Established in 2017, The Charity Digital Skills Report is the annual barometer of digital and AI trends, funding and support needs across the sector, including those of marginalised groups. Everything you have told us via the surveys has helped us track how charities are evolving, as well as gathering insights into areas that are critical success factors for digital progress, such as leadership and governance and strategy.
This year, we redeveloped the survey extensively to capture a snapshot of the sector at this pivotal moment of change as AI adoption develops further across the sector, whilst gathering data on wider digital trends
Find out more about the report’s authors below:
Zoe Amar
Zoe Amar is founder and director of Zoe Amar Digital, a social enterprise and digital and AI consultancy who help charities lead change with confidence, developing strategies that increase their resilience, income and influence. She is chair of The Charity Digital Code of Practice, and blogs for Third Sector and others. She is also co-chair of The Charity AI Taskforce. Zoe is the co-author of The Charity Digital Skills Report and co-host of the leadership podcast Starts at the Top. She has 16 years’ experience of sitting on charity boards. She is currently a trustee of Charity Digital Trust. She is a previous winner of an Inspiring Communicator award from Charitycomms and was named Changemaker of the Year at The Pros Awards.
Nissa Ramsay
Nissa Ramsay is a freelance researcher and founder of Think Social Tech, providing flexible research, data and learning support across the charity sector. She has wide ranging experience working with funders and infrastructure organisations to develop funding and support initiatives. She specialises in providing specialist capacity to gain insights from diverse voices, helping teams with surveys, interviews, data analysis and the visual presentation of findings. Nissa holds a PhD in Human Geography and an MSc in Digital Sociology. Find Nissa on Linkedin and see her research portfolio to learn more.
Thank you to Skills Platform, who were one of the founding funders of the report. Whilst they are no longer involved, we are very grateful for their support from 2017-2021, which helped develop and scale the report across the sector.
Thank you to our report partners
We are very grateful to our report partners who have made the report possible.
Catalyst
Catalyst is a networked infrastructure builder for liberatory digital futures. We convene people, allies, organisations, and funders committed to resisting the harms and injustices caused by technology. We weave communities and reimagine tech to build just futures where technology is fair, regenerative, and life-enhancing.
Microsoft
We are delighted to be working with Microsoft on this year’s report.
Charities are increasingly expected to deliver far more with far less. Generative AI has the potential to help charities to respond to this pressure by supercharging their ability to drive efficiency, support workers and volunteers, and enhance service delivery. But we risk foregoing the vital impact of charities in our communities if they are not supported to make the most of the AI opportunity. Skilling is a key element of this and a very real issue, especially for smaller charities.
Over the last 5 years, through our Get On skilling initiative we’ve helped over 1.5m people in the UK gain digital skills. Microsoft has now committed to supporting an additional one million people to gain the AI skills they need to be successful in the new AI economy. Employees, volunteers, beneficiaries and trustees at charities can help develop their AI skills and knowledge with free, online learning courses available through our AI Skills Navigator. The Microsoft Nonprofit Skills & Resources site provides a collection of resources, including free live and on demand training on Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure Data and AI Fundamentals.
Torchbox
Torchbox is an employee-owned digital agency and certified B Corp, partnering with the world’s most important organisations to create measurable social impact. Working alongside leading charities and nonprofits like Mind, Disasters Emergency Committee, Oxfam and RNIB, we combine deep sector expertise with innovative technology to strengthen their missions and drive meaningful change.
We’re proud to support the Charity Digital Skills Report, having referenced its valuable insights year after year to inform our work with charity partners. As sponsors this year, we’re honoured to contribute to shaping this essential resource that helps guide digital progress across the sector.
Building on the excellent work of Zoe Amar and the report team, we look forward to helping uncover insights that will enable charities to better harness digital capabilities for increased supporter engagement, enhanced income generation and maximised social impact.
Lightful
Lightful is a certified B Corp powering social and environmental change. Our services are designed to support organisations to amplify their voices and multiply their impact.
We provide a range of blended learning programmes for different types of organisations. Our programmes build the digital confidence and resilience our partners need to become more effective.
Digital Candle
Digital Candle is a free service that matches charities and nonprofit groups with digital experts for free one-hour calls. Founded in 2019 and supported by Catalyst and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, it addresses the digital confidence gap in smaller organisations by providing access to expertise on topics like CRM selection, digital strategy, website improvements and Google Ad Grants. With over 750 experts who have helped more than 1,900 charity professionals, Digital Candle democratises digital skills across the nonprofit sector. Charities consistently rate the service 4.8/5 for helpfulness. Visit digitalcandle.org.uk to ask your question and get matched with a volunteer expert.