What is a Charity Digital Enablement project?
An interview with LanciaConsult’s Managing Director, Ned Nicol.
Q: What are the challenges charities face due to digital transformation?
A: Modern consumers want and expect to interact with charities in a variety of ways. Pre-Covid many charities were still relying on traditional channels to work with their donors and volunteers. Charities will often have small IT teams which can make it challenging to support the rapidly growing set of digital applications that the modern charity is now required to use. They often do not have the people in-house with the experience to understand the integrations and data flows required, or people with project management experience to continuously deliver the digital transformation projects that need to happen.
Q: What is a typical Charity Digital Enablement project?
A: We are asked to help a charity understand how they either implement new, or better use their existing technology to improve how their team’s work and they can better know and engage with their constituents.
Q: How can digital transformation empower the charity and non-profit sectors?
A: Through using automation mainly to remove manual steps, freeing up the teams to do their role. Technologies allow for charities to capture the data to better understand their users and constituents so they can build stronger relationships with them.
Q: What are the top tips for charities undergoing digital transformation?
A: Data and integration are key. Data will tell charities how their stakeholders are interacting with them; if a user has signed up for membership and it has lapsed, the visibility of that data allows charities to follow up with that user appropriately and at the right time. If an individual has been donating ten thousand pounds a year for the last five years but has not donated anything yet this year, data enables them to better understand the people that they are trying to motivate, and for charities this is now crucial. However, just adding new systems will likely cause significant confusion and add to their team’s workload unless they work out how to integrate the systems to allow the data to flow properly around them. Otherwise, there is a risk of systems having different contact details for the same person which will cause issues further down the line.
Q: How have charities embraced digital?
A: CRM technologies, digital payment processing, mailings and managing events.
Charities are now connecting with donors globally; the world has opened up. The myriad of payment types allows people to part with their money much more easily; direct debit, credit card, Stripe, bank transfers. Charities can be much more creative and expand their reach. A CRM system is the key to facilitate payments, digital marketing, events and much more.
Q: How is digital technology impacting the charity sector?
A: It is streamlining and improving how charities work with their volunteers, donors, users and other constituents. Prior to digital enablement it is common to see silos developing, lots of time is spent collating relevant information which is then not reused. Technology gives charities the tools they need to manage all of this centrally. They can see the bigger picture and make their interactions with constituents more meaningful. Digital Enablement helps charities to do things better!
Q: Why is LanciaConsult the best to deliver a successful Charity Digital Enablement project?
A: We have experience with supporting charities across a variety of different charity’s budgets and needs. We know the market and we bring the experience of people who have worked within FTSE 100 companies. We can bring that approach and way of working with complexity and structure, whilst not being overbearing. We support and work together with clients through their transformation.
Our work with charities really does energise our team; to make an impact and help. We give our all! We really do. Whether we are working with a FTSE100 or a small local charity; We give the same focus, effort and care and compassion.
If you would like to discuss how we can support you with a Charity Digital Enablement project, contact us today.