What makes a good tech and charity partnership?

Ask the question "What can a charity get from a partnership with a commercial organisation?" and the obvious answer is "money". But while money is very important, good partnerships are about much more than that: the best also provide access to knowledge and expertise that charities may lack, as well as ways for charities to benefit from their corporate partner’s resources.

This is particularly important today, in an era where many charities are striving to become more data-driven and to increase their revenues and reach through digital. That being the case, who better for a charity to look to for a partnership than a tech company?

Why do tech companies make good partners?

Most importantly, tech companies are likely to have a high level of expertise, and may even be responsible for developing, the types of technologies that charities need and can benefit from.

But charity tech partnerships go deeper than the technology itself. That’s because many tech companies employ young, talented and idealistic people who are keen to help with worthwhile causes.

Many tech companies are also relatively young, and that means they use new systems and processes to carry out their business, unencumbered by older technologies and established ways of doing things. For a charity looking to become more digital, it is likely that a partnership with a tech company will provide the opportunity to be "disrupted".

That means exposure to these new systems and processes could "rub off" on the charity and the way it operates, and less efficient practices can be swept away. In essence,  a good charity tech partnership can increase the metabolic rate of the charity, making it fitter, more agile, and, ultimately, more effective.

The good news for charities is that the evidence suggests that commercial organisations are now more interested in partnerships that allow them to offer more than just cash to the charities they support.

In 2018, 70 per cent of these organisations gave to charities strategically, and less than 20 per cent went in ad-hoc donations, according to LBG, an organization that helps companies measure their contribution to society. This is a complete turnaround from just ten years ago, when more than 60 per cent of its members said they gave randomly, and only 30 per cent gave strategically.