Introducing the Digital Strategy Accelerator

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Digital strategies streamline processes, maximise tech capabilities, extend reach and visibility, and accelerate fundraising. They improve transparency and ensure internal buy-in across charity teams. Digital strategies guide decision-making and deliver against a shared vision. They are, in the simplest terms, essential.

But many charities struggle to develop, embed, and execute an effective digital strategy. The most common roadblock is resource – or lack of resource. Charities are often strapped for time, struggling to navigate a full workload. As strategies are often perceived to yield positive results in the long-term, they are not seen as a priority and take a back seat to immediate service user demands.

Another common roadblock is lack of knowledge or awareness. Charities often don’t know they need a digital strategy at all – and many more do not know how a digital strategy should look, how it should be used, or even what a digital strategy should aim to achieve.

The Digital Strategy Accelerator, formed from the partnership between Dot Project and Charity Digital, with funding from identity solution experts Okta, is designed to overcome such roadblocks.

Together we launched the Accelerator in 2022 and over the last two years more than 15 charity teams have developed their digital strategies, supported by expert mentorship, collective learning sessions, and practical tools. Participation in the Accelerator has led to long-term and lasting organisational change, built digital confidence and capabilities for more than 60 participants, and increased overall digital skills.

Now we want to go further. Throughout the last two years we continuously heard how hard it is for teams to commit to a set 12-month curriculum and learning sessions. That’s why we’re creating a self-led learning platform, with mentoring capabilities, that allows charity teams to go through the programme at their own pace and schedule.

Below we share a bit more about how we developed the idea of a Digital Strategy Accelerator, why we believe in the latest iteration, and how you can get involved!

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Digital Strategy Accelerator: The past

Our journey started in 2022. Dot Project and Charity Digital collaborated with Okta for Good, with the expressed goal of building the resilience of charities.

Our initial ambition was to pilot a three-year support Accelerator, helping organisations to embed, deliver, and maintain their digital strategy and roadmap.

At the heart of the accelerator was our insight that organisations needed sustained and flexible support over a prolonged period to achieve real and long-lasting digital change. 

Year One of the Accelerator, in 2022, proved a huge success, supporting 12 organisations with mentoring and guidance to build their digital strategy. Year Two of the Accelerator, in 2023, supported 10 organisations, who already had a digital strategy to successfully embed that strategy and deliver against their roadmap.

To achieve this we supported the organisations with regular cohort sessions, a buddy system that connected peers, and an incredible 280 hours of mentoring.

Both Accelerators helped to create critical shifts in organisations. We heard from participating charities that they became more confident in decision-making and more positive towards digital capabilities. Their digital strategies became more strongly aligned to organisational goals. 

More than two-thirds (70%) of participants said the Accelerator allowed them to implement positive digital practices, which led to significant benefits to their organisations. And 90% noticed an increase in overall digital skills.

We are proud of the progress that organisations made. One attendee from The Wildlife Trust, for example, explained: “We now have clarity and focus of what needs to be done to achieve the transformation that is needed.”

Another from Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland said: “[The Accelerator] has reframed some of my thinking and reinforced other parts of it. From a personal development outlook, it has helped so much with understanding strategy and people.”

Overall, 95% of respondents would recommend the Accelerator to other organisations.

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Digital Strategy Accelerator: The present

One of our core design principles has always been to listen, learn, and iterate. Across Year One and Year Two, we continuously iterated and optimised based on the feedback of participants. At the end of the second iteration of the Accelerator we decided to take time to review all of our key learnings before moving into the next accelerator iteration

Lessons from past Accelerators

It has become clear, based on our experience over the past two years, that successful digital strategies require leadership involvement. CEOs are often a key ingredient to achieving lasting digital success. They can also be a barrier to success.

So we decided that CEOs need to feature in our next iteration of the Digital Strategy Accelerator, allowing wider organisational buy-in and a greater opportunity for success.

Another key learning revolved around access. We learned that it was difficult for teams to commit to a set schedule with a set curriculum. Our ambition for year three is to design a more flexible programme, allowing participants to progress at their own pace and schedule.

A digital learning platform

Our vision is a hybrid programme, one that marries the ease-of-access of the digital learning platform with the support of real-life mentoring and community support.

That’s why we’ve decided to introduce a digital learning platform for Year Three. Such a platform will allow round-the-clock access to helpful guidance, training, and tools, with more in-depth help and support available at times that suit participants.

Design support from a panel of experts

We realised that we needed some help from experts. So we’ve enlisted the support of a Steering Group to bring new ideas, wisdom, and to challenge our assumptions.

We’re delighted to welcome Ekaterina Mateeva. Ekaterina is an award-winning entrepreneur, linguist, and educator with more than 15 years of teaching and e-learning experience. Ekaterina has developed more than 50 virtual courses for learners and teachers, as well as myriad apps and platforms for self-paced and synchronous learning. Ekaterina’s wealth of expertise will support our Accelerator, with special contributions around learning design.

David Ivell will primarily support the tech side of the Accelerator. David has held a range of high-profile CIO and CTO roles, including with Credit Suisse, IBM, The Prince’s Trust, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and the British Film Institute. David is a hands-on leader, with a passion for using tech innovation to drive social change. David’s experience will allow us to define the key ingredients of a digital strategy and think carefully about how to best meet charity tech needs.

Our final member, Chris Martin, is the CEO at The Mix, a multi-issue advice service working exclusively through virtual channels. The Mix reaches 6.5 million people under the age of 25 every year. Chris is passionate about using tech for social good and maintains a number of advisory positions relating to youth, mental health, and the use of digital. Chris’s experience will help us to reach more members of senior leadership and involve them in the Accelerator.

The Steering Group have already provided a great contribution to the design of the Accelerator and we look forward to our continued collaboration.

Defining the next Accelerator

We’re using the varied knowledge of the teams at Dot Project and Charity Digital, lessons from the past Accelerators, and expertise from our Steering Group to create a hybrid accelerator that marries digital learning and in-depth mentorship.

We are currently in the midst of the discovery phase, in which we conduct research, bring together ideas, and think about the plausible, the possible, and the impossible. But the Accelerator will soon go live – and that’s where you come in!

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Digital Strategy Accelerator: The future

The next iteration of the Digital Strategy Accelerator is the most exciting yet, combining the lessons of the past with present knowledge to excel in the future.

We will create a learning platform that provides practical lessons leading to long-lasting organisational change. The Accelerator will give you the tools to create and implement a robust digital strategy.

You can get involved today. For charities hoping to reap the benefits of the Accelerator, please register interest by subscribing to our newsletter. Or check out the content on the Digital Strategy Accelerator Hub in the coming days, weeks, and months.

If you are interested in funding the Accelerator, or if you have any other ways of showing support, please get in touch directly via email using the button below. The longevity of the Accelerator depends on the generosity of funders – allowing us to help as many charities as possible.

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The Digital Strategy Accelerator, created by the partnership between Dot Project and Charity Digital, with funding from Okta, has already built digital confidence and capabilities in the charity sector. Our aim is to go further. Our ambitions are huge.

We hope you join us on the journey.