Pictured, left to right: Emma, Brendan and Jonathan
Last year I blogged about 3 amazing women who were looking for digital trustee roles. I wrote the blog because I was getting frustrated that I was meeting great people who were struggling to be accepted onto charity boards, whilst I also heard from many charities that they couldn’t find a digital trustee. The average trustee is white, male and over 60, and our sector needs to make it a priority to hire more diverse trustees otherwise charities will miss out on a huge range of talent.
This is an area I feel really passionate about. It’s one of the reasons why we worked with CAST, SCVO and Reach Volunteering to develop a quick guide to finding a digital trustee. I’ve also spent 11 years on various charity boards and I think the traditional model of charity governance has to evolve as charities change. Why can’t more boards work in an agile way?
The digital skills gap on many boards has been well documented. The 2019 Charity Digital Skills Report found that the majority of charities (68%) cited their board’s digital skills as low or having room for improvement, a figure which hasn’t changed much since the report began 3 years ago. We’ve just launched the 2020 report survey and would love to hear your thoughts about charity boards and digital.
There was a lot of interest in the last blog I wrote about budding digital trustees and at least one of the people featured is now a trustee. So when 3 charity digital professionals approached me about finding digital trustee roles I thought I’d feature them in a blog. They all have strong digital skills and I hope that charities will see that they will be a huge asset to their boards.
If you’re interested, please contact the good folk below directly via their social media accounts or the contact details they have shared. To clarify, we’re not acting as a recruiter and this is another of our pro bono initiatives to help charities get the digital skills they need. If it gets a lot of interest we will do it again.
Here’s a bit more about Emma, Brendan and Jonathan:
Your name: Emma Moore
What do you do? I am the Senior Relationship Manager at Lightful – a technology company that designs products and services for charities and non-profits to simplify their work and amplify their impact. My role helps charities to better tell their stories on social media, helping them become more resilient in this digital age. I believe that all charities have great stories to tell, but they are unsure how to share them. That’s where we step in to help them to grow their audience, understand the impact of social media and then share their stories in a meaningful way.
Why I want to be a digital trustee
We know how much great work goes on behind closed doors within charities across the world. However they feel that there are barriers to communicating this with their audiences for a number of reasons. I have seen this first hand working at Lightful and want to help charities to be able to share their stories to a wider audience and grow awareness about the great work that they already do!
I am particularly interested in working with charities supporting better mental health and also charities who focus on advancing women and children’s rights both in the UK and abroad.
How to contact me: Contact Emma via her LinkedIn
Your name: Brendan Rodgers
What you do? Marketing Director at Funraisin
Why I want to be a digital trustee
After 7 years of working in and with the third sector, I have delivered a wide array of marketing, fundraising and digital projects.
It has been clear to me for a long time that Boards need to value digital. This is becoming even more vital, as digital tech advances in the private sector, so too must charities embrace new systems and be forward thinking.
Digital technology is a problem solver when used correctly and a barrier when implemented badly. I am keen to help a charity navigate the task of growth through embracing digital.
Contact Brendan on LinkedIn or Twitter (@Brendan_LDN)
Your name: Jonathan Waddingham
What you do: Product Consultant to charities and tech for good organisations. I work with them to help them define, refine and grow their digital products and services.
Why I want to be a digital trustee
I have worked with large and small third sector organisations in digital fundraising and crowdfunding for the last 15 years, and would like to use that experience to help a charity in the environmental, education or equality category to increase their impact.
I have experience of working directly with senior leaders in charities and tech for good business, and I know that culture and true organisational change needs to come from the top. I’m keen to help shape strategy and show where digital can – and equally importantly can’t – help an organisation reach its goals, without necessarily needing lots of time and money.