ABSTRACT
The non-profit sector, whose basic modes of production have been largely untouched by earlier technological revolutions, is involved for the first time in a true industrial revolution—one that radically alters production functions to increase productivity. Non-profit organizations and, indeed, a wide range of other services, have been considered low productivity activities that are not only less efficient than goods-producing activities but are unlikely to show substantial improvement in the years ahead. For many of the institutions, organizational rigidities and lack of leadership are likely to prove the principal obstacles to an expeditious introduction of more advanced systems. There are major questions regarding the funding of a widespread effort to bring modern computer systems to nonprofit organizations throughout the economy. It seems likely that future arrangements will involve leasing or some other type of for-profit/nonprofit institutional cooperation and that funding will in some degree act to slow down the pace of computerization.
