How to understand your digital landscape

The information in this article comes from the Charity Digital Strategy Accelerator (CDSA), a free and interactive course that helps you create a digital strategy. The CDSA leads you to greatness with all the guidance and practical tools you need to create a digital strategy that is impactful, realistic, and forward-thinking.

 

To begin the Accelerator, click on the link below and enter the code: CDSA.

 

Start the CDSA

 

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A digital landscape refers to the evolving environment of tech, platforms, skills, and processes that shape how an organisation shares information and operates. To make a bigger impact with digital, you first need to understand every element of our digital landscape, including the applications you use, the hardware you rely upon, the data you manage, the digital skills you employ, the partners you work with, and the service users you work with.

 

In this article, we’ll show you how to grasp of your digital landscape. We’ll provide a guide to tech audits, explore how to benchmark, and cover the SWOT analysis. 

 

 

How to run a tech audit

 

Through a tech audit, you will discover how your charity can use different types of digital tech to help its mission more and hinder it less. This is where we identify areas for improvement to be detailed in your digital strategy.

 

 

Here are the key steps.

 

 

Follow the money

 

Technology costs us time, money, and effort, but it gives us value. It allows us to do things we might not be able to do otherwise, improves and optimises processes, and helps charities to stay financially sustainable.

 

Start by speaking to your finance team to find out what digital tech you pay for, including any tech included in licenses. Look for potential overlaps where multiple tools are doing the same thing. For example, you may be paying for multiple forms of file storage like Dropbox, SharePoint, and Google Docs, with no additional benefit.

 

 

Talk to teams

 

Beyond the financial side, talk to the charity’s different teams to learn more about the digital technology they use. This can give you a fuller picture of where technology is helping or hindering the organisation’s work. Here are some questions to find out:

• What tech do they use to do their job?
• What tech works well and is relied upon?
• Which tech is not working well or is inefficient?
• Is all tech accessible for all staff?

 

Look for opportunities and risks

 

We’ve looked at the concrete: the costs and usefulness of tech. Now it’s time to tackle those things that aren’t so immediately clear (but are no less important). Considering opportunities and risks helps teams be proactive, both making the most of digital technology and avoiding the problems that it can bring.

 

Note down the results from all of the above and create a report. That will provide you vital information when developing a digital strategy, or thinking of tech procurement. 

 

 

How to benchmark digital progress

 

Benchmarking can paint an overall picture of your digital landscape in relation to best practice for the sector. It can clarify and highlight digital strengths and weaknesses from what you found in the digital technology and digital skills audits.

 

When using benchmarking tools, remember that in different charities, some areas will matter more than others. While cyber security, data, and digital inclusion matter across the board, an area like digital marketing might not have as much relevance to charities whose stakeholders prefer to engage offline.

 

All the same, benchmarking tools can help avoid blind spots and build your awareness of what’s possible, creating a fuller and more objective overview of risks and opportunities.

 

There are so many great tools for benchmarking, all for free, all at your disposal right now. Here are some of our favourites.

• NCVO Digital Maturity Matrix – A quick assessment of your charity’s current strengths and weaknesses across eight key areas
• Charity Digital Code of Practice – An in-depth framework of best digital practice for charities across eight key areas
• SCVO Digital Checkup – Identifies the strengths and gaps in your organisation’s use of digital technology
• Catalyst, What we mean by ‘digital’ – Outlines nine different approaches charities can have towards digital. This can help you build a picture of your organisation’s position overall

You can use the above tools to benchmark. Again, write down the conclusions and use that data to inform your digital strategy and all digital decision making.

 

 

How to conduct a digital SWOT analysis

 

A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that examines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to inform decision-making. Particularly when resources are tight, this is useful because it creates clarity around the internal and external circumstances of the organisation. It can get all the relevant factors in one place to help you prioritise the key points to focus on in your digital strategy.

 

You need to simply define four key areas.

 

 

Strengths

 

This box focuses on your internal digital strengths. Use your findings from your digital technology and skills audits, and gather any further reflections from staff, volunteers, trustees, and beneficiaries.

 

Examples of strengths:

• All tech used is contributing to the charity’s goals and core outcomes
• Staff and volunteers are open to learning new digital skills
• Donor management system is demonstrably boosting funds
• Strong digital skills in [digital content creation, digital inclusion, etc]
• Strong governance system to aid future digital development

 

Weaknesses

 

This box focuses on your internal digital weaknesses. You can understand weaknesses in the same way as understanding strengths.

 

Examples of weaknesses:

• Limited digital funding
• Skill gaps in [cyber security, digital marketing, data analysis, etc]
• Outdated laptops
• Low digital confidence among volunteers
• Lack of a plan for if things go wrong
• Inefficiency in particular processes

 

Opportunities

 

This box focuses on your external digital opportunities. Spend some time researching digital trends to identify these.

 

Examples of opportunities:

• New methods for digital fundraising are emerging
• There are new digital tools emerging that could improve our service delivery
• Increasing uptake for digital volunteering
• Increase in funding prospects that could support our future digital projects

 

Threats

 

This box focuses on external digital threats to your charity, informed by current digital trends.

 

Examples of threats:

• Funding cuts or gaps in digital funding
• Increasing competition for donations and to be heard online
• Digital regulations are changing which could cause reputational or financial damage if not followed
• New cyber security threats are emerging
• Increasing digitisation could cause our service users to become more digitally excluded

Once you’ve completed that, you’ll have a clear SWOT analysis, which you can use to make effective digital decisions. The SWOT analysis can help define your digital strategy and digital onboarding.

 

A combination of all of the above will help you understand your digital landscape. Using that information to make the right decisions is vital, especially when building a digital strategy. 

 

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Do you want to create a digital strategy for free? Join our Charity Digital Strategy Accelerator, which teaches you how exactly to plan, write, and deliver on your digital strategy.

 

To begin the Accelerator, click on the link below and enter the code: CDSA.

 

Start the CDSA