Small charities and digital technology

Overview

Small charities have distinct digital skills, funding and support needs but there looks to be a growing digital skills gap between large and small charities.
Following the pandemic, 30% saw digital as a much greater priority for their organisation and a further 48% saw this as more of a priority.
Half of small charities have moved to a hybrid model compared to three-quarters of large charities.
The top priority for small charities was improving their website, online presence or social media.
Finding funding and upskilling staff or volunteers was the biggest barriers to engaging with digital technology.

Following the pandemic, 30% of small charities saw digital as a much greater priority for their organisation, compared to 48% of large charities.
A further 48% of small charities saw digital as more of a priority, with only 1% stating it was less of a priority as a result of the pandemic.

Half of small charities have moved to a hybrid model, compared to three-quarters of large charities.
Only 12% of small charities described everyone in their organisation returning to an office or usual workplace, but this is lower for large charities (7%).

The top priority for almost three-quarters of small charities was improving their website, online presence or social media.
This was followed by improving digital online fundraising alongside building confidence and skills amongst staff/volunteers.
Two-thirds of small charities were delivering services online, either through third party platforms or by developing their own solutions. This compares to 91% of large charities.

Almost half of small charities found funding was the biggest barrier to engaging with digital technology, compared to only 27% of large charities.
Upskilling staff or volunteers alongside having limited skills and experience in fundraising online were the second biggest challenges.