How we updated the Code of Practice

Charity leaders developed the original Charity Digital Code of Practice (Code) to improve digital sustainability, efficiency, and decision-making. It was a task chaired by Zoe Amar, supported by Charity Digital, but led entirely by the charity sector. The 2025 update proved no different, with generous support and contributions from across the sector. 

In this article, we share the journey behind the creation of the 2025 Code. We explore each step, the lessons we learnt, and how the Code finally came into fruition. So, let’s start at the beginning, with the funders who helped us help the charity sector.   

The funders 

The 2025 Code was built from the success of the 2018 Code. Not only did we carry the lessons of the previous Code forward, but we used the Code as a foundational document: something to alter, change, and mould to make it fit-for-purpose. So, the funders of the initial development, the Co-Op Foundation and Lloyds Banking Ground, helped us make the 2025 Code possible.  

But we needed new support with the 2025 Code. We found fantastic partners who understood our vision for an updated and improved Code, who contributed the make that vision a reality. All the work we did to update the Code – and there was a lot, as you’ll see below – was made possible by The Clothworkers’ Company, the WCIT Charity, and Resource for London. 

The large-scale user research 

Charity Digital and Zoe Amar started planning, discussing the best way to make the updated Code impactful for the sector. The Code has always been user-led, aiming to respond to issues facing the sector. We felt it necessary to contact charity leaders to discover digital opportunities, the core tech risks on the horizon, and any other areas that may require additional guidance. 

So the first step was to conduct extensive user research, hosting in-depth interviews with charity leaders who were familiar with the Code. Alongside the in-depth interviews, we sent out a comprehensive survey asking more than 60 charity leaders, most of whom were familiar with the Code, to provide feedback. On top of that, Charity Digital collected extensive market feedback.  

The user research provided so much fantastic information. We realised, among other things, that artificial intelligence (AI) must play a role throughout the Code, charity leaders required best practice advice on tech procurement and integration, data wasn’t prominent enough in the 2018 Code, and leaders wanted advice on navigating the increasingly hostile world of social media.  

You can read the findings from our user research here: The digital future of the charity sector.  

The Review Board 

We put together a Review Board, consisting of volunteers from different charities in the UK, all of whom held leadership positions. Our first ask was a big one: review the extensive user research and the old Code, then think about changes.

We had three-hour meetings to discuss what, exactly, we should change, which led to healthy debates, constant references to user research and market data, and plenty of opinions. The actions we took away were suggested by the sector, debated by the sector, and led by the sector. Charity Digital simply followed their lead. 

We’ve discussed the changes in detail elsewhere, but two major changes came directly from the Review Board meeting. The first, and perhaps biggest, was defining the different forms of AI and introducing AI across the Code.

The second was the introduction of a new principle, Data, which would highlight how charities can adopt a data-driven approach while practicing sufficient safeguarding, as well as protecting data of beneficiaries, employees and other stakeholders.  

We took the changes in, then brought the Review Board together for another meeting. Discussion again proved lively and we made further changes, finessed the details of changes we’d already made, added to certain sections, took away from others, and so on. 

The Steering Group 

We recruited a Steering Group, with representatives from the ACEVO, CAST, The Charity Commission, Charity Finance Group, Microsoft, and the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, to develop, promote, review, maintain, and champion the Code.  

The Steering Group proved useful in monitoring our changes, noticing potential pitfalls, advising us where we felt unsure, and resolving friendly disagreements. They helped us look at how people might use the Code, the best way to present the Code, how we might share and amplify the Code, and so much more.

Their support, over the years, has been invaluable.  

The sector-wide consultation 

At that stage, we had something that resembled a draft. Hundreds of people, to varying degrees, have been involved in producing that draft, but now we had to give everyone in the sector the chance to comment. So we launched a consultation, an open invitation to provide feedback. 

And the comments were profoundly helpful, as we’d expected. One of the great things about the consultation was people tackling the Code with a broad view, suggesting the language was too complex, the jargon was unnecessary, certain parts were too long, certain parts needed more. 

We looked for consistencies in the feedback and found plenty, especially around the Code for small charities. The consultation told us, among other things, that we needed to simplify language, particularly the small charity Code.

So we got to work on all the suggestions, made further changes, working on what was now the seventh version of the update to the Code.   

The new design and a new homepage  

Nearly there. But not quite. The final stages meant taking in feedback from all parties on how to present the Code. The decision was made to host it on the Charity Digital website, because that provided familiarity to users and allowed the use of our accessibility tool.

So we designed a new homepage and a new article format, one that would meet the reader demands. The homepage puts the Code front and centre but allows you to easily navigate some of the key features and resources, as well as ask questions of our AI system that provides answers relevant to the Code, helping you to skip to the most helpful parts for you. 

We had to get the Code professionally designed: feedback on the 2018 Code suggested the aesthetics left something to be desired. The PDF was designed by our friends at Maple Rock Design, using the familiar Charity Digital branding, adding a contents page and visuals, and making it easy to navigate.

We put the PDF at the top of the homepage, as we knew that so many users still like to download the entire PDF and skip to relevant parts of the Code.  

Code Champions and the finished product 

Getting the word out about the Code is no small feat. We relied on our fantastic Code Champions, volunteers who posted, shared, talked-up, and generally highlighted how much the Code can help. The impact of the Code depends on its usage and the Code Champions did so much towards that end.  

And then we have a finished product, or finished products: an updated and extended Code, a new design and PDF with new features, a new home page and new how-to guides and other resources, an abridged version of the Code, accessibility and multi-language options, a webinar to help you understand the Code, and so much more. It was a gargantuan effort by the entire sector. 

One final time, we’d like to thank each and everyone who contributed to the 2025 Charity Digital Code of Practice. We’re grateful for your leadership and your support.