Ever since its establishment in 1990, the Himalaya Foundation has been recognized as a leader in the nonprofit sector in Taiwan, with its role being of supporting the development of NPOs by providing them with the information and the tools necessary to strengthen their capacity to answer social needs.

Early on, the Foundation recognized the importance of Information Technology (IT) in achieving its goal. Since 1999, the Foundation has strived to create websites that serve as platforms for the NPO community, thus facilitating the sharing and exchange of information.

In 2001, the Himalaya Foundation set up the NPO Development Center to provide IT services to nonprofit organizations and thus overcome the "digital divide" in the nonprofit world. The Center hopes to help NPOs simplify their daily operations, reduce their operating costs and increase their work efficiency and quality thanks to the use of IT.

The goals of the Center are to:

• Assist NPOs in improving their use of IT
• Assist NPOs in strengthening their abilities for strategic planning, administration, fundraising and marketing
• Become an IT consulting agency for NPOs
• Become a resource for E-Learning and a database of information on how to solve IT problems.

On a short-term basis, by providing professional IT services, the NPO Development Center can assist NPOs in using Information and Internet technology to improve their core competencies such as fundraising, marketing, management and strategic planning. At the same time, the Center can gain a better understanding of the operations and needs of different types of nonprofit organizations. Based on our knowledge of the IT needs of NPOs, the Center can further develop professional Web based / CS software, organize training programs for IT personnel, and use E-Learning methods to make this training widely available. In the long run, we aim to become the professional consulting partner of NPOs for their work in fundraising, marketing, management and strategic planning.

Our clients in Taiwan include:

• Women Web Women Information Website (website www.womenweb.org.tw)
• Foundation for the Advancement of Outstanding Scholarship (Intranet and website www.faos.org.tw)
• Women's Rights Promotion Foundation (Intranet and website www.wrp.org.tw)
• Women's Rights Promotion Committee (Intranet and website cwrp.moi.gov.tw)
• Fubon Social Philanthropy Website (website www.fubon.org)
• The United Way Taiwan (online search engine of grant recipient organizations)
• LifeLine Association Taipei (Intranet and website www.lifeline.org.tw)
• Child Welfare League (case management system for orphans of the 921 Earthquake)
• National Culture and Arts Foundation (website www.ncaf.org.tw)