1. Who makes a good eRider/what makes a good eRider team?

eRiders are chosen carefully for their capacity to bridge the NGO-technology gap. Preferably eRiders should be: from the country, region, town or ethnic group in which they will work; have relevant civil society experience or a proven interest; have technical skills and ICT knowledge (the level of this depends on the project, expertise may also be mixed across a team, for example one person with good website expertise, another with database skills); have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate in plain language; ideally they have had some consulting or problem solving experience; ideally they should have a sense of what an NGOs work involves; work well in a team and are also able to work independently.

It is not always possible for every eRider in a team to have all of the above skills. But teams of eRiders allow you to create a group that has many of the above skills within it. Some eRider projects have hired a combination of those with technical expertise and those with strong NGO experience, others have hired a combination of those with good technical expertise often working on the server side, with those with good technical expertise more experienced with user-end work such as training and tech support. In general the essential aspects of openness, motivation, creativity and curiosity distinguish a successful eRiders from others.

2. What kind of services should an eRider provide?

The kinds of services an eRider provides depends entirely on the context and sector they are working within. Even within a defined context, their services may vary largely depending on the group they are working with. For example, one organization may need the eRider to work primarily as a trainer, while another may need more extensive project-management assistance.

The range of services that eRiders are sometimes asked to provide include:

• on a general level;
  • Technology Assessments of an NGO's current technology use
  • Technology Project Strategies that map out a plan for implementation
  • Internet and website use/security
  • Advice on staff resources and training
  • Advice on integrating technology in to projects
  • Assistance with technical elements on proposal writing
  • Staff training
  • Technology troubleshooting
  • Website development
  • Mailing list management
  • Recommendations for more specialised services or support (design, programmers, web hosts etc)

• on a technical assistance level:
  • Network services (setting up a local area network for example)
  • System configuration management
  • Backup and recovery assistance
  • Antivirusing
  • Security advice
  • General system maintenance
  • Equipment troubleshooting and basic system repairs
  • Hardware and software selection and installation

3. How do eRiders choose their clients?

This can be done in a combination of ways. Projects have taken different approaches depending on their aims as well as the starting point of the project. Selection of clients may include;

• Competition
• Application (often promoted through the newspaper, trade press, mailing lists etc)
• Invitation on the recommendation of funders or partner groups
• Recommendations from peer organisations
• An analysis of a community of organizations and their effectiveness

Whatever the mode of selection, experience has shown that it is important that an NGO is able to opt in or out of gaining eRider support. If an NGO is signed up to an eRider project at the request of a funder, it can end up in time wasting on behalf of the NGO and a frustrating experience for the eRider if the services are not desired, or the NGO doesn't have the resources to deal with the assistance.

4. How are eRider projects managed and housed?

Each eRider project is managed and housed differently, again depending on the project as well as the context.

In some cases eRider projects are initiated by funders to help their grantees. In these cases a relevant local NGO may be approached to establish the project, these are often existing groups working as NGO resource centres or as NGO support groups, or they could be existing technology groups working with the non-profit sector. In other cases eRider projects may be initiated by existing technology support individuals or groups wanting to expand their services and client-reach.

Whether an eRider project is run by an established organisation, or individuals collaborating for the first time, an eRider manager should be identified. The way in which eRiders coordinate their activities is a crucial element of their work, not only for coordinating projects, but also for enabling eRiders to share ideas, solutions and expertise.

Although eRiders are often working on the road visiting different organisations, experience has shown that eRider projects are able to function better with a home-base. This home-base may be found for the eRiders in any number of ways, in many cases negotiating space within an NGOs office in return for some limited technical assistance has proven successful.

5. How are eRider projects funded?

ERider projects are often funded by foundations and other grant giving bodies. This may be through providing a grant to a technology/NGO support group, or through a group of related NGOs collaborating to pool resources and hire an eRider or eRider group.

Other eRider projects operate under a fee-for-service structure. Charging NGO's for their operating costs (In these cases, the NGO's are often raising funds explicitedly for working with the eRider).

In some cases eRider groups may fund their work from a hybrid of sources; partly excepting grants from funders, whilst subsidising other elements of their services to the non-profit sector with commissions from government or the commercial sector.

6. What are the important things to consider when planning an eRider project?

• What are the intended outcomes of the eRider intervention?
• Who is the target audience for the project?
• How well defined are the target groups needs?
• How many groups should benefit from the eRiders support?
• Is the project a long-term investment or a short-term impact project?
• How will the outcomes/impact be measured? What are the benchmarks for the project?
• What elements need to be considered in order to work successfully with the target group?; e.g trust, availability, language
• What are the core areas of need of the groups and therefore the related skills needed from the eRiders?
• What level are the groups up to already and therefore what level of expertise do the eRiders need to have?
• Is there existing expertise (potential eRiders) available locally or is some additional training needed? If so what kinds of skills are missing?
• What obstacles may there be to the eRiders work? e.g. willingness of NGOs to cooperate, geographical distance of NGOs, availability of eRiders themselves, etc.
• Do the target groups have existing equipment, resources and budget to implement projects. Should there be an equipment or project budget added to the eRider project?
• How will client groups be selected/invited to participate?
• Is there an existing established organisation that could host this project? or are there other organisations that may be important to cooperate with?
• How will the project be funded? for how long? what are the prospects for sustainability?
• What will need to be budgeted for in order for the eRiders to work efficiently? this may include thing such as hardware and travel costs, but may also take in to account any extra training they may need.
• How are the target organizations currently communicating with one another? Can the eRider's aid both formally (setting up listserv's and groupware) and informally (encouraging staff to talk about shared issues where appropriate).