How the clinic works
Four focused, practical one-hour sessions designed to give your community organisation clarity, confidence, and direction — completely free of jargon and commercial ties.
Calm, hands-off guidance
I never take over your mouse or ask for master credentials. I teach by showing, listening to your volunteer constraints, and co-designing setups that keep working after our final session.
From diagnosis to long-term independence
Spaced 1–2 weeks apart, over about six weeks, so your team has time to absorb, discuss, and experiment without feeling overloaded.
Listen & diagnose
Objective: Understanding where you are and what is holding you back.
Your primary civic mission, current tools (email, scattered spreadsheets, membership files), volunteer pain points, and current administrative frustrations.
Zero preparation needed. No neat reports required. Just bring an honest, candid account of your day-to-day challenges.
Practical options & evaluation
Objective: Exploring 2–3 realistic, low-cost or not-for-profit discounted paths forward.
Tool comparisons, ongoing pricing reality (including free not-for-profit licences from Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Canva for Nonprofits), and ethical data privacy considerations.
Clear side-by-side trade-offs, ongoing subscription maintenance costs, and zero high-tech jargon.
Guided practice & learning
Objective: Demystifying the tools by testing them live together.
Guiding your team as you configure a selected workflow, testing an automation, turning on multi-factor authentication (MFA) securely, or structuring a donor register.
True confidence that your volunteer leaders and staff can operate, edit, and sustain the systems on their own.
Your 12-month technology roadmap
Objective: Handing over an actionable, board-ready plan.
A concise 1–2-page written roadmap, a basic security health checklist, policy templates, and the one “pass it on” action you choose.
A clear framework you can present directly to your management committee, board of trustees, or grant funders.
The 90-day check-in
Real community adoption takes time. Three months after your fourth session (after a quick 30-day email), we have a 30-minute call to sort out any stumbling blocks and check the changes have stuck.
Practical technology guidance for community groups
Many not-for-profits are pitched enterprise tools designed for corporate departments with massive budgets. Yarra Tech Clinic focuses exclusively on right-sized technology: lightweight, dependable, privacy-conscious solutions tailored to community groups across Aotearoa.
“You don’t need to know the technical question. Tell me what’s difficult, slow, risky or frustrating — I’ll help you work out what the technology question actually is.”
— Vish Devarajan
Common questions
Clear answers regarding eligibility, time commitment, data privacy, and clinic mechanics.
Ready to apply?
Have a specific operational question not covered above, or want to put your organisation forward for an upcoming intake? Applications are open year-round.