Emphasising the digital in your strategy

Why put digital at the heart of strategy?

A key benefit to focusing on digital within a strategy is to ensure charities are resilient and can protect their future amid COVID-19.

• Staff need digital tools to adhere to social distancing through home and flexible working, especially as they look to cut costs on office leases.

• Donors need increasing innovative online routes to give as they stay at home more, such as through contactless payment and e-wallets.

• Finance, HR and fundraising teams need CRM and financial software platforms to manage their staff, volunteers and supporters.

• Marketing teams need social media management tools to communicate with their communities, who are online more often.

This wide range of work can only be achieved effectively by having top-level buy-in that is clearly laid out in charities’ wider strategy. This will enable charities to efficiently plan and buy software and technology support, as well as to measure the digital capabilities and skills of staff and volunteers. Perhaps outside help is needed to improve in-house resources?

Another key reason for a digital-centric strategy is compliance with data regulations, as charities need to have a clear plan in place to ensure data is protected.

A good example of a charity putting digital is at the heart of strategy is St John’s Ambulance. In August it announced strategic plans to reduce its estate, with the closure of around a third of its 352 buildings, to save money amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although focused on physical buildings, digital is still at the heart of this fresh strategy for the charity for 2020. This includes using technology to ensure its staff can work remotely. The strategy is also driven by the need to be innovative in order to continue supporting its beneficiaries and stakeholders.

“As part of this process, I will be exploring, with St John’s people, how we evolve to still meet and serve communities Chief Executive Martin Houghton-Brown.

Whether that’s using technology to better connect with people or finding partners in the community who would welcome St John, we will find new ways to continue our life saving work now, and for many years to come.”

 

- Martin Houghton-Brown – CEO, St. John’s Ambulance

Resources to help emphasise digital

There is an array of resources, tools and organisations available to help charities digitize their strategy.

Among these is Digital Leaders, an organisation which offers workshops, webinars, networking and resources to promote effective digital strategy.

Its resources include guidance on digital transformation from Alan W. Brown, Professor in Digital Economy at the University of Exeter Business School and Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute.

This outlines the importance of strategy and tips for leaders on how they can emphasis digital across their organisation.

“Great ideas need to be enacted through a strategy aligned to meeting market needs.

Successful organisations must establish a working environment that attracts the best talent, engages them effectively, grows their capabilities, and retains their services in a highly competitive marketplace for digital skills.”

- Alan W. Brown

Another useful organisation is the Charity Commission, which has guidance aimed at trustees on putting digital at the heart of strategy. This poses questions to charities such as “how could our charity use digital to put ourselves in the best position for any uncertain or challenging times ahead”.

With economic uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic the benefits of emphasising digital in strategy are clear.