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Principle 1: Leadership
28 Jan 2025
Defining the principle
Charity leaders must drive digital as a way of helping their charities remain relevant and sustainable. Digital has grown and become embedded in our everyday lives and the charity sector to the point that it needs to be seen as a key element of strategy and governance.
Leaders and trustees should take responsibility for defining how digital will help them achieve their charity’s purpose. They should identify how digital and particularly AI could change the society in which their charity operates, how digital and AI can help meet charitable objectives, and how their charity should adapt to meet the evolving needs of beneficiaries and other stakeholders.
Five quick actions for charities
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Digital and AI issues need to be considered regularly at board and leadership team meetings. Executive teams and trustees must be confident that they have the requisite skills to make informed, data-driven decisions about how digital can help achieve their charity’s objectives.
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Leaders need to make a positive, evidence-based business case for digital investment, showing how charities will specifically benefit and how they will overcome any potential roadblocks and opposition.
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Leaders should define long-term user needs in procurement to ensure tech is scalable and flexible, capable of meeting future demands and not simply the needs of the moment.
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Leaders should ensure that procured tech effectively integrates with their wider tech eco-system, accounting for integration within the procurement process.
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Leaders should consider the spectrum of AI and find the best ways to apply forms of AI to particular use cases. Free tools are available to use for each form of AI. Explore the use of AI with your various use cases and focus on the application of AI for specific tasks
Supporting resources
Follow-up questions for CAI
How can charity leaders integrate AI to meet evolving beneficiary needs?What strategies ensure digital investment aligns with charity objectives?How should leaders evaluate tech scalability during procurement processes?In what ways can digital issues be regularly addressed in board meetings?How can AI tools be applied effectively to specific charity use cases?
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