Nonprofits Compete for IT Services in DRS Contest
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Less than a week from the final day to vote in the online CommunIT contest, the systems at DRS LLC are experiencing voter fatigue. Or, more accurately, voting fatigue.
“It crashed our website last night,” said Mike Meloy, CEO of the Youngstown-based computer equipment and services provider. The crash followed a Sunday evening television report on the competition, and the site continued to be slow the next morning.
As of Monday, some 81,000 ballots had been cast in the online competition among 21 area nonprofit entities.
“We’re going to go through and do an extensive analysis on the needs of that nonprofit” and determine what they need, Meloy said of the contest prize. The grand prize is $30,000 in consulting services and equipment from DRS as well as a website makeover by Palo Creative.
When DRS presented the idea, Palo Creative wanted to be part of “giving back to the community,” said Palo’s owner, Rob Palowitz. The company already works with several nonprofit organizations in the region.
“There’s a lot of nonprofits in this town and tri-county area and [they] don’t have the budgets to upgrade websites and keep technology a part of their daily doings,” Palowitz said. “We felt it was our duty to help out nonprofits in the area.”
Palo Creative has officially committed to services totaling $4,000. “Any time we’re interacting with nonprofits we go above and beyond, and will probably far exceed that amount as far as what we give in personal service,” Palowitz said.
The voting deadline is Sunday. From among the 21 nonprofits, the top five will be selected as finalists. A panel of DRS representatives and other individuals will then determine the grand prize winner, which will be announced after Labor Day.
“The criteria is going to be need,” Meloy said. Entrants have filled out paperwork and the panel will determine “who has the greater need for the equipment,” he said. In addition to awarding the grand prize, DRS will also provide an “extensive analysis” to the other four finalists.
Who the winner of the online balloting will be is far from certain. The nonprofit leader “changes by the hour, according to Meloy. As of Monday afternoon, Gateways to Better Living, Austintown, which provides services to developmentally disabled individuals, was in the lead, with 19.2% of the votes cast. Earlier in the day, Beatitude House, which serves poor and homeless women and children in Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties, held the top position.
“I’ve seen some very small [organizations] getting a lot of votes,” Meloy said. “There have been definitely some surprises.” The nonprofits are “doing a really good of promoting.”
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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