In this section of the report, we provided detailed insights about digital progress for organisations led by specific and marginalised groups, where we have achieved at least 45 responses.
We outline our approach, terms and rationale surrounding equality, diversity and inclusion further in this blog post. We asked respondents to define their organisation as ‘led by’ a specific group if at least 75% of their board and 50% of senior management identify with that group. The intention is to inform funding, support, research and campaigns that tackle structural inequality, institutional racism and sexism in the sector, which have led to chronic underfunding for specific groups. The data for these groups is available on our website for further investigation.
The groups we focus on includes:
- Older people (65+): 74 responses (12%).
- Black groups (Black African/Black Caribbean/Black British/Black Mixed/Black Other): 61 responses (10%).
- Neurodivergent people (including those with cognitive differences, learning disabilities and learning difficulties): 55 responses (9%).
- Disabled or d/Deaf people: 45 responses (7%).
- LGBTQIA+ people: 45 responses (7%).
Note, however, that the sample sizes we have are still fairly small and this may be affecting the results.
We also know already from this report that charity income (size) plays a significant role in digital capacity. Smaller charities struggle more with skills, capacity and digital progress overall. For this reason, it is worth noting that each of these groups has a higher proportion of small charities. However, the sample sizes are too small to compare by charity size in this report. Any comparisons between these groups and the main sample should be made with this in mind and we have noted this throughout.
Led by black groups
Our 2023 report found that black led charities were disproportionately affected by the cost of living crisis (with 41% saying this affected their digital progress), but were also more likely to be prioritising digital and delivering digital services. This year, challenges related to the cost of living (squeezed organisational finances) are having a much greater impact on black led charities, but are also affecting all charities consistently. More black led charities are struggling to find funds to invest in devices, software and infrastructure, which has increased from 54% last year to 65% this year. 41% of black led charities struggle to find a funder who will support a digital project. This is much higher than our overall sample (21%), all small charities (25%) and charities led by other specific marginalised groups. A higher proportion are providing digital inclusion services (in comparison to all charities), but this is much less of a priority in comparison to 2023.
Our sample
- 61 (10%) of the responses are from black led organisations.
- 76% are small charities and 15% are large (the remainder did not specify). This is a greater proportion of small organisations compared to the 62% in our main sample.
- 58% are a registered charity or Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). This is much lower than the 81% in our overall sample. 13% are a company limited by guarantee, 12% are unincorporated and 10% are a Community Interest Company limited by guarantee.
- 31% describe themselves as a social enterprise or community business (compared to 17% in our main sample and 20% of small charities)
- 6% are infrastructure or second tier organisations.
- 44% are tackling racial injustice and inequality.
- 52% provide frontline services to individuals.
Digital progress
- 61% are at an early stage with digital (28% are curious and 33% are starting out). This is much higher than the 50% of charities in our main sample. This result is influenced by the higher proportion of small black led charities.
- 39% are advancing or advanced, with a strategy in place for digital.
Barriers to digital progress
- Squeezed organisational finances (75%)
- Finding funds to invest in infrastructure, systems and tools (65%)
- Lack of headspace and capacity (64%)
Digital priorities
- 72% see digital as an organisational priority, with 34% saying it is a high priority.
- 40% say their top priority this year is to develop a digital strategy. This is much lower than the 54% who said this was a priority last year.
- 32% say their top priority this year is to develop a data strategy.
- Top priorities are:
- Build our online presence and social media engagement (63%)
- Increase online fundraising (57%)
- Grow our reach (57%)
- Develop our digital strategy (57%).
Services
- 77% are delivering services built on digital tools, in a supportive or integral role. This has increased from 62% in 2023.
- 53% are using digital tools behind the scenes to help run services.
- 20% support clients with digital inclusion (compared to 12% of all charities), whilst 22% say this is a priority. This is higher than 14% of all charities, but has dropped significantly from 2023, when half of black led charities (51%) said it was their top priority.
- 77% feel their services are inclusive to some extent (51%) or a great extent (26%), compared to 69% of the main sample.
- In the next year, 23% say their priority is to develop or scale digital services, whilst 16% plan to offer new digital services.
AI
- 54% are currently using AI in their day-to-day work or operations.
- 39% say that using AI tools is a priority this year.
- 31% are using AI tools behind the scenes to deliver services.
- 62% agree or strongly agree that AI developments are relevant to them.
- 28% agree or strongly agree that they feel prepared to respond to AI opportunities and challenges, compared to 22% in our main sample.
Funding
- 14% accessed funding for some digital costs (e.g. new devices or staff time), whilst 4% accessed funding for substantial digital costs (e.g. a digital role or website).
- 24% did not include digital costs in their grant funding applications.
- The top barriers to accessing funding are:
- We cannot find a funder who will support our digital project (41%)
- We prioritise meeting demand and delivering our current work (37%)
- Our typical funders do not cover digital costs (31%).
- We cannot find a funder who will support our digital project (41%)
- The challenge of finding a funder for a digital project is affecting black led charities (41%) much more than any other group and compares to 21% in our main sample.
Top funding needs
- Capacity/headspace for organisational development (56%).
- Training for staff and volunteers on digital or data (50%).
- Bring in external advice/expertise (46%).
Led by LGBTQIA+ people
This year, we look in-depth at organisations led by LGBTQIA+ people. We cannot compare this to our 2023 data, where we focused on organisations supporting LGBTQIA+ people (due to a lack of responses from LGBTQIA+ led charities). We can see that this group sees digital as a priority and is looking to engage more with providing digital services and using AI tools. Like all charities, squeezed organisational finances is a key challenge. The findings for this group are largely similar to those for all charities in our sample.
Our sample
- 45 (7%) of our responses are from LGBTQIA+ led charities and of these, 58% say they have lived experience of the issue they address.
- 75% are small charities and 11% are large (the remainder did not specify). This is a greater proportion of small charities than the 62% in our main sample.
- 53% are a registered charity or Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). This is much lower than the 81% in our main sample. 13% are unincorporated and 13% are a Community Interest Company limited by guarantee.
- 24% describe themselves as a social enterprise or community business.
- 11% are infrastructure or second tier organisations.
- 42% provide frontline services to individuals.
Digital progress
- 51% are at an early stage with digital (18% are curious and 33% are starting out).
- 49% are advancing or advanced, with a strategy in place for digital, compared to 36% of small charities and 50% in our main sample.
- This mirrors our main sample, despite a high proportion of small charities.
Barriers to digital progress
- Squeezed organisational finances (72%)
- Lack of headspace and capacity (67%)
- Finding funds to invest in infrastructure, systems and tools (60%)
Digital priorities
- 87% see digital as an organisational priority, with 29% saying it is a high priority.
- 27% say their top priority this year is to develop a digital strategy, whilst 30% say their top priority this year is to develop a data strategy.
- Top priorities are:
- Build our online presence and social media engagement (65%)
- Grow our reach (60%)
- Increase online fundraising (56%).
Services
- 84% are delivering services built on digital tools, in a supportive or integral role.
- 58% are using digital tools behind the scenes to help run services.
- 19% support clients with digital inclusion, whilst 20% say this is a priority.
- 71% feel their services are inclusive to some extent (39%) or a great extent (32%).
- In the next year, 19% say their priority is to develop or scale digital services, whilst 23% plan to offer new digital services.
AI
- 62% are using AI in their day-to-day work or operations.
- 28% say that using AI tools is a priority this year.
- 27% are using AI tools behind the scenes to deliver services.
- 55% agree or strongly agree that AI developments are relevant to them.
- 33% agree or strongly agree that they feel prepared to respond to AI opportunities and challenges, compared to 22% in our main sample.
Funding
- 22% accessed funding for some digital costs (e.g. new devices or staff time), whilst 2% accessed funding for substantial digital costs (e.g. a digital role or website).
- 27% did not include digital costs in their grant funding applications.
- The top barriers to accessing funding are:
- We prioritise meeting demand and delivering our current work (41%)
- We need to prioritise paying the bills and other core costs (31%)
- Applications for face-to-face services are more likely to succeed (31%).
Top funding needs
- Capacity/headspace for organisational development (56%).
- Revamp our website, content and/or brand (44%).
- Subscriptions/licence costs (39%).
Led by neurodivergent people
This year, we focus on neurodivergent people (including those with cognitive differences, learning disabilities and learning difficulties) as a distinct group to disabled or d/Deaf people. This means comparisons cannot be made with our 2023 data, where both were combined. We wanted to determine if there are any distinctions between their digital progress, funding and support needs, based on previous qualitative responses.
We can see this year that organisations led by neurodivergent people in our sample are overwhelmingly small and yet are much further ahead with digital in comparison to other small charities. This group is providing a high proportion of services online and see digital as a priority. Funding for digital costs and capacity would enable this group to expand and develop more digital services.
Our sample
- 55 (9%) of our responses are from charities led by neurodivergent people (including those with cognitive differences, learning disabilities and learning difficulties) and 38 also specify this is their main target group.
- 62% are led by people with lived experience of the issue they address.
- 91% are small charities and 6% are large (the remainder did not specify). This is a much greater proportion of small charities than the 62% in our main sample. However, many of the responses differ significantly from small charities in our main sample.
- 49% are a registered charity or Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). This is significantly lower than the 81% in our overall sample. 24% are a Community Interest Company limited by guarantee and 14% are unincorporated.
- 42% describe themselves as a social enterprise or community business.
- 51% provide frontline services to individuals.
Digital progress and challenges
- 49% are at an early stage with digital (16% are curious and 33% are starting out).
- 51% are advancing or advanced, with a strategy in place for digital. This is much higher than the 36% of small charities in our main sample.
- It is worth noting that whilst 91% of organisations led by neurodivergent people in this group are small, size does not look to be affecting digital progress.
Barriers to digital progress
- Squeezed organisational finances (75%)
- Finding funds to invest in infrastructure, systems and tools (69%)
- Lack of headspace and capacity (67%)
Digital priorities
- 91% see digital as an organisational priority, with 42% saying it is a high priority.
- 33% say their top priority this year is to develop a digital strategy, whilst 42% say their top priority this year is to develop a data strategy.
- Top priorities are to grow reach (58%), online fundraising (57%), build online presence and social media engagement (55%) and grow staff/volunteer digital skills (55%).
Services
- 85% are delivering services built on digital tools, in a supportive or integral role.
- 64% are using digital tools behind the scenes to help run services.
- 11% support clients with digital inclusion, whilst 16% say this is a priority.
- 73% feel their services are inclusive to some extent (39%) or a great extent (33%).
- In the next year, 30% say their priority is to develop or scale digital services, whilst 23% plan to offer new digital services (compared to 18% of all respondents).
AI
- 61% are using AI in their day-to-day work or operations.
- 34% say that using AI tools is a priority this year.
- 29% are using AI tools behind the scenes to deliver services.
- 63% agree or strongly agree that AI developments are relevant to them.
- 46% agree or strongly agree that they feel prepared to respond to AI opportunities and challenges, which is greater than the 22% who feel prepared in our main sample.
Funding
- 33% accessed funding for some digital costs (e.g. new devices or staff time), whilst 12% accessed funding for substantial digital costs (e.g. a digital role or website).
- 16% did not include digital costs in their grant funding applications.
- The top barriers to accessing funding are:
- We prioritise meeting demand and delivering our current work (43%)
- We need to prioritise paying the bills and other core costs (30%)
- Our typical funders do not cover annual software/licence costs (30%).
Top funding needs
- Capacity/headspace for organisational development (51%).
- Revamp our website, content and/or brand (42%).
- Subscriptions/licence costs (42%).
Led by disabled or d/Deaf people
This year, we focus on disabled or d/Deaf people as a distinct group to neurodivergent people (including those with cognitive differences, learning disabilities and learning difficulties). This means comparisons cannot be made with our 2023 data, where both were combined. We wanted to determine if there are any distinctions between their digital progress, funding and support needs, based on previous qualitative responses. This year, we can see that digital progress, priorities and funding needs are consistent with and similar to the main sample of charities. A higher proportion are providing digital inclusion services in comparison to all charities.
Our sample
- 45 (7%) of our responses are from charities led by disabled or d/Deaf people. Of these, 39 also specify that disabled or d/Deaf people are a main target group. This is linked to the 71% who say they are led by lived experience.
- 84% are small charities and 11% are large (the remainder did not specify). This is a much greater proportion of small charities than the 62% in our main sample.
- 56% are a registered charity or Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). This is much less than our overall sample (81%). 22% are a company limited by guarantee.
- 29% describe themselves as a social enterprise or community business.
- 71% provide frontline services to individuals, compared to 53% in our main sample.
Digital progress and challenges
- 58% are at an early stage with digital (27% are curious and 31% are starting out). This compares to 50% of all charities and 64% of small charities.
- 42% are advancing or advanced, with a strategy in place for digital.
Barriers to digital progress
- Squeezed organisational finances (72%)
- Finding funds to invest in infrastructure, systems and tools (59%)
- Lack of headspace and capacity (59%)
Digital priorities
- 87% see digital as an organisational priority, with 27% saying it is a high priority.
- 35% say their top priority this year is to develop a digital strategy, whilst 38% say their top priority this year is to develop a data strategy.
- Top priorities are:
- Grow our reach (64%)
- Increase online fundraising (56%)
- Use data to improve services or operations (49%).
Services
- 73% are delivering services built on digital tools, in a supportive or integral role.
- 55% are using digital tools behind the scenes to help run services.
- 20% support clients with digital inclusion (compared to 12% of all charities), whilst 18% say this is a priority for the next year.
- 54% feel their services are inclusive to some extent (32%) or a great extent (22%).
- In the next year, 31% say their priority is to develop or scale digital services, whilst 18% plan to offer new digital services.
AI
- 43% are using AI in their day-to-day work or operations.
- 18% say that using AI tools is a priority this year.
- 40% are using AI tools behind the scenes to deliver services.
- 43% agree or strongly agree that AI developments are relevant to them.
- 23% agree or strongly agree that they feel prepared to respond to AI opportunities and challenges.
Funding
- 26% accessed funding for some digital costs (e.g. new devices or staff time), whilst 20% accessed funding for substantial digital costs (e.g. a digital role or website).
- 26% did not include digital costs in their grant funding applications.
- The top barriers to accessing funding are:
- We prioritise meeting demand and delivering our current work (46%)
- Our typical funders do not cover annual software/licence costs (37%)
- We need to prioritise paying the bills and other core costs (34%).
Top funding needs
- Capacity/headspace for organisational development (62%).
- Training for staff and volunteers on digital or data (47%).
- Bring in external advice/expertise (41%).
Led by older people
This year, we asked about organisations led by older people (65+). Whilst their responses are broadly consistent with the main sample, a smaller proportion are adopting AI tools and less see digital as a priority. This group is also less likely to access digital funding.
Our sample
- 74 (12%) of our responses are from charities led by older people.
- 86% are small charities and 11% are large (the remainder did not specify). This is a much greater proportion of small charities than the 62% in our main sample.
- 77% are a registered charity or Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
- 26% describe themselves as a social enterprise or community business.
- 41% are led by people with lived experience of the issue they address.
- 50% provide frontline services to individuals.
Digital progress and challenges
- 65% are at an early stage with digital (27% are curious and 38% are starting out). This compares to 51% of all charities and 64% of small charities.
- 35% are advancing or advanced, with a strategy in place for digital.
Barriers to digital progress
- Squeezed organisational finances (68%)
- Lack of headspace and capacity (59%)
- Finding funds to invest in infrastructure, systems and tools (51%)
Digital priorities
- 77% see digital as an organisational priority, with 19% saying it is a high priority.
- 39% say their top priority this year is to develop a digital strategy, whilst 29% say their top priority this year is to develop a data strategy.
- Top priorities are:
- Build our online presence and social media engagement (56%)
- Increase online fundraising (51%)
- Grow staff/volunteer digital skills (56%).
Digital services
- 85% are delivering services built on digital tools, in a supportive or integral role.
- 58% are using digital tools behind the scenes to help run services.
- 19% support clients with digital inclusion, whilst 21% say this is a priority.
- 62% feel their services are inclusive to some extent (40%) or a great extent (22%).
- In the next year, 19% say their priority is to develop or scale digital services, whilst 10% plan to offer new digital services.
AI
- 45% are currently using AI in their day-to-day work or operations.
- 29% say that using AI tools is a priority this year.
- 21% are using AI tools behind the scenes to deliver services.
- 52% agree or strongly agree that AI developments are relevant to them.
- 23% agree or strongly agree that they feel prepared to respond to AI opportunities and challenges.
Funding
- 7% accessed funding for some digital costs (e.g. new devices or staff time). This is significantly less than the average of 19% in the main sample.
- None (0%) accessed funding for substantial digital costs (e.g. a digital role or website), compared to 6% in the main sample.
- 25% did not include digital costs in their grant funding applications.
- The top barriers to accessing funding are:
- We prioritise meeting demand and delivering our current work (43%)
- We need to prioritise paying the bills and other core costs (33%)
- Our typical funders do not cover digital costs (28%).
Top funding needs
- Capacity/headspace for organisational development (51%).
- Training for staff and volunteers on digital or data (49%).
- Bring in external advice/expertise (48%).