For charities
- CEOs need a clear vision for digital. 64% of charities want their CEOs to develop a clear vision of what they could achieve with digital, a significant increase from 55% last year. This continues to be one of the most urgent needs that charities have of their CEOs, which we see year on year in our report. The vision needs to be linked to your organisation’s strategy, mission and values.
- Develop a strategy. Only 44% of charities have a digital strategy in place, which has declined from 50% last year. Having a strategy means that you will have a clear idea of what success looks like for your charity and how to work towards it, making it easier to make decisions and plan your next steps with digital, data and AI. Charity Digital has a useful guide to developing a strategy.
- Invest in data capabilities. 45% of charities want support with using AI tools to analyse their data, and 42% need help with storytelling with data. Almost 4 out of 10 (39%) are poor at website and analytics data, an increase from 31% last year. Improving your data capabilities is essential for making informed decisions and leveraging AI effectively.
- Address leadership skills gaps in AI. Just over a third of charities (36%) say that their CEO has poor AI skills, while 4 out of 10 (44%) state that their board is also poor in this area. With AI adoption growing rapidly, leaders urgently need to upskill to ensure proper governance and strategic direction.
- Adopt AI responsibly. 76% of charities are now using AI, a significant increase from 61% last year. However, data privacy, GDPR and security concerns remain the biggest barrier to adoption (43%). Charities should focus on developing AI policies (48% are doing this, up from just 16% last year), reviewing data protection and security, and undertaking regular assessments of AI risks.
For funders
- Create capacity (time, people, training). 59% of charities need funding for core staff or cover staff time to spend on digital/data, a huge increase from 30% in 2024. This has become even more important during the cost of living crisis, with squeezed organisational finances being the biggest barrier that 69% of charities now face when looking to progress digitally. We urge funders to consider how they might meet these needs.
- Develop inclusive digital funding practices. It is positive that some charities are doing user research, ensuring this involves diverse groups and co-designing their services with communities. We encourage funders to support this good practice and recognise the time this takes to ensure all services are designed inclusively. In addition, we encourage funders to review the needs of small charities and charities led by marginalised groups. These groups are struggling to prioritise organisational development due to the cost of living crisis and meeting demand. Funders also need to create inclusive access to digital funding.
- Invest in skills development. Charities identify training and access to expert guidance as their key digital support needs. Furthermore, 50% of charities say they most need funding to access training for staff and volunteers, up from 43% last year. We encourage funders and support organisations to consider developing comprehensive digital skills training programmes for charity staff and volunteers.
- Dedicated support and funding for small charities. We consistently see a digital skills gap between large and small charities. 68% of small charities are at early stages with digital, compared to 32% of large charities. The gap is widening with AI adoption. We hope that funders will plan how they can meet the needs of small charities.
- Recognise that digital costs are vital core costs. 60% of charities have not accessed funding for digital costs in the last 12 months. Of these charities, 38% have accessed funding, but this has not included any digital costs. As part of the report, charities have also told us that funding these costs would help them be more efficient and increase their impact. We encourage funders to reconsider their approach to what they fund.