Over 600 charities responded to this year’s Charity Digital Skills Report. The headline is that it has been “a year when tech use across the sector has evolved, yet overall digital progress remains static”.
Leadership teams are listening. 80% of charities now view digital as an organisational priority. However, moving this priority into execution is a challenge. Only 50% have a strategy in place for digital, and 68% cite financial pressures and lack of resource & expertise as impeding their ability to progress digitally.
In this blog, we highlight some of the key insights from the report.
Core Digital Skills and Capacity Building
There has been a 40% decrease in the number of respondents who answered their basic digital skills were excellent. The report found that charities at the early stages of their digital journey struggle with emerging tech trends, user research, resourcing, and service delivery.
And this isn’t just a challenge at the delivery level. With only 28% of Boards possessing good or excellent digital skills, and 41% lacking any digital skills at Trustee level, this reinforces the need for digital/IT representation at board level.
It’s more important than ever that staff receive effective, up-to-date IT training and digital upskilling. Smartdesc offers charities a bespoke Training Needs Analysis service to help you map out your IT Training Programme. We also deliver IT training on areas such as Microsoft 365, cyber security, data protection, and whatever else they may be struggling with.
If you lack IT Leadership expertise, we offer IT Leadership as a Service (“Virtual IT Director”) to provide fractional strategic expertise without the associated wage bill, and/or “Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (“vCISO”) focused specifically on mobilising your cyber security strategy.
Systems, procurement and IT
41% of charities say their IT is fair but could be much better. Only 14% of charities answered that their IT provision is excellent. Only a third (32%) are currently prioritising investing in infrastructure and systems; without the right foundations, unlocking the value in tools like AI and integrating data becomes very difficult.
Most charities we talk to are optimising their systems around the Microsoft platform, leveraging the nonprofit grants and discounts. We work very closely with Microsoft Tech for Social Impact to help charities optimise their use of tools like Microsoft 365 and Azure. Getting these basics right (what we call The Nonprofit Modern Workplace) doesn’t need to be a huge or complex project, but sets you up for the future digital journey in the best way possible.
Clearly this is an area where IT should be raising its profile and asking for investment, to underpin digital and data maturity – often they are treated in isolation, when in fact they are very interlinked. Other suggestions here include:
- Adopting a co-managed / co-sourced IT model – retain some in-house IT but blend that with a technology partner to take away the day to day operations, allowing them to focus on business-enabling projects; an example from WaterAid is here.
- Regular Assessments: Conduct regular IT assessments to identify gaps and areas for improvement, refresh the Strategy and Roadmap, and ensure that systems remain aligned with organisational needs.
- Procurement Strategies: Develop strategic procurement plans that consider long-term IT needs and cost-effective solutions. Engage with vendors like Smartdesc who understand the unique challenges of the charity sector.
Data
Data is a key priority for 72% of charities, with nearly half saying using data to improve services or operations.
Promoting Data Literacy is going to be essential to address this. Investing in training programs to enhance data literacy across the organisation ensures all staff understand the importance of data and how to leverage it effectively.
Likewise, adopting Data-Driven Strategies allow a charity to develop clear strategies that align data initiatives with organisational goals. This could involve implementing data management systems and analytics tools to gain insights and improve decision-making. There are several data agencies we work with that can help kick start this journey and help map out your Data Strategy.
Use of AI
Unsurprisingly, AI adoption is now growing in the nonprofit sector, with 61% of charities using AI in their day-to-day work or operations. To further this progress:
- Where pilots are being used, charities can extend AI tools to the wider employee base so that AI Training and Support. This could involve hiring external support to build internal AI capabilities. For example, we can help along the whole journey with Microsoft Copilot for 365 – from data protection, to implementation, to rollout and staff training. To learn more, book on to one of our free Copilot briefing sessions here.
- Nonprofits should also document clear policies and governance frameworks for AI use, focusing on ethical considerations, data privacy, and security.
Closing thoughts
While this year’s report has highlighted underlying digital and IT challenges, and a fairly sizeable skills shortage, there are actionable solutions that nonprofit leaders can adopt to navigate the digital landscape effectively.
By prioritising data, enhancing digital skills, optimising IT infrastructure, leaning on partners to fill knowledge gaps, and starting to dip your toes into AI via low cost and safe tools, charities can make meaningful progress in their digital transformation journey.
To see our corresponding 2024 Charity Technology Report, focusing on IT Infrastructure and Cyber, click here.
To book a consultation with us to discuss how we can help your organisation improve IT and Digital, click here.
