Over half of charities have no digital strategy

The survey addressed the attitudes of over 1,200 non-profits of various sizes and their attitudes towards digital technology and the training that they would consider most beneficial in the future. 17% said that “a better understanding of digital technology” would be the most helpful in meeting their strategic goals, though, of this number, 70% of them also said that they had no plans to invest in digital training.

Furthermore, only 45% of the charities surveyed felt confident in their cybersecurity systems in place. The smaller the non-profit, the smaller this percentage becomes, with only 15% of micro-organisations confident in their ability to protect against cyber attacks.

This survey demonstrates that there are numerous opportunities as well as challenges still facing charities coming into 2018, as the digital world becomes increasingly important in our daily lives. As funding to the charity sector is continuously cut, it’s up to charities to find innovative ways to promote themselves, and digital solutions can offer this to proactive non-profits.

With the GDPR deadline approaching, cybersecurity is more essential than ever before, so the amount of charities concerned about cyber breaches is concerning. Eleven charities were fined in 2017 by ICO for cybersecurity breaches and outdated systems in the NHS were hit by a virus that cost thousands.

Unfortunately, the survey highlighted a widening gap between charities with tech-savvy trustees and executives versus the majority who do not, with the latter falling behind and not confident enough to grab hold of the excellent opportunity to make an impact digitally and reach a new audience.

The good news is that technology is easier to embrace than ever before, and many software providers offer free training programmes to get you started, and the success of those charities who have embraced technology as a larger part of their fundraising is seeing the most results.