How digital innovation is helping charities adjust to the new normal

Creating the right culture

 

For many UK charities, the rapid adoption of digital has meant the difference between success and failure. Those with cultures that embrace innovation have been best placed to adjust to the new normal of the pandemic.

 

For example, Age UK began using Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud earlier this year to support internal systems and public-facing services. Since early March, its website has been visited by over 6 million users – a significant year-on-year increase – as the charity’s older donors and supporters seek information and advice.

 

“Scaling up our infrastructure on AWS at a time when older people and their families are in urgent need of help and support has ensured we’re there when they need us the most, and in a way that manages our costs.”

 

- Alasdair Stewart, Head of National Services, Age UK

 

Age UK’s embrace of digital technology to meet the expectations of the public provides a blueprint for other charities to follow. More broadly, organisations that have successfully navigated this transition have done so by putting the needs of service users at the heart of their strategies. That means understanding their audience and engaging them though the channels they are most comfortable with.

 

Choosing the right tools

 

The tools, services and solutions a charity chooses should be based on its service users. Before you can find the right solution for your organisation, you need to know what challenges your users face. At AWS, this process is known as ‘working backwards’.

Age UK’s Silver Line helpline provides a good example of this principle in action.

 

“We’d been using an on-premises call centre in our Blackpool office for our Silver Line helpline, but it wasn’t set up or enabled to support staff or a large number of volunteers working remotely, which became essential during lockdown.”

 

- Alasdair Stewart, Head of National Services, Age UK

 

This year, many charities have had the process of digitising service delivery thrust upon them, and the experience has been easier for some than others. For example, charities working with service users at a higher risk of digital exclusion – such as elderly or homeless people – have been under greater pressure to come up with technology-led workarounds to delivery challenges.

 

“Older people have been particularly affected by coronavirus, and with many of them being asked to shield and stay at home, we knew that our locally or nationally-delivered services – such as The Silver Line – would see increasing demand over the coming weeks and months.”

 

- Alasdair Stewart, Head of National Services, Age UK

 

The challenge for Age UK was, how could the charity continue providing vital services to the elderly without physical contact? In addition, how could it scale its services to meet the surge in older people seeking reassurance and support?

 

Once these challenges were understood, the organisation looked at the personas of those it needed to help while evaluating the limitations of its existing operational processes, technology and governance measures.

 

Cloud services beckoned, but due to the demographics of its service users, Age UK could not adopt an out-of-the-box approach to service delivery. The fact was, its older service users were comfortable with telephones, and having a sympathetic listener at the end of the line was fundamental to helping them.

 

“Identifying a solution that would allow us to continue running The Silver Line 24/7 with staff working safely from home – and accommodate enough volunteers to meet peak demand – was a priority.

 

In the first few weeks of lockdown, demand for the helpline increased by 31%, but working remotely and using Amazon Connect helped us meet demand and answer more calls – meaning we were able to provide more older people with vital information, reassurance and a friendly voice.”

 

- Alasdair Stewart, Head of National Services, Age UK

 

 

Using Amazon Connect, Age UK rapidly transformed The Silver Line into a virtual call centre so remote volunteers could answer calls from home. Service users, meanwhile, could call the helpline as normal.

Furthermore, by adding the ability to volunteer remotely, Age UK made the experience even more appealing. It has opened the door to those shielding for medical reasons, as well to those with work or family commitments that precluded them from traditional voluntary work.

 

How AWS can help

 

To continue to help those in need while adjusting to the new normal, charities must change at pace and rethink elements of longstanding operating models. The successful adaption of Age UK’s Silver Line helpline highlights the flexibility of the cloud in resolving a sudden, sustained challenge which deeply affected the charity’s service users and volunteers.

 

Whether you are working to improve the performance of donor-facing websites, derive deeper insights from data via analytics, improve and personalise communications with donors and services users, or accelerate critical new research through machine learning, building on AWS Cloud makes these goals faster and easier to achieve.

 

Fundraising, engagement and delivery have all been impacted by a necessity to do things differently. AWS has a dedicated team in the UK that is helping charities to create innovation-led cultures and digital operating models. By applying Amazon’s customer-centric culture to the needs of your organisation, AWS can help you work backwards from your service users to solve their problems and make important service improvements.