At Community Tech Network, our mission to bridge the digital divide is at the heart of everything we do. Today, we are thrilled to recognize and extend our deepest gratitude to one of our key supporters, Archstone Foundation. Their generous grant of $50,000, awarded in November 2022, has significantly bolstered our programming, enabling us to amplify our impact and reach more older adults in need.
Archstone Foundation’s Commitment to Capacity Building
Archstone Foundation is a grantmaking organization with a mission to improve the health and well-being of older Californians and their caregivers through equitable, coordinated care. Understanding that access to technology is crucial to older adults’ healthcare outcomes, Archstone Foundation decided to invest in the work of Community Tech Network.
While many grants for nonprofits are designated to support specific projects, Archstone Foundation recognizes that programmatic grants can only go so far and that nonprofits have ongoing needs to build operational capacity. Thus, they began offering a capacity-building grant program in 2019 to enhance organizations’ overall infrastructure and efficiency. This ensures that grant recipients can continue providing high-quality services even after the funding period ends.
CTN used the grant to improve its digitalLIFT products, programming, and internal processes.
The Impact of Archstone Foundation’s Support
As a national leader in digital equity with over 16 years of hands-on experience teaching older adults and people from marginalized communities how to use the internet, CTN wanted to share its expertise with other organizations. Therefore, we developed digitalLIFT to support nonprofit and government agencies that are either launching a digital equity initiative or seeking to take their current digital inclusion efforts to the next level. We offer online courses, culturally proficient curricula, and customized training packages.
With Archstone Foundation’s funding, we were able to:
- Develop additional courses for digital equity practitioners
- Enroll dozens of trainers in these courses, preparing them to serve older adults in their communities through digital skills classes, affordable internet workshops, and tech support sessions
- Expand our curriculum library, creating more training material in additional languages and for more devices. (These curricula, which include an instructor guide and learner booklet, can be used immediately in technology classes.)
- Continue building a Digital Equity Ecosystem across California and Texas
- Improve internal processes, including integrating Salesforce and a learning management system to streamline our operations
Since digitalLIFT launched in 2022, CTN is proud to have partnered with 84 agencies nationwide and to have trained 527 individuals as digital navigators, classroom trainers, and ACP enrollment specialists.
Leveraging Additional Resources
In addition to the grant, Archstone Foundation provided CTN with a subscription to Catchafire, enabling CTN to save over $50,000 in consultant costs through pro-bono support from professional volunteers in fields such as Google Ads and logo design. These savings have been reinvested into our programs, allowing us to expand our reach and enhance our offerings.
Building for the Future
As we continue to build our internal capacity, we remain committed to expanding our digitalLIFT program on a national scale.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), along with other federal and state efforts, is poised to invest billions of dollars in bridging the digital divide. As more people receive home internet and devices, CTN is prepared to respond by training agencies across the U.S. to meet the digital literacy needs of a vast population, particularly in underserved communities.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to Archstone Foundation. Together, through impactful partnership like this, we are creating a more connected, inclusive future for all communities.
If your organization could benefit from Community Tech Network’s support in getting your digital inclusion efforts off the ground, check out our online course catalog or fill out an inquiry form to get a quote for a customized package.
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