Fractional CIO
A Chief Information Officer who speaks budget.
A three-year technology roadmap the board can fund, an annual budget that holds, vendors and MSPs held to their contracts, and the two or three technology bets that actually move the mission — from a CIO who also holds a CMA and an MBA in financial management.
The situation
Technology decisions are being made by whoever is in the room.
The MSP recommends what the MSP sells. The finance director approves what fits the line item. The program team signs up for the tool with the free trial. Nobody is looking at the whole picture — or at next year.
The roadmap
Three years out, written for trustees: what we run today, what we will replace, what we will stop paying for, and why.
The budget
Total cost of ownership across licenses, MSP fees, hardware, and people — and an honest line for the things that always go wrong.
Vendors and the MSP
Contract and SLA reviews, renewal negotiations, and the purchase decisions that deserve a second opinion before signing.
AI, governed
Which AI tools to allow, which workflows to automate first, and the guardrails that keep member, donor, and patient data where it belongs.
Data and systems
A single source of truth for the records that matter — members, donors, customers — and integrations that connect the tools you already own.
Board reporting
A quarterly technology report that answers three questions: are we secure, are we on budget, and what decision do you need to make.
Why one executive for both chairs
Security and budget are the same conversation.
In most organizations the security recommendation and the budget decision happen in different meetings, made by different people, from different spreadsheets. That gap is where risk hides and money leaks.
ForEffect puts one executive in both chairs. The control that closes a risk is priced in the same breath it is proposed. The license that is not being used is found by the person who also knows whether it was protecting something. Boards get one report, not two that disagree.
Assess
Roadmap, budget, and risk baseline in the first month.
Steer
Monthly leadership meeting; decisions logged.
Report
Quarterly board report on security, spend, and priorities.
Renew
Annual budget and roadmap reset.
Questions we hear
Frequently asked
Fractional CIO or fractional CISO — which do we need?
Will you manage our IT staff or MSP?
Do you sell or resell software?
One call, no deck
Start with a conversation.
Tell us what keeps you up at night. We read and reply to every note — usually within one business day — and the first conversation is about your organization, not our services.
Book a 20-minute conversation
Pick a time that suits you. No slides, no pitch — twenty minutes on what your organization is dealing with and whether a fractional executive is the right shape of help.
Choose a time