Students Harness Tech to Help Nonprofits

HOW DO YOU REACH AN INCREASINGLY PLUGGED-IN AUDIENCE? Meet them where they are: online and on the go.

This year, Albany Law School students in the course The Law of Social Entrepreneurship and Exempt Organizations designed a suite of web-based programs to help lawyers better serve their nonprofit clients. Through the Nonprofit Formation Tool’s guided interviews—built on the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction’s A2J Author platform—attorneys can, with the push of a button, generate documents that are critical to gaining legal status for not-for-profit organizations in New York State. Dozens of lawyers have used the tool since its launch in February.

In the same course, students developed a podcast series for nonprofit groups across the country. The podcasts, recorded at the New York State Bar Association’s headquarters, will inform nonprofit leaders on the limits under federal law that they need to be aware of when engaging in legislative and other types of policy advocacy. The episodes are expected to be released in the fall.