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The Strategy: TechMission Programs Connecting Resources to Needs

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TechMission Program Organizational Chart

Our strategy is to connect People (TechMission Corps), Training (City Vision College) and Resources (TechMission Online)

TechMission Corps

TechMission Corps is an internship program serving at-risk youth that provides an opportunity for individuals to serve for one year in an urban ministry or Christian non-profit organization. TechMission currently provides 40 positions that serve in urban ministries in the greater Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Denver areas. TechMission Corps members serve in one of the following teen areas:

  • After School Program Assistant: this position assists with K-8 after school programs in providing direct service support in technology and other activities.
  • Teen Program Assistant: this position assists with K-8 after school programs in providing direct service support in technology and other activities.
  • Volunteer Coordinator: this position provides recruitment and coordination of volunteers either for one site or across sites.

City Vision College

City Vision College is an accredited distance-learning school that provides 20 courses and two degree programs in urban ministry with over 150 student enrollments annually. City Vision College was established in 1998 (formerly owned by AGRM) to provide practical online education to those involved in urban ministry. The college is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council and is an affiliate member of the Association for Biblical Higher Education. Find more at: http://www.cityvision.edu.

TechMission Online

Cutting Nonprofit Costs: TechMission Membership

  • The Need: A widely publicized report from Harvard Business Review recently reported what they termed as “The Nonprofit Sector’s $100 Billion Opportunity” in becoming more efficient. One of the most significant ways that they list for nonprofits to gain efficiency is through technology.
  • Our Strategy: TechMission Membership. This past year, we have shifted our focus to provide resources online to all ministries serving at-risk communities rather than just focusing on computer centers. Our membership for computer centers is still called AC4, but our membership for general urban ministries is now called TechMission Membership. Our membership benefits are primarily focused on providing group purchasing discounts to over 100 vendors which can enable ministries to reduce their administrative costs by up to 20%. In addition, we wholesale our online membership services to enable other Christian associations to provide and rebrand them for their members. 

Addressing the Digital Divide: AC4

  • The Need: With over 65% of all jobs requiring the use of computers, computer literacy is becoming a prerequisite to get a job. There is a digital divide between those who have access and training with computers and those without.
  • Our Strategy: Association of Christian Community Computer Centers (AC4) was formed in 2000 to provide an association to help facilitate collaboration within this movement. AC4 provides training and resources to improve computer centers via conferences, workshops, conference calls, E-mail lists, Website and curriculum. We also provide members with a technology capacity building packet, in-kind donations and access to exclusive online content. 

Providing Online Volunteer Matching: ChristianVolunteering.org

  • The Need: The Corporation for National and Community Service reports that the market value of the time given by faith-based volunteers in the USA is $51.8 billion, but only 7-15% of these volunteers serve the larger community outside the walls of the church. This presents a great opportunity of increasing the resources available to organizations serving low-income communities by increasing the number and quality of volunteers.
  • Our Strategy: ChristianVolunteering.org is a website with the goal of increasing the number and quality of volunteers serving in Christian social services. We do this by providing online volunteer matching which makes it easier for them to find volunteer service opportunities (similar to how job sites like Monster.com help people find jobs). Launched in September 2006, ChristianVolunteering.org currently has more Christian volunteer postings than any other site with thousands of volunteer postings from thousands organizations. Since its launch, the site has matched thousands of volunteers to volunteer opportunities. 

Providing Free Online Resources & Training for Christian Social Services: UrbanMinistry.org

  • The Need: Millions of dollars are spent on training conferences and materials for urban ministries each year, but very little of that training content has been made available online. TechMission’s UrbanMinistry.org is now providing an online archive of over 1,200 sermons, videos and articles to help equip urban ministries.
  • Our Strategy: UrbanMinistry.org is a website with the goal of providing training and resources and developing online community. The site provides over 4,000 online sermon audios, conference videos, webcasts of workshop presentations and articles. In addition, it provides online social networking (similar to MySpace and Facebook) for people with an interest in urban ministry and Christian social services. The site currently has 1,290 registered organizations and 2,149 registered individuals. 

Pornography Addiction: Safe Families

  • The Need: James Dobson recently called Internet pornography “The New Crack Cocaine” with over 50% of Christian men admitting viewing pornography including 37% of pastors.
  • Our Strategy: Safe Families is an initiative with the goal of protecting at-risk communities from pornography and other dangers on the Internet. We do this by providing free Internet filtering software and/or training to over 50,000 families online. This also includes distributing a Christian Free Software CD, which provides dozens of free Christian software programs.
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