The role of CEOs in digital strategy development

We live in a technology-driven world. Having a digital strategy is crucial if you don’t want to get left behind. By leveraging digital tools, data, and technology, your charity can reach more people, deliver more services, be more efficient, and potentially provide a better experience for the people you support.

CEOs: Barriers or catalysts?

A CEO, or the senior leadership team, can either help or hinder the development and implementation of a digital strategy. Some of the ways that they can be a barrier to developing a digital strategy is by being resistant to change, not seeing the value in digital and the opportunities it offers, and therefore not allocating sufficient budget or resources to it.

A CEO who is a catalyst to digital transformation is someone who ‘gets’ the importance of digital and who values it, even if they may not be highly skilled in digital themselves. Senior leaders who champion the role of digital, will help ensure the longevity of their organisation.

How a CEO can support delivery of a digital strategy

There are a number of things that a CEO, senior leaders, or trustees can do to support the creation, development and implementation of a digital strategy.

Understand the importance of the role of digital in futureproofing

You don’t need to be a digital expert, but you do need to understand the relevance and importance of digital in ensuring the future of the organisation. Read up on the latest digital trends, case studies on successful digital transformation, and speak to people within the organisation (or outside the organisation/sector) who are responsible for digital, to enhance your knowledge and understanding.

Align with the organisational strategy

A digital strategy cannot exist in isolation. The organisational strategy and the digital strategy need to be working together to achieve the same goals. By aligning the strategies, it not only creates a vision for the organisation but can help to identify and prioritise what is most important, and will be most effective, in helping the organisation reach its goals.

Allocate sufficient budget (and then some)

There’s no point having a digital strategy if you don’t have money to put it into action. A solid budget will be needed to:

●     Buy or upgrade software and hardware

●     Replace outdated systems

●     Invest in training to upskill staff

●     Recruit skilled digital staff

●     Invest in innovation

●     Execute digital marketing strategies

A CEO, and trustees, who recognise the investment needed to deliver a digital strategy and allocate sufficient budget, will help ensure their charities stay relevant and competitive.

It’s crucial that budget is allocated annually for digital development and activities. It is not a ‘one-off’ for a strategy.

Trust your team

Your digital team, or the consultants you hire, are the experts. They have the technical knowledge, skills, experience and expertise to develop a digital strategy. They will be able to look at the organisational strategy and identify the business objectives that can be delivered through digital.

If they are employees, by knowing the organisation inside out, they will have a good understanding of what is achievable with both the budget and resources allocated to the execution of the strategy, as well as the appetite for innovation.

Encourage innovation

True digital transformation requires testing and learning. Innovation will only happen when people have permission to experiment, to test, to potentially fail, and to learn. CEOs can foster a culture of innovation by building in a ‘test and learn’ budget and giving people permission to fail.

Lead by example

The culture of an organisation is set by the leadership team. When it comes to getting the organisation to embrace digital, a CEO can do this by leading by example.

Communicate the importance and need for a digital strategy by speaking to staff in a town hall, via a video message, an email or a blog post on the intranet. If new technology is being implemented, attend training and actively embrace and use the technology. Encourage digital champions within teams and be one too.

Promote transparency

Even with a great digital strategy, the delivery will not always go smoothly. The nature of digital is that it’s fast paced and constantly evolving.

CEOs can share digital milestones (or encourage digital teams to share) and give praise and recognition where it’s due. But they should also share what hasn’t gone well and what lessons have been learned. This fosters a culture of transparency and honesty.

Introducing the Digital Strategy Accelerator

The Digital Strategy Accelerator, formed from the partnership between Dot Project and Charity Digital, with funding from identity solution experts Okta, is designed to help charities design an effective strategy. 

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. Or simply register your interest below.