How charities rate their CEO and board’s digital skills
More than 1 in 4 (28%) of charities say that their boards have poor digital skills, while more than 1 in 5 CEOs (21%) have poor digital skills.
This year, we asked about CEO and board digital skills, as well as streamlining and simplifying our rating scale.
Board digital skills
- It’s concerning that 28% of charities say that their boards have poor digital skills. This is higher than the 19% who said their board had low digital skills in 2024.
- 49% rate their trustees as having fair digital skills, much lower than the 65% who said their skills were good or could improve last year.
- Only 7% see their board as having excellent digital skills, similar to 6% last year.
CEO digital skills
- Over 1 in 5 CEOs (21%) have poor digital skills.
- It is promising that 54% of CEOs have some digital skills and knowledge rated as fair. However, only 13% were rated by their charities as excellent.
The results are similar for both large and small charities.
Elsewhere in this year’s report, we see that this skills gap also extends to AI. Charities recognise their trustees and CEOs’ AI skills are in need of improvement. Over a third of charities (36%) say that their CEO has poor AI skills, knowledge and confidence, while 4 out of 10 (44%) state that their board is also poor in this area.
This is evident when we look at leadership skills for charities across each stage of digital development. For example, 54% of charities at the earliest curious stage say their CEO digital skills are fair or excellent. This compares to 78% at the advancing stage and 90% at the advanced stage.
Given the need for better strategy and oversight across digital and AI that we have seen elsewhere in the report, it’s vital that trustees and CEOs develop their skills further.
How many charities have a digital trustee(s)?
Just under a third (30%) of charities have a digital trustee. However, the proportion of digital trustees has barely changed since 2024. 4 out of 10 charities do not have a digital trustee.
Charities told us that:
- 30% have a digital trustee
- 12% have more than one digital trustee
- 40% do not have a digital trustee (32% of large charities vs 44% of small charities).
All of these numbers are similar to 2024 and seem low compared to the growing speed of technological development in and outside the sector.
Would any of the following improvements at trustee/board level help charities progress with digital?
More than 4 out of 10 charities want their boards to recruit a digital trustee.
The most critical areas where charities would like to see change are:
- Recruiting a digital trustee (person with relevant digital expertise) (43%)
- Learn more about emerging tech and AI tools (34%).
Both of the above needs are similar to 2024.
Other notable areas where charities would like to see change are:
- Better resourcing and investment in digital and IT (34%, up from 29% last year)
- Learn more about digital (32%, surprisingly, given other trends we’ve seen in this year’s survey around upskilling board, this is down from 40% in 2024)
- Understand risks (cybersecurity, data protection, safeguarding) (32%).
It’s interesting that using data and insights from user research to inform decisions (20%) has risen from 13% last year, suggesting it is growing in importance to what charities expect from their boards.
Small charities say they most need to recruit a digital trustee (47%), followed by their board learning more about digital (34%) and their board getting better at resourcing and investing in digital (34%).
Large charities most need their board to learn more about emerging tech and AI tools (36%), get better at resourcing and investing in digital (36%) and recruit a digital trustee (35%).
Which skills or behaviours would charities like their CEOs to develop to enable digital progress?
Almost two-thirds of charities (64%) want their CEOs to define a clear vision of what their charity could achieve with digital.
The top areas where charities would like their CEOs to develop are:
- A clear vision of what we could achieve with digital (64%, up from 55% last year) – once again, this is one of the most urgent needs that charities have of their CEOs, which we see year on year in our report
- A clear vision and plan to improve our data (44%)
- Ability to develop and embed a good digital strategy (42%)
- Keep up to date with emerging trends, tech and AI tools (41%)
- Understand digital tools and ways of working (39%)
- Better budgeting, resourcing and investment for digital and IT (36%)
- Understand risks and opportunities for emerging tech (34%).
All of the above are similar to 2024 (apart from the growing need for CEOs to have a clear vision for digital) showing that these needs have not gone away or lessened significantly. Results for both small and large charities are very similar here. These are sector-wide skills development needs.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell us anonymously about how digital skills could help your organisation, or your experiences with digital this year?
We saw the following themes among charities’ responses:
1 – Resource and capacity constraints
Reinforcing a theme we have seen throughout our report, charities cited capacity limitations as a significant barrier to digital progress:
“It’s general, but: we don’t have the capacity to invest in digital skills currently. I am a trustee of the charity and we have just two employees, both of which are part time. Everyone is maxed out!”
“We are a part-time team so digital skills could really help us be more communicative and efficient in our delivery and communication.”
“Small charities lack resources and time so possibly local support through VCSE groups to support charities in their area with digital.”
“With current funding levels and high demand for our services it’s challenging to find time to look at digital when we need to focus on our day-to-day activities.”
2 – Leadership and governance challenges
A recurring theme was the disconnect between leadership and staff:
“The board did a review of skills but didn’t seem to see digital as important despite me pointing this out as a skills gap. We have highly skilled trustees but none of them have digital skills!”
“There’s often too much interference from the Board and the C-Suite in operational decisions in digital – people think they know more than they do. This slows things down continually and disempowers our excellent people.”
“We’ve seen this year how little our board or CEO value the knowledge and skills of digital staff in their org. There’s very little understanding or knowledge of digital at CEO/Board level, yet they ignore our offers of advice and support on how to use these channels for increased reach, funding, and impact.”
“We are currently led by digital immigrants rather than digital natives. We need digital natives – people who have been immersed in technology and its potential for their whole lives – in leadership positions.”
3 – Culture change
Some responses highlighted why charities need to embrace culture change and not fear how digital disruption might change traditional hierarchies:
“The dilemma lies in the challenge of the transition; or more specifically in inclusion and the power shift of real democratisation. This is more about creating space for the ‘old guard’ of the charity sector and enabling them to let go and make space for the new …”
“I think it would be helpful for us to provide clear expectations for trustees about what digital skills they should have (or be willing to learn) at the point of recruitment. A big barrier is a general refusal on the part of some trustees to engage with certain digital tools or learn how to use them.”
“Staff are experimenting anyway, so CEOs need to get up to speed!”
4 – Digital’s potential to scale up delivery
Many organisations recognise the potential of digital to transform their work:
“This year, we’ve realised just how much digital skills can transform our work and extend our reach. As a grassroots organisation working with underserved communities, digital tools have allowed us to tell our stories more powerfully, connect with new supporters, and engage youth in creative and meaningful ways.”
“Developing digital skills delivery has engaged the most excluded and hard to reach groups – this is not valued or recognised. It has also increased our community engagement and footfall exponentially.”
5 – Concerns about digital
Some respondents expressed reservations about digital technologies:
“The rate of digital complexity seems to increase exponentially. I don’t really trust it. I was born in an analogue world and I’ve realised I don’t like much of the digital one. I intensely dislike the feeling that all our social media posts have to target this and that. It feels very manipulative.”
“AI has made a lot of charities on social media look the same, posts all look too generic and have lost the personal touch. You can tell when a charity has used AI for a post.”
“Sadly Otterai inviting itself to my meetings and attending when I didn’t ask it to, and not notifying me until afterwards has made me run a mile!”
6 – Progress despite challenges
Some organisations shared positive experiences:
“We’ve benefited the most from engaging with our community through social media. However, we still have a lot to learn about using digital tools more effectively.”
“Our CEO has started using AI and our deputy, we are only using this as and when and not to its full potential but excited about what it could do but need support and time to research and try it out, which is difficult to find.”
What these responses tell us about where charities see digital potential
These responses paint a complex picture of a sector grappling with digital transformation amid significant resource constraints. For many smaller charities, digital remains something that continually gets deprioritised in favour of immediate service delivery.
Leadership was a recurring theme in these responses, echoing what we see elsewhere in our report. There is frustration from digitally skilled staff who feel their expertise is undervalued by senior leaders and boards who may not fully appreciate digital’s strategic importance.
Despite these challenges, there’s recognition of digital’s potential to enhance mission delivery and reach. The ambivalence about certain technologies, particularly AI, shows the sector taking a thoughtful approach rather than blindly embracing every new trend.
Overall, these responses highlight the need for more targeted support for charity leaders to build their digital confidence, alongside practical help that acknowledges the resource constraints organisations face.