Digital stage
The majority of charities (72%) are at an early stage with digital. Only 28% of charities have a strategy in place for digital, significantly lower than the 44% last year. We believe this is due to our changing sample and better represents where the sector is with digital.
Every year we ask respondents to select which stage of digital development their organisation has reached, as this gives us an idea of overall digital progress across the sector. There are some significant changes in the numbers of charities in each of the four categories this year.
- Curious: We’re using basic digital tools and see opportunities to improve. Just under a third (32%) are at this stage, compared to 24% last year.
- Starting out: We’re actively developing our digital skills and adoption. 40% are starting out with digital, increasing from 32% last year.
- Advancing: We have a digital strategy and we’re investing in our digital and technology capabilities. 22% are advancing with digital and are investing, although it’s not yet embedded. This is much lower than 34% last year.
- Advanced: Digital is embedded in our organisational strategy and ways of working. 6% are at this stage, down very slightly from 9% last year.
This year, the majority of charities are at an early stage with digital, with 72% being either at the curious or starting out stage. This is a significant increase from 56% last year. We believe this is due to a change in our sample, rather than digital maturity declining since 2025. This is because the same trend can be seen for both large and small charities:
- Large charities: 56% are early stage, up from 32% last year.
- Small charities: 78% are early stage, up from 68% last year.
Looking specifically at small charities, every year we have an increase in those at the earliest digital stages (curious and starting out). For example, in 2022, only 18% were at the ‘curious’ stage with digital. This has increased every year and is now at 37%. We believe this indicates that our sample has changed and that the survey has attracted more responses from charities at an earlier stage with digital once again this year.
It is interesting to note that organisational size appears to play a significant role in whether charities see digital strategy development as a priority. Across each income bracket, larger charities are more likely to prioritise strategy development. Other priority areas do not show the same pattern (see our later section on ‘priorities for digital, data and technology’):
Charities with higher incomes are more likely to see digital strategy as a priority:
- 17% of charities with an income of under £10,000.
- 29% of charities with an income of £10,001 to £100,000.
- 46% of charities with an income of £100,001 to £500,000.
- 56% of charities with an income of £500,001 to £1m.
- 64% of charities with an income greater than £1m.
Digital progress
More than 8 out of 10 charities (81%) have progressed digitally this year, compared to 63% last year.
Once again we asked charities about their overall sense of progress over the last 12 months. We have expanded our scale from 2025 to capture more nuance in the progress made. As such, direct comparisons are not possible for each level of progress.
- Only 6% have achieved significant progress, lower than 14% last year.
- 25% have made good progress by making improvements or completing projects.
- 50% have made some progress with existing projects, although changes are small.
- 16% have stayed the same, compared to 32% last year.
- 3% have encountered setbacks that have reversed progress, similar to last year.
Overall, it’s positive that 81% of charities have progressed with digital, despite the challenges the sector faces. This is significantly higher than the 63% that made progress last year. However, the majority (50%) have only made some progress, continuing with existing projects. There are differences between large and small charities here, with 43% of large charities making good or significant progress, compared to 27% of small charities.
