliates: Internet Connectivity And Web Presence

At present, few national organizations are involved in helping their affiliates, chapters and members understand the value of, and need for, incorporating new technologies into their work. Only about one quarter of the organizations responding to the survey indicated that they are currently "extremely active" or "fairly active" in providing technology support to their affiliates. On a more positive note, roughly half indicated that they intend to become "extremely active" or "fairly active" in providing support two years hence.

In sum, while the national organizations surveyed have come a long way in the past few years, their affiliates still have a long way to go.

The Civil And Human Rights Community Needs Assistance In Fully Understanding What "Accessible" Means In The Digital Age

The LCCR/LCEF survey revealed important data regarding accessibility of member organization websites. Of those responding to the survey, 38% indicated that their websites were "fully accessible" to people with disabilities, 16% said that they knew their sites were "not accessible," 15% said their sites were "partially accessible," and significantly, almost 30% said that they didn't know whether their website was accessible or not.

Just as the civil and human rights community has fought for full inclusion of individuals with disabilities into American society, so must it ensure full inclusion in the emerging digital society. LCCR member organizations have a proud history in their support for people with disabilities in the campaigns of the last 30 years. Despite the relatively high percentage of respondents who have inaccessible sites or are not sure whether their websites are accessible, there is a growing recognition within the civil rights community that this lack of access could undercut the work for disability rights in the digital age. If civil rights groups get the help they need to fully understand what is involved in ensuring "accessible media," they will be able to assume a leadership role in this area.

Few Organizations Have Comprehensive Communications And/Or Technology Plans

Technology is not a panacea, nor is it a goal in its own right. Rather, it is a means to an end; a tool which, when properly integrated into an organization's operations, can exponentially expand its capacity to accomplish its goals. Therefore, it is important that as civil and human rights groups increase their technology capacity, that technology planning be integrated into overall institutional plans, and more particularly that communications plans integrate new technologies.

But of the organizations responding to the survey, 58% of respondents indicated that they did not have a written communications plan that integrates the use of technology. Only 19% indicated that they had such a plan, and 22% said they didn't know whether they had such a plan or not. Technology provides organizations with a powerful communications tool. Organizations need to understand that the success of their civil rights agenda is directly connected to their ability to use the medium as part of their overall communications and advocacy strategy.

Table 5: Organizations With Communications Plan Integrating Technology

Respondents Rank Themselves High On Technology Capacity And Use, But Believe The Rest Of The Civil And Human Rights Community Is Far Behind

When asked to rank themselves on technology capacity, respondents gave their organization high marks. More than half of all the organizations responding indicated that they had "exceptional" or "very good" capacity to use information technology today. Almost 90% said they had "very good," "exceptional," or "good" capacity to use information technology today. For the most part, those high marks held true even when the group is still relying on dial-up Internet access.

In contrast, only 12% believed that the civil and human rights community as a whole was "cutting edge" or "fairly advanced" in its use of technology and only a third rated the community as "advanced." At the same time, almost 40% gave the community very low marks, either "not very advanced," or "just beginning."

Table 6: Organizational Self-Ratings vs. Civil And Human Rights Community Ratings

Why respondents rate themselves as having very good technology capacity while viewing their colleagues as far behind is not easy to explain. One interpretation is that survey respondents represent the "early adoptors" who are in fact far ahead of the broader civil and human rights community. It is more likely, however, that the self-ratings are somewhat inflated given the capacity findings above. This is a fairly common phenomenon in survey research. For example, when asked to rank Congress or the state of public education, survey participants often rank them unfavorably. But when asked to rank their local school or member of Congress, people generally give them high marks.

The Civil Rights Community Welcomes Coordinated Efforts To Improve Technology Utilization

As part of the Digital Opportunities Partnership (DOP), LCCR/LCEF have proposed a number of outreach programs to help Washington-based civil and human rights organizations move forward into the digital age. Of the DOP programs listed in the survey, the technology assistance forums, shared Internet applications, website accessibility assistance, and the technology e-rider were the most popular, with over 80% of the respondents finding them useful, somewhat useful or very useful. While the leadership policy forums received slightly lower rankings, they were still considered useful by the vast majority of respondents, over 70%. Given the low level of engagement on communications and Internet policy, the strong demand for the leadership policy forums is encouraging. What the finding strongly suggests is that LCCR members understand the importance of collaboration in this area. They know they face a steep learning curve and welcome pooling of both knowledge and resources.

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