MNA Tech Case Study: Superior Health Foundation Upgrades Tech to Better Fulfill Mission
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MNA Tech Case Study: Superior Health Foundation Upgrades Tech to Better Fulfill Mission
How an Upper Peninsula nonprofit got the tech upgrade needed to modernize the way it serves the community
By: Adela Uchida
Superior Health Foundation
A health-centered grant-making organization that funds health education and program needs
Serves the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Est. 2012
Objectives:
- Upgrade and update hardware, software, and Wi-Fi coverage to promote efficient workflow
- Migrate data to the cloud
- Increase protection against cyber threats
- Implement training and policies to help staff practice good cybersecurity
- Implement reliable backup
Results:
- Standardized equipment to business-class Dell Latitude laptops
- Standardized communication and collaboration platforms to Microsoft 365
- Heightened security from online threats
- Increased internet and Wi-Fi access inside the Superior Health Foundation office
For the Superior Health Foundation, technology was a key need
Since September 1, 2012, the Superior Health Foundation has been giving grants to promote unmet healthcare and wellness needs in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, with an emphasis on serving people who are indigent or underinsured and helping to fund programs and research to promote better health and prevent illnesses.
Twelve years into the mission, it was clear that the technology in the office was behind, and an overall upgrade would better align with the nonprofit’s goals. Megan Murphy joined Superior Health Foundation as chief executive officer in 2024.
“One of the first things I noticed was a pretty significant need for this kind of update. A lot of our staff was working on desktop computers that were pretty old. If you wanted to work from home, you had to be signed in at the office, in order to be able to be signed in at home. So it wasn't, you know, seamless, like it is now, with this new technology,” she said.
The answer to the problem was the Michigan Nonprofit Association Tech team, which traveled to the UP to install tech upgrades that would make the workflow at the Superior Health Foundation far more efficient, whether in or out of the office.
“As nonprofits, we're very focused on meeting our mission, and everything you know should revolve around that, but this also does revolve around your mission, because it means you're able to do your work a lot more efficiently and effectively.”
Megan Murphy, Superior Health Foundation CEO
But this is where the grant-making organization, which spends the majority of its funds on its mission, needed a grant itself, this time from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund. “I reached out to the Michigan Health Endowment Fund and asked if this would be something they would be willing to consider for us. Because we do, you know, again, since we do fundraise, and we do have a limited operating budget outside of our grant-making budget. It was just really, really helpful for us to be able to get a little extra support in order to do this because this costs around $12,000 altogether," Murphy said. “With the new computers, new IT provider, new phones, everything, I don't think we would have been able to make this kind of a leap for a few years.”
MNA Tech first did an assessment of the state of Superior Health Foundation’s equipment and capabilities. “Everything from their server was very old. Everything was slow. They had no real good ability to work remotely. Their phone system didn't work further for what they needed it to do, which, you know, mostly these days, people want to be able to answer phone calls from anywhere. If a call comes into the office, they need it to forward to their cell phone,” said Adam King, the IT services director for MNA Tech.
“The data is encrypted, and the device is encrypted, so if they are handling sensitive donor information, we have a peace of mind that if any laptop gets lost or stolen, we don't have to worry about the data on it. The cost of the laptop is one thing, but the cost of a data breach is much, much higher than that.”
Adam King, MNA Tech
Some of the big upgrades came in the form of business-class Dell Latitude laptop computers, which allow staff to work from anywhere, and Microsoft Office 365 software. “Microsoft offers nonprofit discounts for all of the Microsoft 365 products. So, we take full advantage of that. You know, we take advantage of every part that's available to them,” said King.
Security is a significant part of the work MNA Tech did for SHF. “The data is encrypted, and the device is encrypted, so if they are handling sensitive donor information, we have a peace of mind that if any laptop gets lost or stolen, we don't have to worry about the data on it. The cost of the laptop is one thing, but the cost of a data breach is much, much higher than that,” King said.
MNA Tech also replaced SHF’s five-year-old server by moving all of the organization’s shared files to the cloud, which better suited the way SHF works, versus an in-office, centralized server.
King also upgraded SHF’s network infrastructure, firewall switches, and wireless access points – the latter important because of the physical layout of the long, narrow office that made Wi-Fi previously spotty. MNA Tech also installed a backup system for Microsoft 365, a device that sits on the network and backs up the cloud, said King.
MNA Tech did more than 20 hours of planning, and two days of hands-on, in-office work and has plans to return to Marquette from Lansing, where MNA is located, every six months to keep everything running smoothly. SHF will also receive help from MNA’s Tech Care service, what King calls an outsourced IT department that foundation employees in the UP can access for ongoing technical support in between in-person visits. “They funded all of it for this project because it was one of those situations where they were so far behind that it just was going to take a bigger effort and investment upfront to get to where they needed to be. And then now they're on sort of that maintenance level where we're just maintaining, supporting it,” said King.
Murphy, in the meantime, sees the upgrade and support as mission critical. “As nonprofits, we're very focused on meeting our mission, and everything you know should revolve around that, but this also does revolve around your mission, because it means you're able to do your work a lot more efficiently and effectively. So, having the ability to work from anywhere, easily, and connect with your team in different ways is huge, and it is mission work, you know, to make sure that you're able to do that.”
