The ultimate guide to creating a digital strategy

Understand your starting position

 

The act of creating a digital strategy might seem a little daunting, but really only requires a few simple steps. The first and perhaps most obvious step is understanding your own position.

 

A digital strategy cannot exist in isolation – every charity, regardless of shape or size, needs to consider current capabilities, potential resources, general mission, and any other strategic goals. The first step, therefore, is to establish a baseline that broadly demonstrates your current use of digital and your current digital responsibilities.

 

There are plenty of routes to determining your digital baseline. Each of the different routes can be used individually, or together. Here are some possibilities.

 

 

Business process mapping

 

Mapping involves listing the digital applications that you currently use for each of your processes. For each application, you should take note of certain criteria, such as age, effectiveness, usefulness, environmental cost, general cost, and so on.

 

You should define the criteria based on your vision. The mapping process will give you an overview of the digital tools, software, and hardware that you currently use and should demonstrate weaker areas, as well as areas that do not need further attention.

 

 

Digital maturity assessment

 

The digital maturity assessment is a good way of benchmarking your current digital output against the rest of the sector. It can also help you to measure your progress over time, which is an essential facet of a successful digital strategy, especially when you’re establishing goals – which we will explore in detail later.

 

There are plenty of options to support digital maturity assessments online. Below we look at three of the best for charities:

 

The NCVO Digital Maturity Matrix: Built in 2015, the checklist provides insight into necessary nuts and bolts needed for an effective and successful digital operation. The latest version, now owned by the NCVO, has been redesigned to be useful to as many charities as possible.

 

Digital Maturity Framework: This tool helps charities to measure how ready they are to transform digitally, evaluating the charity against fifteen key competencies. The test is designed to be useful to both digital leaders and employees across the organisation.

 

Data Maturity Assessment Tool: Produced by data and research social enterprise Data Orchard, the tool works to find out the data maturity of charities, using five stages of digital progress, from being unaware, to emerging, learning, developing, then mastering.

 

There are plenty of other options online, many of which are digital, free, and easily accessible. Find the one that gives you the information you need. Remember that audits are supposed to identify weaknesses, so try to remove any biases when reviewing the results. And, importantly, let the results, however startling or daunting, inform your digital strategy.

 

 

Digital skills audit

 

Similar to the above, but with a focus on skills across your organisation. You could have the best digital and tech in the world, but it would be useless without knowledge of application.

 

A digital skills audit pinpoints weaknesses in your organisation, which you can use to inform your strategy. Remember that training should be a key part of your strategy. You should aim not simply for the right tech, but the right skills to use the right tech.

 

There are a couple of decent options online. One brilliant tool for a digital skills audit is the Digital Check-up, created by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. The tool allows charities to map digital capabilities through questions exploring the skills of staff and volunteers.

 

For more information, check out our article: How to conduct a digital skills audit.

 

 

SWOT analysis

 

The SWOT analysis is a tried-and-tested route to identifying strengths and weaknesses. The method can be easily applied to digital. SWOT stands for ‘Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats’ – and it helps charities to identify all of them.

 

Simply put, SWOT analysis is presented in four square quadrants, each dedicated to one element of SWOT, and charities can simply assign digital processes to different quadrants, discuss the assignment, rank the processes, and draw action points at the conclusion.

 

By identifying digital strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, charities should be able to clearly see areas of digital improvement and areas where improvement is not necessary. And, by applying a ranking system, you should have some particularly strong information that can help when you’re establishing your goals.

 

 

Management software

 

Using the above, you’ll have already accumulated lots of information – and you’ll need even more. So it might be a good idea to start tracking progress and consolidating that information in one centralised place. Some tech-savvy charities may opt for strategic management software, but that can be expensive and overly complex.

 

A better (and cheaper) option might be project management software. You could, for example, set up a free Trello board where you can add the strategy as a project and add cards for the various elements needed, giving deadlines to help you track time. You can then link out to research, providing information on user needs, goals, and eventually the final strategy.

 

Wherever you choose to keep information, ensure that all stakeholders have access to it. At the very least, if you decide against any form of management software, you should have shared folders, likely cloud-based folders, that have all the necessary information available, even if that’s in a variety of Word and Excel spreadsheets.

 

 

Keep track of digital trends

 

It’s vital that charities, when developing a digital strategy, keep up with both technology trends – such as progress with artificial intelligence and virtual reality, increasing speed on mobile devices, new software and hardware updates, and so on – and wider demographic trends, particularly shifts in digital behaviours of certain groups.

 

By keeping abreast of trends, charities will be able to notice opportunities and risks, offering them a greater understanding of the market. Opportunities include:

• Extending services across geographical boundaries
• Creating better service options for users
• Providing differentiated service options
• Reducing costs with new digital enhancements

Marry demographic trends with tech trends to make the most of opportunities. So, for example, we know that people under 25 show a clear preference for text or chat interaction, rather than voice calls. If charities are increasingly working with that demographic, it might be worth pivoting towards more interactive websites, perhaps even installing a chatbot.

 

That is all information that you can use to define your digital strategy.

 

 

Resources to help you keep up with trends

 

It is essential that, prior to actually writing your digital strategy, you consider the trends. There are plenty of resources available that help you ensure that knowledge of the latest tech and demographic trends play a role in your charity. Here are just a few:

 

We Are Social: The We Are Social digital report, published in partnership with Hootsuite, looks at a variety of themes and exposes general trends. It provides data on digital from across many different countries, including data on the use of mobile devices, social media, and more.

 

Ofcom Communications Market: The Communications Market Report is an interactive data portal that allows users to interrogate data collected from Ofcom, consumer research, and headline figures from selected third parties. The report covers digital usage, the mediums that are being used, connection speeds, and much more.

 

Nielsen Digital Insights: Nielsen releases various reports that highlight the behaviours, attitudes, and perspectives of consumers, which could help you understand the ways people are using digital. The reports tackle individual subjects in detail, which will be particularly helpful if you’re looking for more information on specific digital trends.

 

For charity-specific trends relating to digital, check out some of our friends, including Cast, Catalyst, The NCVO, and many others. And, of course, check out the Charity Digital website for lots of informative articles, videos, webinars, podcasts, and more.

 

 

Define user needs

 

Defining user needs is essential for any charity, as your users are your raison d’être. And by focussing on users, you’ll notice many benefits. Among other things, centring on user needs:

• Allows you to create more effective products and services
• Gives your goals, your mission, and your strategy greater direction
• Allows for more informed and more targeted decision-making
• Encourages greater empathy throughout your organisation

Without user research, charities often make assumptions about the digital tools and digital skills that they will need. The assumption can lead to wasted resources, wasted time, and results that do not provide the best possible experience for users.

 

Focussing on user needs helps you fine-tune your strategy. Remember, too, that the process of researching user needs should be iterative, with constant revision. Just because your user needs are established at one moment in time, that does not mean they cannot change.

 

There are a few easy strategies that you can use to establish user needs. Here we look at three ways to really concentrate on your user needs through quantitative research, qualitative research, and the establishment of user personas.

 

 

Quantitative research

 

To determine user needs and desires, start by using the information you already have – and you likely have lots. Charities can check out data from past events, membership data, sign-ups, social interactions, and so on.

 

Ensure you have legal consent to use the data and ensure you are always using the data ethically. Then, you can use each piece of small information to gain a better understanding of the content that resonates with users – and what you might be missing.

 

So, for example, you could check what articles or blogs have been successful. You can look on CRMs to find out various attributes associated with your users. Brainstorm with your team and think about where data might be found, as it’s not always in the most obvious places.

 

After uncovering quantitative data, you may wish to go further and combine that data with some research of your own – qualitative data.

 

For more detailed information on data analytics, check out some of our articles:

 

Data analytics 101

How to simplify your data

Data analytics trends for 2022

 

 

Qualitative research

 

Qualitative data can help you fill gaps in quantitative data. So, for example, you could survey your users – through email, socials, or even face-to-face – and ask them basic questions about your present situation. Where is there room for improvement in your services? What changes would prove most helpful? How can your charity be more accommodating?

 

The key to qualitative research is to think carefully about the information you need. Do not simply ask the expected questions – ask the questions that will best inform your digital strategy, the questions that will lead to effective improvements in your services.

 

 

User personas

 

User personas are fictional representations of your users. User personas serve many benefits, helping you to understand users, establish goals with users in mind, consider your digital capacity to help users, and so much more.

 

User personas are created through research, preferably a mix of quantitative and qualitative data. So, gather the above information and start to build personas, but always keep in mind your broad ambitions. If fundraising is an area of improvement for your charity, perhaps you will want to create user personas that directly support the raising of funds.

 

You can choose nicknames to represent your fictional digital personas. One user persona could be twenty-five-year-old Mike, from Sudbury, who is active on social media and more likely to donate to local charities. Mike broadly represents the needs, desires, and attributes of a segment of your users. So, when you make decisions in your strategy, you can think about Mike (and other personas), rather than vaguely making assumptions about your users.

 

Or you could use actual fictional characters to broadly represent your user personas – for example, you could use names from TV programmes or classic literature with broader definitions. Do not be afraid to be playful – memorable personas are more likely to be applied by the team. Remember that personas are simply meant to inform strategy goals, to help you make better decisions without constantly referring to huge swathes of data.

 

Creating user personas can be quite laborious. One efficient option is to use one of the many templates that are available online. Here are two from Miro and Hootsuite.

 

 

Establish your goals

 

So you’ve tracked your current position, understood digital trends, and researched your user needs. Now you can think about establishing goals. Use all the information you have, get all stakeholders involved, and start another brainstorming session.

 

Goals can start broad but always be mindful of the research and preparation you’ve already done. Narrow down your goals. You need to make sure your goals are clear, effective, transparent, and accessible to all stakeholders – and goal-setting strategies can help.

 

For a more detailed analysis, check out: How to define digital strategy goals

 

 

Goal-setting strategies

 

One easy way to ensure the above is to use goal-setting strategies. We regularly suggest using the SMART criteria, ensuring all your strategy goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timed. That’s a tried-and-tested goal-setting strategy, but it is not the only one.

 

Consider, for example, FAST goals. FAST goals aim to accelerate your team’s performance by applying the following principles:

• Frequently discussed: Goals should encourage ongoing discussions and goals should be made into an integral part of both team meetings, 1:1 meetings, and OKRs
• Ambitious: Goals should stretch the team – challenging but not impossible
• Specific: As with the S in SMART, goals should be specific, and everyone should be clear about what is required to achieve the goal
• Transparent: Goals should be completely visible and should allow for complete accountability across the organisation

The are other alternatives goal-setting strategies to SMART and FAST – such as SMARTER, CLEAR, HARD, WISE, and many other acronym-based examples.

 

As ever, pick the strategy that best suits the needs of your charity. And remember that goal-setting strategies should add clarity and accuracy to your goals but should not constrict.

 

 

The five Ws

 

The five Ws are often associated with journalism. The purpose of the five Ws is to paint the clearest possible picture, including all the essential information, which can prove helpful when charities are defining and refining their goals.

 

The five Ws help you to pinpoint any blind spots, consider responsibilities, further consolidate timings, think about the rationale behind your decisions, and so much more. So, ask yourself:

• Who will be involved at each stage – designate roles for team members, leaders, etc
• What you need to complete at each stage – examine resources, projected resources, etc
• Where each stage will be complete – on which platforms, channels, socials, etc
• When each stage will be completed by – set timings, flexibility, etc
• Why you’ve set the above – determining factors, economic environment, etc

Use the above to add further clarity to your strategy goals. And remember that it’s better to fine-tune at this stage than push forward despite absence of clarity. The tighter and more comprehensive your digital strategy goals, the more likely you are to achieve future success.

 

 

Actually write the strategy

 

Once you’ve got clear goals, determined by user needs, current resources, digital trends, and more, then you can actually start putting together a strategy that looks professional. You can follow some simple steps, as we outline below.

 

 

Pick the format

 

The format is whatever works best across the organisation. The digital strategy should be digital, though it would likely be helpful to have the option to print. Perhaps using Microsoft Word or even PowerPoint are the best and easiest options, using a mixture of images and other visuals to support the writing. But other options are available, such as the use of Canva or Smartsheet.

 

For the tech-savvy, you might consider strategic planning software, as mentioned above. Strategic planning software lets stakeholders decide on strategies and investments, monitor and measure progress, and easily make adjustments, all in one centralised location.

 

 

Start writing

 

It’s likely best, for consistency and ease, for one person to take responsibility for the actual act of writing the digital strategy. That does not mean one person has to write every word, but rather one person should take information from across teams and ensure it has a consistent look and feel.

 

What you don’t want is a strategy that includes various different visual presentations, different tone of voice, sections of different lengths, and so on. The writer should ensure that the information is presented efficiently, consistently, and with excess information removed.

 

It’s a big task, so afford that person the space and time to put everything together. And ensure the entire team is ready to ask questions and review wherever necessary.

 

 

Clearly assign roles

 

Digital strategies can be long and laborious, so it’s best to ensure you have roles set out clearly to lighten the load. Wherever possible, allude to the employees that vaguely hold responsibility for areas of the strategy, perhaps by simply assigning initials.

 

In addition, always aim to have multiple team members involved in tasks, even if only reviewing, as that will increase accountability and ownership. The writer can assign roles as they are writing the document.

 

 

Edit and edit again

 

The writer should perform the initial edit of the document, looking over the writing to ensure it’s consistent and presented as clearly and concisely as possible. Then it should go round to all stakeholders for a further edit.

 

Stakeholders do not need to quibble over grammar, but instead focus on detail, especially relating to individual areas of expertise. The writer of the strategy has likely standardised and consolidated lots of disparate information, so team members will need to confirm that it is all accurate and clear.

 

Once the strategy is in a place where it’s in a written final draft, after the team has checked everything, the writer should put it aside for a week or so and then edit with fresh eyes. That will allow them more clarity and likely lead them to notice mistakes they missed because they were too close.

 

 

Proofread

 

Once you’ve got the final draft, enlist someone from outside the team to proofread. Big charities likely have some options, with other employees who have the right skillset. For smaller charities, you can perhaps reach out to volunteers or, if possible, pay a proofreader to scan the document. Remember to ensure tracked changes are always turned on, so that you can see what’s been amended.

 

 

Share final strategy

 

You might want to consider enlisting a designer to jazz up your strategy, making it more appealing and more user-friendly. That is not essential, however. Just ensure that it’s readable and that all members of the team understand the contents.

 

Then you can either present the strategy or simply give everyone time to read over. You could post in a shared folder, on the cloud, or on the intranet, whichever works best. Make sure the digital strategy is easily accessible and every person can access whenever needed.

 

 

Review, revise, re-write

 

You now have an official digital strategy. You’ve done your research, looked at your capabilities, explored digital trends, understood user needs, established goals, and actually written the document. You may have even enlisted a professional proofreader, added a few design elements, and given it some fancy imagery. So now you’re done, right?

 

Not quite. An effective digital strategy is a moving target. It is always evolving. And your approach should be no different. You will have to move with trends, notice patterns in the data, and adjust accordingly.

 

You will have to make changes as the sector changes, as digital changes, as society generally changes. Digital strategies will grow stale and unusable if they’re not updated, so it’s essential that your regularly review, revise, and re-write.

 

For more information, check out our website, or watch our video on the subject: