What is Digital Inclusion and why is it important?
Digital skills are becoming more and more prominent within our everyday lives, and learning how to use digital tools and services is critical to leading a successful life.
“Those of us who are digitally confident and skilled say we feel less lonely (51%), better able to manage our health and well-being (62%) and save money (67%). Those with basic digital skills earn more and have better employment and educational opportunities.”
As a society, we are quickly having to adapt to the ever-changing nature of technology and its uses, such as self-service checkouts, contactless payment devices, internet banking, and social media
While modern innovations have many benefits, if you aren’t familiar with technology or don’t have the resources to learn, you might feel left behind.
Digital exclusion can affect well-being and a person’s ability to engage in daily life.
To be digitally inclusive, we should address connectivity access, and digital skills.
The Digital Skills Gap is the growing number of people who lack the confidence, skills and opportunities needed to get the most out of technology in a society where the demand for these skills is increasing.
How is the Digital Skills Gap effecting charities?
When it comes to charities, digital technologies can be used to:
- Automate processes
- Increase audience reach
- Collect and manage data
- Provide insight into consumer trends
- Network with others in your industry
How does digital help charities to grow?
Non-profit organisations who are prioritising digital, show signs of success, across strategy, risk management and culture.
The 2022 Charity Digital Skills report shows almost three quarters of charities are actively working on developing their digital strategy through digital up-skilling, tools, service delivery etc.
However, despite 74% of non-profits saying ‘digital transformation’ is a must-have, only 12% of these non-profits were found to have a high digital maturity.
Organisations with stronger digital maturity were more collaborative and more likely to gain supporters.
We know there are barriers stopping charities getting the most out of technology. Lack of budget to invest in training, technology or lack of engagement from stakeholders can hold charities back.
But there are ways around this! When it comes to training budgets, there are brilliant online courses which tend to be free or low-cost.
Similarly, proving the benefits of digital to stakeholders is easily done – there is a huge amount of data to backup your need for a digital strategy!
Addressing digital maturity is one of our top tips for managing fundraising in a recession.
Learning and Development Resources
The good news is the third sector has some brilliant training and knowledgeable voices to help build your digital skills and strategy!
This organisation’s main aim is to help UK non-profits upskill in digital. They want to provide charities with the resources and training in order for them to gain confidence and benefit from the technology available. They recently shared their new 6-week course that looks at helping charities build core digital skills.
Zoe Amar herself has a vast knowledge and experience of both the Third Sector and digital as a whole. Her site has a range of resources that tackle everything from Digital Fundraising to developing Digital Skills.
CIOF is an online community looking to empower charities and staff through sharing their knowledge, skills and insights. Their website gives you access to many resources, a large proportion being around Digital. They also offer training opportunities for your team to up-skill.
This is an online platform dedicated to making development opportunities accessible for charities. They cover all types of topics through virtual events, on-demand webinars and articles. In November, they are hosting an event around all things Fundraising Tech!
Charity Digital are an online organisation that look at helping charities understand technology in order to #BeMoreDigital. They have a huge number of free resources around Digital Fundraising, how to use Tech For Good, using technology with Data
Their site also contains on-demand Webinars and a link to their weekly podcast.
Who are GWD?
We help socially-minded organisations transition to digital systems, building stronger relationships through impactful products and services.
Our experience goes back two decades, with a foundation building and providing critical digital services and products for the financial services and retail industries.
With a long-proven ability to handle challenging projects and a team of trusted experts, we work hard to solve problems and deliver change that helps others.
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