Stubborn Nonprofits

Hi, I just found this site and registered. Something has hit a nerve with me, in my two experiences as a volunteer (Habitat For Humanity, Big Brothers Big Sisters). Both of those nonprofits were elated to have me working for them. I troubleshooted, repaired and configured the computers that had been donated to them. However, I found that as long as I didn't demonstrate that I was capable of REALLY doing great things for their IT infrastructure, they would thank me and nod yes to everything that I suggested.

At HOH, the guy that I was working for had things in pretty much a huge mess before I got there. I eventually got a system in place, where it was easy to accept donated computers, rebuild the computer and install them at stations throughout the different offices. When I became bored with that, I wanted more responsibility. That is when the guy I was working for started treating me like a child. He wanted to teach me how to configure Microsoft Terminal Services clients, yet wouldn't tell me the password so that I could do that stuff on my own. He had to be there with every step I took. It eventually became overbearing, and I honest to goodness feel that he was starting to feel insecure with how much I knew.

Fast-forward to BBBS. They were extremely excited to have me there, and access to my technical skills and talents. That place was a BIG mess. The lady that I was working for (she was a secretary who had recently been named "Volunteer Project Coordinator" and was even sent to an A+ class by her boss at BBBS. She seemed to really want to get to know me, and bounce our knowledge back and forth. It only made sense for me to, once again, get everything organized so that anything could be done with efficiency. I had to go through, and weed out the older computer components that were basically useless. Sadly, that probably meant most of the stuff they had been storing for 3 years. Eventually, I got the ducks lined up in a row, and got two computers going. This is when I started asking for more responsibility, well tasks that were more challenging. At this point, my boss started the "well, we don't want to do anything special with our computers, our job here is to be social workers" mantra. I wasn't asking her to invest in expensive Cisco routing equipment and servers, and whatnot. I wasn't asking her to invest in ANYTHING. I wasn't even asking her to change the layout of their IT infrastructure. All I suggested to her was that to make things easier in the future for the techs that volunteered there (or for her, or the person that comes in behind her should she leave), they should put all collected computer hardware drivers in one spot on a server (except for network card drivers on a floppy, for the obvious reason) to be easily acceptable, and that they should consider putting up the executable for OSS software (Firefox, Sunbird, Thunderbird) for their users to try out should they want to (and so that BBBS could save money by not having to invest in more Microsoft software). My boss would say "that sounds like a GREAT plan!", then just leave. Anytime I brought up the subject of trying these things, I'd get a run-around. I would get "well, that isn't a high priority, we'll get to the hard stuff later.". Ugh, what???? It only takes 30 seconds to create a folder for the drivers on the server, and probably five minutes to download all three OSS products and put them in a folder. This would have made MY job as the volunteer tech so much easier. I wasted so much time trying to track down drivers.

So, I'm left wondering whether nonprofits just don't like computer techies, or whether computer techies just make people in general uncomfortable. I really don't know what I did wrong. I drew diagrams (I think I would do very well in Logistics) to explain my suggestions, would get approval for those suggestions, but a balk from the boss anytime I tried taking that first step toward making said suggestions happen. What's the give?

Am I just not landing in the right places to utilize my technical gifts? I consider myself a cross between a System Administrator and Technical Consultant. Or, are most nonprofits stubborn about fudging with technology?