Capital expense or operating expense?

For some reason, it seems inconceivable to nonprofit decision-makers and to funders that information technology can be both a capital expense and an operating expense.

Yes, a new IT initiative can cost a major chunk of change, and then it costs more money to keep it going. Information technology expenses are not one-time crises, although you can expect your share of those. They are ongoing costs, integral parts of program operations, administration, fundraising, and other normal tasks that fall to nonprofit organizations.

It would be a great leap forward if not only nonprofit decision-makers but also grantmakers and philanthropists would learn to live with this reality.