I’ve been speaking about the need for charities to prioritize digital transformation for years, both in response to demographic shifts and changing donor preferences, and to help charities avoid being left behind during this digital era. The challenges created by profound technology disruptions are all around us, and also offer opportunities not previously thought possible. While there are those in the sector who have understood the urgency for many years, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the catalyst for the organizations that have been slower to adapt.
However, despite the acceleration of all things digital that came out of the pandemic, the charitable sector continues to face significant barriers in transitioning to digital tools. Finally we have Canadian data to quantify this and make the case for critical investment in the sector.
The new Digital Skills Survey from CanadaHelps provides much needed baseline data about digital readiness in the sector. While a charity’s ability to digitally transform impacts revenue, it also expands a charity’s organizational capacity, future growth, and helps meet the demands of a changing and digitally savvy donor landscape.
In the for-profit sector, businesses everywhere are struggling with this problem as well. The differences, of course, are the resources available to businesses to do this and the expectations that businesses should spend money on digital transformation in order to stay competitive.
This is not the mindset of the charitable sector or those who fund it. The majority of charities believe digital adoption is important, yet more than two thirds of charities indicate that adopting digital technology is not a top priority as they contend with understaffing, revenue declines, and growing demand for services – much of which could be more efficiently and effectively managed through digital technology. Unsurprisingly, 1 in 3 charities believe that they’ll soon find it harder to continue their work if they don’t improve their digital capabilities.
Why is this data important for the sector?
Knowing more about where charities are at now and what’s holding them back from success will be key in advocating for support they need from donors, funders, and government. More than 55% of respondents say they either don’t have enough funding or the skills, expertise, and knowledge for greater use of digital tools. This is an incredibly worrisome stat given the immense importance charities play in Canadian society — if charities cannot keep up in our digital society, they will fail. We must move funding conversations beyond just program funding and into discussions of what charities need to thrive and deliver more impact.
Internally, charities need to look at their own gaps and prioritize areas of investment as an essential first step in digital transformation. Having data from the sector gives charities something to benchmark against, and also an idea of the questions to ask themselves. Charities also need to change their own mindsets about investing in themselves, getting the buy-in and building the skills of the board and staff. A scarcity mindset just won’t do anymore.
Where to start
If the very idea of digital transformation, or even building digital skills, is daunting to you, you’re not alone. The majority of charities we surveyed rated their skill level as “fair”, “poor”, or “not aware” regarding 12 of 15 digital tools.
As I wrote in February, digital first thinking is critical to digital transformation success, and it should be a holistic strategy. But you don’t need to transform everything overnight. Identify manageable steps. There are straightforward ways you can invest in your online fundraising, as well as key digital tools for charities that your organization could be taking advantage of:
Like much of the work done in the sector, telling the story of need is a critical piece of resource development and engagement. I hope this report will help all Canadians better understand how they can help the charitable sector, and will encourage charities to take the first step in their transformation journeys. Read the full results from the survey here.
Marina Glogovac is President & CEO of CanadaHelps, a leader in providing powerful fundraising and donation technology to charities and donors since 2000. Marina has been a technology and media executive for more than 25 years, including roles at Kobo, Lavalife Corp. and St. Joseph’s Media. www.canadahelps.org
