Nonprofit IT Success Story · Pennsylvania
From Slow Providers and Exposure
From Slow Providers and Exposure
To One of the Top-Protected
A Harrisburg community foundation holds and distributes donor funds for the region. Slow provider response times had left it exposed. Then a phishing email arrived that looked perfect.
IndustryNonprofits
Support modelFully managed
Responsible forDonor funds for the region
The challengeA convincing phishing email, clicked
The Character & The Problem
People Entrust Them With Money. That Is the Whole Job.
A foundation that manages and distributes community funds carries a fiduciary duty before it carries anything else. Slow response times from previous providers left the organization vulnerable to cyber threats, put donor contributions at risk, and pulled focus away from the mission it exists to serve.
The problem, in three partsThe External Problem
Previous providers were slow to respond. In security, response time is not a service-level detail; it is the difference between an incident and a breach.
The Internal Problem
The exposure strained resources and diverted attention from community work. Worrying about technology is time not spent on the mission.
What Failure Would Cost
Donor contributions and the trust behind them. A foundation that cannot protect the funds people hand it has lost the thing it runs on.
Where We Came In
A Partner That Answers While It Still Matters
Since 2007, IntermixIT has helped Pennsylvania organizations replace reactive IT with a managed approach that prevents problems, protects data, and supports growth. Nonprofits across Harrisburg and Central Pennsylvania come to us because we take ownership of outcomes, not just tickets.
For this foundation that meant building for the moment something goes wrong: secure cloud infrastructure in place of on-site servers, layered protection around donor data, and ongoing training for the people who receive the emails. Everyone who supports you is an IntermixIT employee, and technicians dispatch onsite across Central Pennsylvania from our Harrisburg office.
The foundation did not need to become a security operation. It needed the risk to stop competing with the mission for attention. Our technicians dispatch across Harrisburg, Lancaster, York, and Central Pennsylvania.
- Built for Fiduciary Duty: Security shaped around the obligation to protect donor funds
- 15-Minute Average Response: Issues get worked fast, and most are resolved remotely
- Security Included, Not Upsold: Layered cybersecurity is built into every agreement
- Onsite When It Matters: Technicians dispatch across Central Pennsylvania from our Harrisburg office
- Strategic Guidance: Quarterly reviews, budgeting, and a roadmap the board can read
What We Did
What IntermixIT Put in Place
Four moves, in the order they mattered.
1
Get the Systems Off the On-Site Servers
Systems moved to secure cloud infrastructure, improving data security and access, and freeing up office space the servers used to occupy.
Cloud solutions →2
Harden the Doors
Multifactor authentication and proactive monitoring were put in place to safeguard donor funds and sensitive information against the routine attempts.
Cybersecurity services →3
Build a Protocol for the Bad Morning
A rapid-response protocol means a threat is met immediately rather than queued, which is the only version of incident response that works.
Managed detection and response →4
Train for the Email That Looks Perfect
Ongoing security training and simulated phishing keep the whole team sharp, because the attack that gets through is the one that looks legitimate.
Security awareness training →
The Result
What Changed
Same foundation, same fiduciary duty. A different footing under it.
The test
A spoofed attorney email, and a click.
Contained the Same Day
Flagged within hours, leadership alerted, and the threat stopped before harm.
Verification
No way to prove nothing was lost.
Confirmed With the Insurer
IntermixIT coordinated with the cyber insurer to verify the network was never compromised.
Infrastructure
Systems sitting on on-site servers.
Secure Cloud Migration
Systems moved to the cloud, improving security and access and freeing office space.
People
No ongoing security training.
Trained, Ready Staff
Ongoing training and simulated phishing keep every employee sharp.
Case Study · Community Foundation · Central PA
People entrust us with their money, and we have a responsibility to protect it. With IntermixIT, I don’t have to worry about cybersecurity risks disrupting our work or breaking that trust.Senior Executive VP & CFO, Community Foundation, Central PA
What Was At Stake
If Your Organization Holds Someone Else’s Money
Nonprofits are targeted precisely because attackers assume the defenses are thin. The difference between this story and the other version of it is whether somebody is watching when the convincing email lands, and how fast they can act.
IT Support for Nonprofits
How the same engagement works for foundations and nonprofits across Central Pennsylvania.
Learn more →Security Awareness Training
The training and simulated phishing behind a team that catches what gets through.
Learn more →Cloud Solutions
The move off on-site servers, guided rather than handed over.
Learn more →Let’s Protect What You Steward
See how IntermixIT helps nonprofits protect donor funds, meet their obligations, and keep the focus on the mission.