Calls to Action

For charities

  1. CEOs need to focus on skilling up staff and volunteers. This has emerged as an urgent need throughout the report, with 59% of charities telling us that building skills of staff, volunteers and leaders is a priority, up from 43% last year. NCVO’s guide can help you get started.

  2. Boards and CEOs need to grow their AI skills. A third of boards (33%) and a quarter of CEOs (25%) are rated as poor at AI skills by their charities. The AI leadership skills crisis we saw in 2025 has not been solved, which is a concern given that 79% of organisations use AI day to day. Only 36% of small charities have an AI policy or agreed good practice in place or in development (vs 79% of large charities) and would benefit from developing this. Read Charity Digital’s guide on AI and governance to ensure you can support AI being used safely, effectively and responsibly in your organisation.

  3. CEOs must offer a clear vision for digital. Almost half of charities (49%) say their CEO most needs a clear vision of what they could achieve with digital. This remains the biggest demand that charities have of their CEO in our report. The vision needs to be part of your strategy. It will help you decide what skills you need to develop in your team to achieve your vision, and where digital can best help you achieve the biggest impact.

  4. Prioritise equality, diversity and inclusion in digital and AI plans. It’s worrying that the digital services of 22% of charities either aren’t reaching diverse and marginalised communities or charities don’t know if they are, whilst 27% of charities either rarely or never co-design services with users. Undertake user research with marginalised communities and involve them in co-designing services from the start. Learn more about inclusive design from AbilityNet.

  5. Talk to your community about digital and AI. Digital and AI are changing your community’s needs and behaviours, even if it doesn’t seem obvious. Only 6% of charities have researched AI use in their communities and 50% of charities don’t know what impact AI search has on their issue or services. The best way to understand this is to undertake qualitative user research. Staff can upskill in this area and we recommend CAST’s free course on user research for charities. Good user research can help you develop a clearer vision for digital, based on what your community needs. 


For funders

  1. Invest in skills, training and leadership development. Building digital skills is the number one priority for charities for the year ahead (59%), and 44% say funding for training staff, volunteers, leaders and boards is their greatest funding need. With a third of boards and a quarter of CEOs rated as poor at AI, leaders and trustees urgently need investment too.

  2. Provide funding to support capacity and vital core digital costs in charities. Squeezed organisational finances (63%) and lack of headspace and capacity (51%) remain the two biggest barriers to digital progress. Funding is hard to come by, with only 17% of charities saying they could include digital costs in applications this year (down from 30% last year). We urge funders to recognise that charities cannot operate without capacity, staff time and the essential tools they need. These include software, equipment and ongoing licence costs. Flexibility to add core costs to projects will help charities become more sustainable.

  3. Support sector-wide infrastructure on AI. 79% of charities now use AI, yet 44% have taken no action to manage the risks. The pace of adoption is outstripping the sector’s ability to govern it responsibly. Furthermore, 58% of charities want sector guidance on responsible AI use, whilst 41% (and 56% of large charities) believe we need AI tools developed for and by the sector. We urge funders to invest in organisations providing support around AI, including shared policies, training and governance frameworks. This is not a problem individual charities can solve alone.

  4. Take an active interest in how charities are using AI. With 58% of grantmakers noting that AI has changed the applications they receive and a third of charities looking for funding to develop AI (34%, up from 23% last year), there is a clear case for a more strategic conversation between funders and the sector about what good AI use looks like, and how to fund it well. 

  5. Prioritise support for digital inclusion initiatives, linked to AI. Half of UK charities (52%) are supporting communities and marginalised groups with digital inclusion. However, 44% of charities rate themselves as poor at using AI tools. Furthermore, only 9% are supporting other organisations or communities to use AI tools and to do so safely. There is an opportunity for funders to ensure AI levels the playing field for charities and to step in, to prevent AI deepening inequalities in communities.