Every charity, regardless of size, needs someone who is responsible for leading on digital, even if they are not a digital professional. It is worrying that nearly a third of charities still do not have this. These results show that some charities are struggling with their digital capacity.
- It’s concerning to see that just under a third of charities (28%) don’t have anyone in charge of leading their digital progress, an increase on the 22% from last year who did not have anyone pushing forward with digital.
- However, just under a third (31%) have someone who is leading on digital as part of or in addition to their main work, similar to 2022.
- One in five (21%) have someone/a group working on how they progress, but no dedicated role or formal responsibility. These charities will have a significant dependency on the capacity and skills of these individuals/groups.
- 18% have an external freelancer, agency or IT provider to support them.
“Digital often feels like such a huge task that we put it off. We are a small team and this is really no-one’s role or responsibility so it can feel like more work.”
48% have a strategic approach to digital, which is significantly less than the 56% who had this in 2022.
- One in five charities (19%) are at the earliest digital stage of ‘curious’ this year, saying that they have digital basics in place, such as social media or remote working, and are aware they could go further. This number has increased from 12% last year.
- A third (33%) are starting out by developing their use of digital across the organisation, similar to the 31% last year.
- Less charities have a strategy in place for digital than last year, falling from 56% in 2022 to 48% this year. These charities are in either the advanced or advancing category. This may reflect the fact that we had more small charities responding to the survey this year.
- Overall, half of charities (52%) see themselves as being at an early stage with digital in 2023, compared to 43% in 2022.
- 25% of small charities are at the earliest, curious stage with digital, compared to 5% of large charities.
Over three quarters (78%) of charities say that digital is more of or a much greater priority for their organisations.
Last year, we asked charities if the pandemic had changed how they prioritised digital. In 2023, we wanted to find out whether this commitment to change had remained, given the current challenges facing the sector.
- Despite the pressures facing charities this year, more than half (52%) told us that it is more of a priority, an increase on the 46% last year.
- However, the number who saw it as a much greater priority has fallen from 36% last year to 26% this year.
- 20% (1 in 5) give it the same level of priority, with only 1% seeing it as less of a priority.
Almost two thirds of charities now have a hybrid working model.
- 65% of charities have a hybrid working model (remote and office based), slightly more than 62% last year.
- 23% are all working remotely and do not have an office or shared physical space.
- There are significant differences by size, with 53% of the smallest charities (income up to £100,000) working remotely, compared to 16% of those with an income of £100,000 to £500,000 and 5% of large charities (over £1 million).
The top three priorities for charities this year are their website, online presence and social media, online fundraising and using data.
- 8 out of 10 (79%) of charities see improving their website, digital presence or social media as the greatest priority for the next year.
- This was also the top priority last year, but has increased from 68%.
- This may be connected to the fact that almost two thirds (59%) want to improve their online fundraising, a significant increase from 49% last year. This has moved from the fourth most popular choice to the second top priority highlighted. Digital fundraising looks to be more important in the years ahead.
- Like last year, data is a key priority, with 59% wanting to use data and insights to improve their services or operations, similar to last year. This remains in the top three priorities selected.
- Digital skills and confidence continues to maintain a similar level of priority for charities, with just over half (54%) keen to grow these among staff and volunteers, and a further third stating that developing the digital skills of their board and leadership team is a priority. However, it is now the fourth most popular choice rather than the second (2022 report).
- Improving data security, privacy and GDPR compliance has become more of a priority since 2022. 46% of charities now see this as a priority compared to 35% last year. Similarly 4 out of 10 (45%) want to invest in their digital or data infrastructure or systems, slightly more than the 33% last year.
- Reaching and meeting the needs of more diverse users has become more of a priority this year, rising from 35% in 2022 to 45% this year.
- 41% want to develop a strategic approach to digital whilst 39% see responding to emerging digital trends and opportunities as a priority, neither of which has changed much since 2022.
- Just over a third (39%) want to improve or scale their digital services, which has remained a similar level of priority since last year.
- Slightly more charities than last year (24% compared to 19%) want to improve the sustainability of their digital products and services.
- Supporting staff wellbeing whilst working remotely has become less of a priority, declining from 35% last year to 23%. This may indicate increased confidence with remote work.
“The biggest digital experience we have seen as a team was the speed of digitalisation across all organisations, especially service providers; banks, councils, social services, housing providers etc at the start of the pandemic. … This left our blind/visually impaired beneficiaries truly marginalised. …There remains much to do to provide accessible kit, training, and maintaining and improving people’s skills in this respect.”
Almost half of charities urgently need funds for devices, software and infrastructure, whilst almost a third see the cost of living crisis as a challenge to digital.
- The biggest challenge facing charities is funding. Nearly half of charities (49%) urgently need funds for devices, software and infrastructure. This has risen from 40% last year, showing how this need is becoming increasingly critical to the sector.
- The third greatest challenge is that charities are under increased pressure to fight fires. This has more than doubled from 20% last year to 40% this year.
- The second biggest challenge is skilling up staff and volunteers (41%), which was also a top three priority last year.
- A third (32%) of charities feel that their spending on digital and IT is ad-hoc, an increase on 30% in 2022, whilst just over 1 in 5 (22%) find their IT provision (technical support, hardware and internet access) a challenge.
- Less than a third (27%) see the cost of living crisis as being a significant challenge to how they are using digital.
- One in five charities, exactly the same as last year (20%), aren’t sure how to progress with digital.
- 14% are worried about excluding people from digital services (26% in 2022), whilst 13% find getting their clients online challenging (20% last year). This may be connected to fewer charities offering digital services.
- The top challenges for large charities are slightly different to small charities. The top two challenges for nearly half (both 47%) of large charities are that some parts of their organisation are further ahead with digital than others and needing to upskill staff or volunteers. Finding funds to invest in devices, software and infrastructure is also in the top three, a key challenge for 35% of large charities.
- In contrast, small charities struggle more with finding funds for devices, software and infrastructure, with 54% saying this is their top challenge. This is followed by being busy firefighting and not prioritising digital for 44%, as well as needing to upskill staff or volunteers (41%).