That’s a dual impact of a magnitude that’s not just impressive but magnificent: that technical innovation can not only be an enabler for a better life for all, but it can also help to ultimately land funds into the hands of those who can make a global impact for countless causes.

With the bounds of innovation essentially unfettered, we’ve already seen how tech has positively changed nearly every aspect of our lives and nearly every industry that exists. There's little stopping tech, from healthcare to finance and communication to entertainment. Just wait and see where artificial intelligence begins to play a role in our lives that would have been seemingly unimaginable just a couple of decades ago—if that.

So, tech is likely to not only remain on top as a source of U.S. donations; it will also remain an enabler for good. There are few instances in life where one can say that something has funded good, improved the ability for all to contribute to good and also makes it easier for those leading good to do more and more of it. The operations of nonprofits benefit; more people can more easily give, and the innovators that make it all happen ultimately give back—and in impactful, substantial, direct ways.

That Economist piece also highlighted how the tech sector’s most prominent donors are increasingly opting out of the traditional pathways for giving. Far fewer are establishing private foundations that require yet another team of people to run them and manage charity evaluations—and so forth. These innovators with the cash to give seem to think of that process as just a waste of some of the money that could otherwise go straight to making an impact.

I’ve been told by marketing executives from various industries that internal marketing teams are, ironically, often the worst at marketing themselves or the results of their marketing teams. I can equate this same irony to tech leaders within nonprofits—they’re so busy affecting change and staying laser-focused on their cause at hand that they may not often share enough about tech's role in their organization’s success.

Nonprofit tech leaders should go out of their way to illustrate to their donors how they harness tech to be:

  • Agile: Shift according to the needs of the cause at a moment’s notice.
  • Fast: Deploy resources and information at speeds never before possible.
  • Inventive: Collaborate and innovate to answer needs in new or improved ways.
  • Educational: Get your message out to those previously unreached.

Read the full article about technology in philanthropy by Joe Fisher at Forbes.