Visionaries Beyond the Box How Box.org brings much-needed tech to nonprofits Karen Appleton sees innovation as a two-way street. As senior vice president of industries at Box, a secure cloud-based technology company based in Los Altos, Appleton spends a great deal of time asking how to make Box work for the greater good. That means not only creating tech solutions for nonprofits, but also listening to those nonprofits and adapting to their needs. In May 2014, Box announced Box.org, an initiative founded by Appleton and designed to empower nonprofit organizations by providing access to an enterprise software platform for secure content collaboration. The goal: to allow them to connect with their volunteers and donors through a secure cloud platform. More than 1,500 organizations have signed on so far. “The founding and launch of Box.org is one of the things that I am most proud of in all of my eight years at Box,” says Appleton. She offers a few lessons learned along the way. 1. Face time matters 2. Adapt to nonprofit needs Nonprofits working with Box.org can select tools most useful to their cause, choosing from a wide range of options. For example, Kiva, a nonprofit microfinance organization, uses Box to share video and photo assets instantly — something the team used to do by shipping hard drives back and forth. But sometimes part of the solution lies with another company. “One thing that we heard from the World Bank Group was that many of the tools they were deploying were Microsoft tools,” Appleton says. So while Box.org offered a good solution for document management, the World Bank group needed a connector tool to Microsoft for loan processing, mobile access and security. Customization and adaptability were key. As a result of this feedback, Box.org announced an integration with the Office 365 tool set in February, adding Microsoft to the growing list of technology companies joining the Box.org effort. “Our work doesn’t stop at providing great technology tools.” 3. The spirit of giving starts at home “Nonprofits are not getting a lot of technology companies coming to them and saying, ‘Here’s how you could do this better,’ or ‘Talk to us about your biggest challenges, and let us show you how we can help you,’ ” Appleton says. Doing just that has been one of Box.org’s major goals. To understand the needs of global nonprofits, Box.org has asked chief information officers (CIOs) of notable nonprofits, including Stephanie von Friedeburg of the World Bank Group and Ronnie Lott of All Stars Helping Kids, to offer guidance through an advisory committee. Box also partners with NetHope, an organization of some of the world’s largest nonprofits’ CIOs. “We learn a lot from talking to some of the world’s largest nonprofits,” Appleton says. “Then we can turn around and help some of the smallest nonprofits that don’t even have CIOs.” 12 spr i ng 20 1 5 s i l icon v alle ycf . or g Appleton encourages all Box employees to contribute to the Box.org initiative by contributing ideas to the cause, noting that team members from around the company often approach her with new technology solutions and suggestions for nonprofits to approach. She also works with her fellow members of the Box executive team to provide opportunities for employees to participate in charitable endeavors. “We see a huge opportunity in creating programs that keep these employees happy,” she says. “We want to empower them to accomplish amazing things.” The company’s internal initiative, Act 10X, encourages employees to participate in companysponsored donations and charity events, such as the AIDS/LifeCycle bike ride. “Our work doesn’t stop at providing great technology tools,” Appleton says. “We have a much bigger mission.” — Miriam Weiner n n robert Houser