Feedback please: What tech stack do conservationists use/need?
Hi all,
My name is Amer, I am currently working as a pro-bono volunteer to upgrade the tech stacks of 3+ conservation organizations doing the hard work of saving Elephants, Seals, Bears and Barn Owls in Europe.
I'm on a mission to create tech that helps conservation efforts at scale.
👉 My question to you is: What tech do you currently use? What tech solutions do you wish exist?
This can be anything from donor management, AI identification, donation forms, newsletters and segmentation, etc.
Your answers will help me focus on the area that can have the maximum impact.
Also, if it's something I can help you with, I could be your new tech consultant volunteer!
Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts
Cheers,
Amer
More about me and my mission @ WildAmer.com
I’m Amer — a full-stack software & product engineer with 15+ years of experience building tech solutions.
I'm on a mission to build tech for wildlife conservation 👋
Phase 1 of breaking into conservation is volunteering to help with tech solutions that save time and money. From CRM integrations to GIS mapping and open-source software deployment.
Currently volunteering at 4 different wildlife conservation orgs, helping with tech.
More about me @ https://wildamer.com
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Welcome to WildHub, Amer!
Thank you for opening such an important discussion. I am curious to know what type of tech stacks helped in Elephant conservation. Would you kindly share a little bit?
Hi Fairuse,
The common stack so far is what seems to be the most problematic at all the conservation orgs I've spoken to (about 10).
- CRM, everyone struggles with Salesforce it seems, some orgs paid upwards of $20k for setup and data migration and still are not happy with the automations and integrations. The organizations happy with their CRM are using BeaconCRM - as it does donation forms out of the box. Others pay 4-8% when donor keep the "Cover fees" checkbox, which is unacceptable from my perspective to pay so much for a simple donation form.
- Wordpress site issues like speed, and plugin integrations.
- Newsletter and donor relationships and segmentation.
- Donation forms and campaigns are mostly inefficient. Most do not have Apple Pay/Google Pay or recurring bank transfers (BACS, SEPA, etc). Which lowers conversions and retention by up to 50% based on online case studies.
My entry to the conservation space is recent, that's why I want more ideas, opinions and to talk to as many conservationists as possible. My end goal is to identify the most pressing needs and build software to fix that.
One of the aspects that I am yet to explore is struggles for smaller 1-2 person non-profits. It seems they can benefit a lot from an up-to-date tech stack, but they also seem to be tech averse.
I'd love to hear everyone thoughts.
This is really interesting Amer! I think many on our platform would have useful insights on tech stacks. I scheduled a post on our LinkedIn page to give your post more visibility. Follow us on LinkedIn to get updates!
My suggestion would be to post your question in WildHub's Discussions section too, to encourage further conversation. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!