How to plan for digital transformation

Digital transformation is a tricky business, particularly for charities, who must balance limited resources for new projects with increased demand for their services. The cost-of-living crisis has been just one challenge faced by the charity sector in recent years, but it has intensified the need for charities to become more operationally efficient in order to maximise their impact, while doing so within their means.  

The solution, put simply, is embracing digital. If charities have already embraced it, then they must take the next steps toward embedding it, making it an everyday part of what they do. But many charities are not there yet.  

According to a recent survey, in partnership with non-profit digital transformation experts TES, most charities are currently at the “Starting out” phase of digital transformation, meaning that they are developing their use of digital but are yet to put a strategy in place. Almost a third (32%) say they are at the “Advancing” phase, investing in digital skills and technology but not fully embedding their digital as part of their strategy overall. Only 7% of charities say they are “Advanced” - digital is integral to their strategy and embedded in everything they do.  

Putting digital at the heart of your charity’s strategy is the best way to ensure success when using digital technology, whether that’s changing the way you deliver services or optimising your online donor journeys. Using digital strategically means identifying where it is most needed, aligning it with your purpose, and allocating resources accordingly.  

Below, we explore three crucial measures that charities can take to ensure they are using digital technology in the best way to achieve their goals.  

Contact digital transformation experts TES

Strategising for success 

The TES survey, Digital Transformation in the UK Charity Sector, revealed that only around a fifth of charities had a digital strategy in place. Even fewer (17%) had an IT strategy. But research has shown that, without a strategy in place from the start, up to 70% of digital transformation projects are doomed to fail.  

When adopting a new digital tool or technology, charities should ensure they have a strategy in place that underpins how they will use it. The digital strategy should cover who will be responsible for managing the technology, who will be required to use it, and what needs to happen at different stages of implementation. Charities could also conduct a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to the new technology.  

Charities can find more resources for compiling a digital strategy here. 

Measuring performance  

Your goals should form a core part of your digital strategy, reinforcing the purpose of your technology and how it will contribute towards your charitable impact. But your goals should not only be the finished product. It is important to measure your performance at every stage of digital transformation to keep the project on track and delivering its objectives.  

Currently, too few charities are properly measuring the success of their digital projects. Only 31% of charities say their digital transformation projects had clearly defined and measurable success criteria, while 39% said they weren’t sure – suggesting that the success criteria were not clearly defined, or at least communicated, at all.  

Define each stage of implementation and set the criteria for success. Set both quantitative and qualitative goals to measure progress against. If the project falls short, it means you can be agile and change direction as needed to get the most out of your technology and prevent any time wasted on solutions that won’t work.  

You can find out more about goal-setting strategies here.

Choosing the right delivery partner 

The TES survey revealed that only 15% of charities say they have adequate internal resources to support their digital strategy. It is unsurprising, then, that seven in ten charities say they outsource some or all of their IT provision to accommodate.  

Any partners involved in your digital transformation should be also included in – and familiar with – your digital strategy. By including partners in their digital strategy, charities can accurately allocate resources, including time and money, to the project and ensure they are aligned with your goals. Charities can delegate processes they might not have time for, such as the installation of the new technology and maintenance, allowing them to dedicate more resources to their day-to-day work, which will not have stopped amid digital transformation.  

Similarly, in the event of a crisis relating to your technology, knowing who is working with it and who is responsible for managing it, can quicken your response times and limit any potential damage to your systems as a result. Charities should also look for cyber certification, such as Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO 27001, to ensure their partners prioritise cyber security to keep their data and technology secure. 

For more information on how to deliver successful digital transformation, click here to contact TES.