Information Governance at Terrence Higgins Trust

Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity. They support people living with HIV and help those using the services to achieve good sexual health. They are an organisation that pride themselves on placing the service user and their privacy first. Challenge Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) were already using the services…

Cyber Security and other charity IT resources

Welcome to the Smartdesc October newsletter. This month we discuss how you can can strengthen your charity’s cyber security posture and offer the following resources: A blog on cyber security takeaways from our recent roundtable, and another on vulnerabilities you should be aware of Free Microsoft Cloud Security, Information Governance, and Cyber Security assessments The…

Charity Technology Roundtable – Cyber Security – Summary

Last week we held our third Quarterly Charity Technology Roundtable, hosted by Microsoft Tech for Social Impact. In this blog, we summarise our discussion on cyber security, including risk management, BYOD, reducing risk of human error and systems gatekeeping. Compliance Frameworks, Risk Management, Reporting​ It is good practice to define the framework(s) or standard(s) that are…

Increase your IT team’s capacity with hybrid outsourcing

Welcome to the Smartdesc September newsletter. This month we discuss the benefits of adopting a hybrid, in-house outsourced model for your IT function, including: A blog and video on how many large charities are adopting a co-managed IT structure, what this is and how to get started. The chance to come together with your peers to…

Co-managed IT: the benefits of hybrid IT outsourcing for nonprofits

In today’s digitally driven world, technology has become a central component of most charities – from managing operations, measuring impact, connecting with supporters, coordinating volunteers, and enabling organisations to develop new services. Indeed, in our Charity IT survey we conducted earlier this year, over half of the leaders that took part are considering outsourcing via…

Getting ready for AI at your charity

Welcome to the Smartdesc July newsletter. In this edition, we cover how you can utilise Microsoft’s new productivity tool Copilot at your charity, including: A blog introducing Microsoft Copilot, its capabilities and some important considerations Further resources from Microsoft and the National Cyber Security Centre Our Charity Technology Leaders Report 2023 Resources In this blog,…

Quarterly Charity Technology Roundtable – Achieving a Happy Hybrid Workforce – 6 July 2023

Our second quarterly roundtable took place on Thursday 6 July, in partnership with CFG and the Microsoft Tech for Social Impact team. Each quarter we explore a different topic relating to tech and IT at large charities, in a relaxed, jargon-free environment where open discussion is encouraged and confidentiality assured. At our July roundtable, we…

Technology insights for charity leaders

Welcome to the Smartdesc June newsletter. In this edition, we share our Charity Technology Leaders report released earlier this month, including: Our Charity Technology Leaders Report 2023 A webinar and blog on our insights from the report A video case study on our Modern Workplace Project with national charity Mind, featuring testimonials from key Mind…

Charity Technology Leaders Report 2023 – key trends and insights

Earlier this year, Smartdesc conducted a survey of Charity Technology Leaders to ask what their strategic technology priorities are for the year ahead. We received responses from senior stakeholders from a range of large UK charities, with an average organisation income size of £30m.  We shared our findings in our Charity Technology Leaders Report 2023,…