Recap: what we know about support needs so far
Charities want to learn more about AI
- Charities are still at an early stage with exploring AI and are taking steps to learn about tools and use cases, primarily by attending workshops (37%).
- Almost two thirds (62%) want to develop a general understanding of AI and how charities are using it, whilst 58% want practical knowledge of responsible use of AI tools, and almost half (48%) want to know about use cases in their services.
Charities are struggling with capacity, headspace and squeezed finances
- 7 out of 10 charities (68%) say they are struggling to progress digitally overall due to their finances, headspace and capacity.
Leaders and boards need to learn more about digital
- In total, 62% say their trustees’ digital skills are low or could improve.
- Charities want their board to learn more about digital (40%), understand risks such as cybersecurity and data protection (33%), learn about emerging tech and AI tools (31%) and understand resourcing and investment in digital and IT (29%).
- More than half (55%) want their CEO to provide a clear vision for digital, whilst 39% want their CEO to understand digital tools and ways of working. In addition, 39% want their CEO to keep up to date with emerging trends and AI tools, indicating that CEOs must invest time in horizon scanning. A further 34% want their CEO to understand risks and opportunities for emerging tech.
Developing digital skills among staff and volunteers is a key priority
- 46% of charities say their top priority is to grow staff/volunteer digital skills this year.
- 43% say their key need for funding is to train staff and volunteers with digital.
Key areas for skills development where charities have poor skills
- Engaging with emerging tech trends.
- Undertaking user research.
- Resourcing digital effectively.
- Websites.
- Collecting, managing and using data to inform decision making.
- Using digital tools in service delivery.
Charities want funding to access training
- 43% of charities (and 49% of small charities) say they most need funding to access training for staff and volunteers.
Digital support needs
We asked charities what support they needed most in order to progress digitally. Their responses showed there were two overarching digital support needs: training and access to expert advice. They also emphasised that they can only benefit from digital support if they have capacity (time, people, headspace) to implement what they learn.
Training to develop digital skills and general knowledge
Training is the most prominent theme for digital support. Many expressed a need to learn more about what is possible with digital and to think about where to start. Charities want to upskill staff, volunteers, leaders and trustees in how to use digital tools effectively. They highlighted five areas where they were looking for training:
- Data skills and CRM use
- Making the most of their website
- Effective digital marketing
- Understanding AI tools
- Strategy development
“Training in all aspects of digital tools and support available at a basic level.”
“Training on strategy development and implementation.”
“Social Media – how to use each platform, creating effective content, analysing data.”
“To be honest, I am learning about what digital skills we could use just by doing this questionnaire. We very much prioritise face-to-face interaction, but are also aware that the world has become more digital. We need to engage our younger audience. We would love to learn about where to start, right down to the basics. A good website, good systems, thriving social media accounts. How do we do that and where do we start? How do we even form a digital presence and what can going more digital do for us?”
Expert advice and guidance
The second key need for support was advice and guidance from external consultants or digital experts. Charities want someone (who understands their organisation) to review their current digital setup, skills, strengths and weaknesses and give advice on how to improve or move forwards. Key areas for external advice include where to start with digital, developing a digital strategy, an audit of their digital tools and undertaking a digital maturity assessment.
“Consultancy to assess where we are and what next steps would have the biggest impact in a cost-effective way.”
“A website audit, support in getting a better understanding of which analytics are most important to track so we can prioritise effectively and support with best practices for SEO and paid ads.”
Data support needs
Charities most need external support to improve their storytelling with data (48%) and to better analyse and make sense of their data (45%)
We asked charities which areas of data they would ideally seek external support for (not including AI tools). Whilst the top three priorities differ for small and large charities, both agree on the need to improve their storytelling with data and to better analyse and make sense of their data.
Top priorities for large charities:
- Analysing and making sense of data (48%)
- Building a data culture (47%)
- Storytelling with data (41%)
- Data visualisation (41%)
Top priorities for small charities:
- Storytelling with data (52%)
- Website and social media analytics (50%)
- Analysing and making sense of data (43%)
- Technical skills (e.g. working with spreadsheets, survey design) (36%)
Learning about digital
51% of charities’ value sector publications and guides most when learning about digital
Charities want to access guidance from experts, as well as learning from peers
We asked charities which forms of digital support and guidance they had accessed in the last year. The most popular forms of digital support and guidance are:
- Sector publications, reports and guides about digital (51%)
- Sector newsletters and blogs (42%, significantly up from 23% in 2023)
- Advice from peers (38%, up from 31% last year)
Small charities are less likely to access learning about digital
There are some noteworthy differences between large and small charities. Namely, 20% of small charities said they had not accessed any of the guidance listed in the last year, compared to 5% of those representing large charities. The most popular forms of learning were the same. However, large charities were more likely to indicate they had benefited from each source. For example, sector publications, reports and guides were the most popular form of digital support for 70% of large charities, compared to 42% of small charities.
Infrastructure and sector support organisations play a key role
Only a small proportion of charities are learning about digital directly from local or regional infrastructure (4%), a digital/data specialist organisation (7%) or from national charities, sector bodies, second tier and infrastructure organisations (15%). However, it is worth noting that these infrastructure and sector support organisations are also producing leading sector publications, reports and guides about digital, as well as sector newsletters and blogs.
Given that 43% of charities (49% of small charities) say they most need funding to access training for staff and volunteers, there is clearly an important role for infrastructure organisations to play, which could expand further.
“We need funds and access to the latest advice, training and guidance in the form of reports, videos and low cost training courses.”
