Digital First Steps for Your Small Charity

It’s 2025 and you’re probably well aware of the increasing need for charities to move towards digital.  In our latest research, in the Digital Skills Report 2023, 60% of charities reported that they will find it harder to do what they do without improving their digital capabilities.

Without a digital transition the charitable sector, and our communities that rely on them, are at risk. This threat is biggest for small charities who make up the majority of our charitable landscape. In our new blog series, we’ll be publishing bitesize pieces from our upcoming eBook on Digital First Steps for Your Small Charity. In this first blog, we will discuss getting into the right mindset and developing digital goals that serve your mission and purpose.

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Getting Everyone On Board

Digital transformation requires more than just new tools; it requires a shift in mindset. Many of us working in fundraising, program delivery etc. may not see it as our role to adopt digital. But, taking ownership of it collectively is where it becomes transformative. An I.T. consultant that is brought in can offer support but they cannot ensure long-term adoption and continued digital transformation the same way a cultural shift within the organization can. 

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Establish a Cross-Functional Team:  

They don’t have to know everything but establishing a team that can dedicate time and has the authority to drive implementation across the organization would be important for a project as big as digital transformation.

Get the buy-in of your Leadership:

To get time and budget, you’ll need the buy-in of leadership. Explain why digital solutions are necessary and the consequences of inaction. Highlight both explicit costs (like cybersecurity risks) and implicit costs (missed opportunities and inefficiencies).

Involve Your Staff:

Top-down initiatives rarely succeed without employee buy-in. Educate staff on the need for change and involve them in finding the solutions. Getting feedback from all staff reveals overlooked areas and prevents siloing.

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As you may imagine, digital transformation is not a one-and-done type of project. Ensure you regularly ask for feedback to ensure the process is working for everyone.

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2. Define Your Goals and Scope

In tandem with getting buy-in, you need to have a clear vision. In other words, what are people buying into? 

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Assess Your Current State:

Identify your current challenges and associated tech stack. If you’re in the early stages of digitization, you can take a step back and analyze your manual processes. Dividing your organization into functional areas can make this a more manageable task:

• Operations (core operational system, file management, finance, HR etc.)
• Engagement (email marketing, communications tools, social media, website) 
• Fundraising (donation forms, donor management, tax receipting, grant and funding opportunities, major gifts) 
• Program delivery (this can vary a lot from charity to charity but could include case management, impact reporting, learning management system)

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Gather feedback from those closest to each process. Use best practice guides to ensure you're asking the right questions. 

Example questions for your core operation system:

• What day-to-day functions do you use it for?
• Is it well organized and easy to navigate?
• Is it secure with tiered access?
• Does it have sufficient storage?
• Does it support real-time collaboration and a history of edits?
• Does it integrate with other tools?
• Does it automate time-consuming tasks?

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Prioritize Improvements:

Out of this exercise you will find many things that you and your team could work on. To make it less overwhelming, you can prioritize based on areas with the greatest impact, considering complexity, duration, and cost. You may also wish to tackle some "quick wins" alongside larger projects to demonstrate progress and encourage further investment.

Define Scope: 

Don't overwhelm your team. Change is difficult and you don’t want to do it all in once. It’s perfectly ok to define scope and let people know if that “program delivery intake cannot be digitized in this quarter.” Phasing in changes gradually can actually help to manage growing pains and help you identify any issues before rolling it out more widely.

Understand the Purpose: 

For each digital goal, define the why and the what/how of the digital solution. This can help provide clarity to your stakeholders about why you’re pursuing one digital goal over another and keep the team aware of the big picture purpose for the implementation. This can be especially helpful when you’re looking at technology requirements.

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Make the goals SMART:

• Specific: What needs to be accomplished and why?
• Measurable: How will progress be tracked (time saved, user adoption, etc.)?
• Achievable: Is it feasible with your resources and priorities?
• Relevant: Does it align with your needs assessment?
• Time-Bound: What's the expected completion date?

Example SMART Goal: "Implement a cloud-based office productivity platform across the organization this quarter, resulting in a 25% reduction in time spent on manual tasks."

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Transitioning towards digital involves both a culture change and a tangible plan that provides clarity on what the purpose and benefits are; these go hand in hand. Establishing a digital plan is essential to getting started but it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing endeavour. Defining small, achievable digital goals help your organization move towards a more digital-first mindset and build willingness in your organization to develop the digital skills needed.

If you found this blog helpful, be sure to check out the eBook: Digital First Steps for Your Small Charity or check out the other blogs in this series:

1. Digital First Steps for Your Small Charity
2. ‍Key Digital Tools for Your Small Charity
3. Coming Soon!