What is a digital accelerator programme?

Accelerator programmes have a certain mystique about them.  This is especially true if early-stage companies emerge from them as darlings of the tech world.

 

There’s also financial value in digital acceleration. The start-up world in the UK is worth over £839 billion, making it the third-most valuable tech environment after the US and China. In fact, it’s so promising that Google Cloud last year announced its new accelerator programme called Cloud Start-up Hub, based in London.

 

While early-stage tech companies are a far cry from the charitable sector, digital accelerators play no less of a role.

 

 

What do charity accelerators do?

 

In general, accelerators prepare organisations for their next phase of digital development. There’s usually a wealth of guidance, mentorship, and advice given to help early stage organisations achieve certain competencies. Accelerators in the private sector might also have a financial element – some seed companies and make equity investments. 

 

For charities, digital accelerators take promising charities and help them expand their impact. They may also take aim at advancing service delivery and bridging skills gaps.

 

 

Charity Digital’s Digital Strategy Accelerator

 

Charity Digital has a history of kick-starting learning journeys for the sector. In 2022, Dot Project, Charity Digital, and Okta for Good came together to address a digital shortfall in the sector. Chiefly, the group found that charities were challenged to develop, maintain, and stay on the path of digital. Charities needed help designing and implementing a strategy.

 

The Digital Strategy Accelerator brought together expert mentorship, experience sharing, and practical tools. Over 60 participants took away new levels of confidence and increased digital skills.

 

Seven in ten participants shared that the accelerator helped them ingrain positive digital habits, which in turn, led to organisational benefits. One participant from the Wildlife Trusts said: “We now have clarity and focus of what needs to be done to achieve the transformation that is needed.”

 

Turning to the future, the Digital Strategy Accelerator is pushing the envelope. Charity Digital is taking a platform approach to content and will be allowing hybrid participation. The accelerator has also formalised a few roles. The Steering Group, comprised of Ekaterina Mateeva, David Ivell, and Chris Martin will help design the new programme.

 

This year’s accelerator is again a partnership between Dot Project and Charity Digital, with funding from Okta. The hub can be found here.

 

 

Accelerators take aim at fundraising

 

The Charity Digital Strategy Accelerator helped build digital foundations for charities, while Bloomberg Philanthropies Digital Accelerator Program focuses on digital marketing and content for local arts organisations.

 

The initial by-invitation only pilot launched in 2024 in the UK and addressed four major points:

• Content creation and distribution
• Customer relationship management and ticketing
• Digital archives and management
• Websites

The two British charities participating were Serpentine and Unicorn Theatre.

 

With help from Bloomberg, the Serpentine Gallery implemented a new ticketing system.  UK Fundraising Magazine reports that the new platform reduced no-shows to events by 35% by emailing reminders to attendees. The most impressive outcome here is that the system generated nearly 6,000 new online donations through ticket add-ons.

 

The Unicorn Theatre also experienced fantastic results. The charity’s ‘Unicorn Online’ children’s programme experienced a 37% increase in viewership. The platform also saw an uplift in revenues by £50,000 from digital licensing income for artists and the theatre through theatre partnerships in the UK, the US, and Canada. In short, the accelerator helped the Unicorn Theatre tap into like-minded arts organisations beyond its own geography.

 

 

On the edge of technology

 

There are other digital accelerators that don’t look to address gaps. Instead, some push charities to expand impact even further.

 

Spring Impact’s mission is to scale through bespoke advisory and training programmes. Since 2015, the Scale Accelerator has helped over 700 organisations do more.

 

The NSPCC came out of the accelerator with a new vision of how to execute one of its flagship programmes across the UK. The NSPCC was challenged to roll out its ‘Baby Steps’ programme, a perinatal educational program for vulnerable parents. From 2014 to 2017, Spring Impact helped the NSPCC develop a social licensing model, where licensees could roll out the services.

 

Since the end of the accelerator, the NSPCC has rolled out 11 licensee programmes and nine locations across the UK. In addition to expanding the reach of the ‘Baby Steps’ programme, the NSPCC has taken the lessons even further. The NSPCC is partnering with many local organisations to deliver more services. There are now over 220 evidence-based services accessible to the public.