ENTECH was set up in 1999 as the Technology Initiative of the Nonprofit Management Fund, a Milwaukee foundation dedicated to helping nonprofits improve their management effectiveness. The Fund began the technology initiative to meet a need they had identified among local nonprofits for proactive, independent assessments of their technology capabilities and needs, particularly in the context of grant requests to improve their technical capabilities. In 2001, this initiative was incorporated as a program of the Helen Bader Institute for Nonprofit Management at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

Housed today at the UWM Center for Urban Initiatives and Research, ENTECH has continued to serve nonprofit organizations, expanding its services to meet the growing needs of nonprofits. With its innovative staffing model, ENTECH has succeeded in keeping its operational costs low. ENTECH is led by an executive director who, along with an Associate Director, manages a few UWM students working part time at the organization. Additional support is drawn from ENTECH's strategy team, a group of 11 local community leaders including nonprofit executives, foundation representatives, IT consultants and private sector IT executives. Together, they advise ENTECH on its wide range of activities.

Vision

ENTECH was founded on five core principles -

Independence - ENTECH provides impartial services designed to serve the best interests of local nonprofits. ENTECH is not vested in any particular technology, solution, or provider.

Knowledge Sharing - ENTECH gathers data and provides analysis on technology issues that matter to nonprofits. In conducting technology assessments and preparing recommendations for individual organizations, ENTECH is able to extrapolate this data and arrive at sector wide analysis.

Sector-wide Advocacy - ENTECH advocates making technology planning and analysis a priority for nonprofit management. ENTECH works to provide nonprofits with tools and information that helps them make their own independent decisions, use what they have, and plan for what they will have.

Collaboration - ENTECH seeks to promote collaborations among organizations to identify opportunities for cost sharing and partnerships.

Empowerment - ENTECH seeks to help organizations become more knowledgeable about technology and become better equipped to assess, manage, use, and improve their own technologies.
ENTECH's role is to be a catalyst in assisting nonprofit organizations adopt technology that enables them to better serve their community.

Mission

Since its inception, ENTECH has consistently striven to provide unbiased technology information to nonprofit organizations in the Greater Milwaukee area. Its mission is to enable nonprofit organizations to use knowledge, strategies and options that strengthen their information technology capacity in furtherance of their organizational mission.