“I've always envied people who sleep easily. Their brains must be cleaner, the floorboards of the skull well swept, all the little monsters closed up in a steamer trunk at the foot of the bed.”
― David Benioff, City of Thieves
What “little monsters” keep charity leaders awake at night? They come in many guises: funding cuts, fierce competition, a rapidly changing and unpredictable landscape, increased regulation, negative press and rising donor expectations. A heady mix for the small hours...
Where do the solutions lie? Opinion polls and research invariably point to the transformative potential of technology. This isn’t to underplay the challenges or suggest that it’s a panacea for all that ails this crucial sector. Cultural shifts are often a necessary part of the mix too. But for those charities working immensely hard just to keep the lights on, technology has the power to shrink the monsters.
How? By bolstering fundraising, increasing operational efficiencies, enhancing marketing and PR and improving the donor experience - and more besides.
Here, we outline the value of a digital approach and share some practical tips and hand-picked resources especially for charities.
“A really strong benefit of digital is that you can reach a bigger audience more quickly, more widely and in a more scalable way."
― David Skelton, Google
Investing in tech delivers quick wins and pays long-term dividends. According to Lloyds Bank Digital Index 2017 highly digital charities are ten times more likely to save costs.
Another compelling advantage is fundraising. In the UK, it’s conservatively estimated that 25% of charitable donations are made online - via websites, apps and social media - with 21% on mobile devices.
Clearly, the untapped possibilities of mobile comms and apps are huge. By adopting digital fundraising methods some charities have seen a 600% increase in donor giving (5).
A thoughtfully designed cloud-based infrastructure can:
Read how Diabetes UK benefits from the cloud. In common with the commercial sector, many charities are on a journey to the cloud. The trend is the adoption of a hybrid model: maintaining some systems on-premise with the phased movement of others to the cloud.
There are many advantages to this iterative approach, not least of which is that a staged migration plan places less pressure on IT personnel, who are typically overstretched to start with.
We help charities navigate the myriad options to arrive at the best blend of cloud services. This includes a service wrap-around to ensure their systems are secure by design and easily accessed.
IT Lab’s interview with Microsoft is packed with tips on Building an Effective Hybrid Cloud Environment.
So that you don’t have to, we’ve been deep diving the internet to find some of the most helpful resources, articles and insights for charities. Browse them here alongside some guidance from IT Lab:
If you'd like to explore how we can help your charity to thrive in the digital age, click here to contact us.
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