Digital
Digital technology is transforming how many charities and funders work, particularly when it comes to communications and campaigns. But technology’s influence over how these organisations deliver services has been limited.
As well as helping to spread the word and mobilise people, we think tech should be used for product and service design to help provide better support for more people.
And we think the charity sector’s adoption of digital should be collective and coordinated to minimise expense, avoid duplication, and maximise impact.
Key tools, resources and commentary on digital
Tech for common good: The case for a collective approach to digital transformation in the social sector
To tackle social problems in their entirety, organisations need to mount a collective approach and tackle problems at the sector level. This is a first step in a much larger mission of digital culture change in the social sector, and we look forward to engaging with charities, government and businesses on the recommendations and next steps.
Developing your digital roadmap
Developing your digital roadmap is aimed at charities that are working out how to get started on their own digital change process, and the people who need to be bought into that change—senior managers, Chief Execs and trustees.
Who represents the human in the digital age?
Anni Rowland-Campbell, Director, Intersticia
Technology is advancing rapidly, taking us on rushing journey where we don’t quite know the destination. Anni Rowland-Campbell takes us through some of the important issues and theories of ‘the digital age’: where we are now and what’s to come. She argues that, if humanity is to be preserved, the philanthropic sector must place itself firmly at the forefront of determining where we’re headed.
My best life: Priorities for digital technology in the youth sector
Over twelve months, we worked with a group of young people experiencing multiple disadvantages in the London Borough of Camden. We sought to understand their experiences—as told in their own words—and identify how digital technology could help.
Designing digitally: Start with the need, not the technology
Andrew Weston outlines two key questions charities must ask themselves when designing a digital product or service.
Empathy and digital transformation
Scott Colfe, product manager and member of our Digital Transformation steering group, argues that empathy is at the heart of successful digital transformation within the charity sector (but is often missing).
Is grant-making fit for the digital future?
As pretty much everyone has noticed, we’re in the middle of a great revolution driven by digital technology and the internet. But what should grant-making trusts and foundations make of this? Tris Lumley argues why much of funding practice is not currently compatible with the tech world.
Part 1: The power of digital to transform the sector
Technology has played only a minor role in the charity sector. We have websites, social media, and online fundraising, but on the whole our technological advances have been incremental, not transformative. Director of Development, Tris Lumley, hopes this all about to change.
Part 2: The power of digital to transform the sector
Much of the current discussion about digital transformation is about transforming individual nonprofits and social enterprises from the ground up. This is fantastic. But the transformation I’m most interested in—and where NPC wants to play a role through a forthcoming programme of work—is rooted in value chains.
So you want to build an app…
For many charities aware of the need to modernise, building an app can seem like a great way to step into the twenty first century. But is this the right approach? And how can charities ensure that their beneficiaries remain at the heart of the decision?
Start, collaborate, and listen.
Tris Lumley, Director of Innovation & Development, is back with a brand new invention: using design principles to help charities, beneficiaries and tech people work better together.
The charity sector’s digital future
In light of the launch of NPC's new report on digital transformations, Tris Lumley explains what good adoption of digital looks like for the sector, and why charities are at risk if they fail to adapt.
