A trustee guide to the Code of Practice

A trustee’s role is to point the ship in the right direction, ensuring that the charity is fulfilling its objectives in a financially sustainable way. As part of this, while not always digital experts, trustees are also responsible for weighing up the opportunities and risks of digital technologies for the charity. 

Helping charities make the most of digital involves leading by example, with trustees using digital in their own work, understanding trends, and keeping up with developments in the digital world.

With digital technology changing how many people live and work in recent years, the newly updated Charity Digital Code of Practice (Code) is here to help.  

The Code guides charities on how to adopt digital technologies responsibly, ethically, and inclusively, ultimately helping them run more effectively, connect with people, and achieve their missions.

It consists of eight key principles for how charities should use digital technologies today, outlining the practical steps towards best practice.  

The updated Code includes guidance on emerging tech like artificial intelligence (AI) and equips readers with the tools to make the most of them, while avoiding social harms and organisational risks. No matter the charity, its size, its available budget, or its cause, the Code is for you. 

In this article, we explore how trustees can use the Charity Digital Code of Practice to help charities rise to the digital opportunities and challenges of today to achieve even greater impact. 

Keeping purpose front of mind 

Trustees deal well with the serious discussions that need to happen for a charity to stay afloat, and better yet, to thrive. To be effective, these deep and dense discussions need to be grounded in how potential changes will materially help the charity and its cause.  

In the Code, we’ve explored “Why this matters” for each principle, to help charity trustees and leaders contextualise how digital actions will make a material difference. 

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Having a shared ideal 

Dealing with complexity with limited time for discussion over the course of the year, trustees can benefit from the shared ideal offered by the Code.  

Using the Code’s eight principles, trustee boards can work with charity leaders to form strategic priorities as appropriate to the charity, its mission, and its current circumstances. We have created separate versions for smaller charities and larger charities to keep our guidance as specific as possible, based on extensive consultation across the sector with charities of all sizes. 

The Code ensures that trustees with different backgrounds and perspectives can agree on a single reference-point to work from when envisioning success, shortening the path towards making the most of digital. 

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Reaching the same level of understanding 

Charity trustees can vary vastly in digital skills and experience, with each likely to have a different area and level of digital expertise. This variety is what makes an effective board. But in order to effectively advise a charity leadership team, to weigh up pros and cons amongst the group, it is helpful for multiple trustees to be able to meet the same level of understanding in key aspects of operations. 

Using simple language and a clear structure, the Code details the key areas for trustees to understand when advising on digital matters. It quickly introduces trustees to what they need to know by getting to the crux of each area, explaining for each of the eight principles “Why this matters”, “What success looks like” and “Best practice”.  

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Reviewing progress 

Effectively using digital tech means continually testing, learning, and improving as you go. The Code offers a framework to help trustees review progress with charity leadership teams. The “What success looks like” sections throughout the Code gives a clear image against which to measure progress at board meetings. 

A positive challenge 

Digital can help charities tackle the biggest challenges they face, thereby lessening the pressure to move towards their goals. The eight principles covered in the Code (leadership, user-led, culture, strategy, data, skills, risk, and adaptability) are designed to do just that. 

What’s more, the guidelines are ambitious to give leaders and trustees a positive challenge, allowing them to move beyond surviving and into thriving, moving beyond the charity’s current circumstances and into its vision of the future.