This is enormously challenging,
and I'm as worried as you are. Yet I'm heartened by the inspiring stories I'm
hearing daily, from the umbrella bodies collaborating in tirelessly making the
case for government funding, to charities' creative digital service delivery
ideas.
With such accelerated digital
change, what will the future look like for charities after coronavirus?
1. Digital Service Delivery Will
Be Big
Clare Cook is CEO of Soundabout,
a charity that empowers people with severe and profound learning disabilities
through engagement with music. Cook told me that while she and her team were
appalled at the impact of the pandemic on the people they help, they saw it as
an opportunity to try new things. She and her team quickly developed virtual
events on Facebook. They've gone from seeing eight people plus careers in
face-to-face group sessions to reaching a cumulative total of 12,000 via
Facebook live broadcasts and doubling followers on the platform.
Daily visitors to Soundabout's
website (where families can access these events afterwards) have quadrupled.
Cook told me that, "Ironically, the new situation has opened up for us
exciting new avenues of service. In the past, people either had to attend
events, often a distance from where they lived, or our dedicated music
practitioners were required to visit families frequently far apart from each
other."
While offline services will still
be an important part of the new normal, charities are experimenting with
digital, unlocking the benefits of scale and engaging with some hard-to-reach
groups.
Plan Ahead
Don't innovate for its own sake.
Build on what you know works with users. Lynn Roberts, assistant director of
digital and innovation at Action for Children, counsels charities to scale
tried and tested approaches. When things improve, digital teams are likely to
be busier than ever, and there are lessons to be learned from the crisis.
Roberts says, "We haven't all suddenly got bigger digital teams, or more
hours in the day, so I think the real challenge is keeping focus so we can get
things done at pace."
2. Fundraising Will Reinvent
Itself
Individual giving has declined
over the last few years and COVID-19 could be the moment when fundraising
changes forever. Ayman Agabani, Muslim Hands' communications manager, explained
that the pandemic has radically changed how they operate, pulling outdoor ads
until 2021 and postponing events whilst increasing investment in PPC, social
ads, and live-streaming. Agabani advises charities to become "digital and
mobile-first" to take advantage of opportunities post-crisis.
It's not just about shifting
channels. We need to change our entire approach. The crisis has unlocked a
massive appetite for collective action and shared experiences — from community
groups helping isolated individuals to the 750,000 National Health Service
volunteers and even family pub-style quizzes on Zoom. Post-crisis we will see
more online communities built around causes. Fundraising freelancer Nikki Bell
thinks that "there'll be more FaceTiming, live-streaming, and digital
communities through things like quizzes, events, and conversations — and this
is a huge opportunity to expand our network while saving on time and
resources."
Plan Ahead
Your donors' needs are changing
rapidly and will shift again post-crisis. Learning about their behaviors and needs,
whether it's through user interviews on Zoom or a closed Facebook group, will
strengthen relationships and ensure they stick with you after COVID-19.
3. Remote Work Is Here to Stay
Many charities will ask why they
invested in expensive offices, and more employees will have seen the benefits
of flexible working. Wayne Murray, strategy director at Audience, says,
"Not only is it viable, we switched it overnight. If we can switch our
entire working methodology in a few days, what other things can we change if we
put our minds to it?"
Plan Ahead
Engage staff by asking them what
aspects of remote working are good, and what could be improved. Think about how
your recruitment and policies need to change if more candidates expect to work
remotely, and how you could draw on this wider talent pool.
4. Senior Management Teams Will
Understand Why Digital Matters
Those difficult conversations
about support for digital projects will get easier. Georgie Wishart, senior
digital officer at Mayhew animal welfare charity, believes that "this
period of 'digital-only' is going to be very valuable to digital teams in
showing senior management just what a key role digital plays in their
organization, and why digital needs to be included as part of the
organizational strategy." Wishart thinks that digital budgets could be
increased long term and online will become a key consideration in projects.
COVID-19 requires leaders to
adapt quickly to new digital models whilst holding on tight to their values and
vision. The crisis will create accountability for the leaders who didn't
attempt this transition. Kate Mroczkowski, head of strategy at fundraising
agency Supercool, believes that "when we come out the other side of this,
Boards, senior management teams and leaders will need to demonstrate how their
organization worked together on a unified mission and vision during the crisis.
Those that can't demonstrate this will struggle to come out on top."
Plan Ahead
Your senior management team will
be leaning on you for support with digital. Make the most of this opportunity
to be seen as the expert and win their trust. Offer to share insights and guide
them on the pros and cons of different approaches.
5. Charities Will Work at a
Different Pace
The sector has moved fast to deal
with the crisis by necessity, but could this have an impact on how we work in
the future? Laura Dawson, director of data and technology services at The
London School of Economics and Political Science, points out that "often,
as a sector, we are accused of being overly bureaucratic and collaborative in
our decision-making. We have proven that we can respond quickly, and extremely
creatively."
Your charity will be on a steep
learning curve with digital and will have had to make decisions rapidly. Expect
this to continue at every level of your organization. Stephen Bell, CEO of
Changing Lives, says that charities have had to increase their digital risk
appetite and become more agile. "Governance will need to adapt in response
to this, and charities (and their boards) will need to upskill in order to be
able to assess the risk and reward of trying new technologies." This could
change the culture of the sector as we know it into something more dynamic,
iterative, and digitally driven.
Plan Ahead
Dawson advises charities that
"celebrating the successes achieved on the back of fast, agile,
needs-driven decision-making could also transform the ways in which charities
operate." Look at how you can recognize and reward this behavior change so
that your charity grows in confidence with agile working and quick
decision-making.
If there is one thing we've seen
since the crisis began, it's how tenacious and innovative charities are. We
need to remember this as we face the tough road ahead, and to be bold, brave,
and ambitious about how digital will shape our future.
Reference:
https://zoeamar.com/our-services May 1, 2020
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