We’re at a tipping point in the charity sector with digital. As I argued in my recent piece for The Guardian Voluntary Sector Network, charities who don’t adapt to new tech developments will become obsolete. Meanwhile, charities have the lowest industry sector score for digital maturity, with a growing number (58%) reporting a lack of basic digital skills. Charity boards also need to upskill in digital and many charities may need to overhaul their governance to cope with the speed of change and agility required to thrive in the digital age.
Let’s be honest: the kind of change that digital requires can feel uncertain, scary and destabilising. So I was really encouraged when I presented to charity trustees at Civil Society’s Trustee Exchange conference last week, where I sensed a growing appetite for digital. In my view, this is the silver lining after Kids Company. Charities are realising that everyone needs to do things differently and raise their game.
When we work with clients on digital transformation projects, I’m acutely aware that change can feel challenging. It involves discussing everything from service delivery to communications to fundraising and asking tough questions such as: are we really meeting our audience’s needs? How can we do this better? What isn’t working for us anymore? We also need to look at fundamental issues around brand, leadership and culture. I’m a great believer that change can be a positive and working closely alongside people and collaborating with them to find the best ways forward is very rewarding.
It’s not easy for organisations to ask themselves such existential questions. Yet it is necessary. Unless your organisation is already digitally mature- and most aren’t- transformation has to be far reaching to be meaningful. I would argue that if your charity, and the agency you work with on this, are willing to venture into uncomfortable territory then you’re doing it right. Whoever you partner with on digital transformation- whether it’s your digital team or an agency- they need to be good at hand holding and developing your organisation’s skills and confidence so that you are in the right place to implement it.
That all sounds a bit daunting but there are many, many positive things about digital transformation. It’ll help you do what you do even better and ensure that you’re able to reach more people, generate more income and punch about your weight with your brand. Here are 4 resources to help you if you’re just getting started.
- Karl Wilding on digital leadership. Karl’s blog on ‘Charity leadership in the age of digital’ should be compulsory reading for all nonprofit leaders. There are so many good insights here, from ‘run networks not organisations’ to the need for leaders to be more transparent, authentic, open and available. Digital has, as Karl puts it, changed everything, and that includes traditional models of leadership.
- NCVO’s toolkit. Last week NCVO launched a free digital skills toolkit. ‘Building a digital workforce’ includes lots of templates, resources, tips and examples, as well as a number of bespoke workshops and training materials. Its aim is to help charities plan, design and deliver a comprehensive digital skills development programme. There’s lots of excellent stuff here.
- Third Sector Digital Maturity Matrix. Developed by Jo Wolfe of Breast Cancer Care, this will help your charity assess your digital maturity compared to where it needs to get to. It’s a very useful- and free- tool. You can download it here.
- Third Sector Digital Leaders’ course. If your executive team are struggling to engage with digital, this course will help them understand how digital is merging into organisational strategy and how they can deal with opportunities and risks. Grab one of the remaining tickets for our taster evening on 5 May and find out more about the course.
Digital transformation can feel new and different, but it’s also incredibly exciting. The hardest bit is getting started. Let me know how you get on and feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.