Alarm Bells: Most Canadian Charities Without a Digital Strategic Plan
In recent years, technological advancements and challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have prompted a rapid adoption of digital technologies essential for maintaining operations and expanding reach in the charitable sector. Contributing to a growing body of research on this issue, the CICP recently conducted a survey to explore how Canadian charities are integrating these new tools into their daily practices. Despite hurdles like rising living costs and global crises, our findings reveal a commitment to digital integration among charities, though many still lack a comprehensive digital strategy.
The Current State of Technology Adoption
Recognition of the critical role of digital tools in the charitable sector has grown stronger in recent years. The 2023 Digital Skills Report by CanadaHelps indicates a greater awareness among charities of the significant risks of neglecting digital solutions, compared to the same survey conducted in 2021. The 2021 report revealed that more than half of the charities had already integrated digital technology into their daily activities or had established specific plans and budgets to do so.
Our findings reflect a similar shift in charities’ perspective: nearly half of our respondents (48%) have increased their investment in digital resources, and 45% have developed a deeper understanding of the benefits these technologies bring. A significant majority of charities are moderately using these tools (62%) or are exploring their options (16%). However, this represents only partial integration, with only 17% of charities fully adopting available digital technologies and tools.
The Critical Gap: Nearly 90% of Canadian Charities Lack a Digital Strategy
Despite signs of positive developments, our survey indicates that many charities still struggle with effectively utilizing digital technologies. Only 28% have prioritized digital tools within their organization or increased their confidence in leveraging these technologies. Furthermore, just 27% of charities report enhanced leadership support for digital initiatives. Concerningly, only 11% of organizations have developed a digital strategic plan, leaving nearly 90% without a comprehensive strategy for digital adoption. By comparison, in the UK, about 50% of charities have such plans, yet even this higher percentage is seen as insufficient.
Laura Stanley of UK Charity Digital points out that lacking an initial strategy can lead up to 70% of digital transformation efforts to fail. Katie Gibson and Marc-André Delorme, charity digital technology and policy experts, also recently emphasized in the Philanthropic Journal that poorly planned digital initiatives often result in wasted resources.
Key Challenges to Technology Adoption
The open-ended comments in our survey provide insight into the multiple challenges faced in adopting digital technology.
The two most commonly cited barriers are resource constraints—specifically, time and funding—and skills gaps. These findings align with those reported in CanadaHelps’ 2023 Digital Skills Report and Imagine Canada’s 2022 Voices of the Sector Report. Charities consistently emphasize the need for more time and funding to cover essential digital costs, including staffing and skills development. This issue is especially acute for smaller or volunteer-run charities:
“Small non-profits really have little funds, people, time or access to digital technology. Ideas are few on how such technology can help a small organization and how to integrate them into existing activities.”
Nous n’avons pas de personnel spécialisé en technologie. Il nous faut suivre des formations pour apprendre et choisir les logiciels.
It’s hard for us to find skilled staff, and even harder, skilled staff who can adapt to new technologies.
In a volunteer-run and supported organization, no one seems to fully understand what a digital transformation could do for the organization in support of its mandate.
Charities also highlight external support, including from funders, government or external specialists, as a critical challenge facing charities in their digital transformation efforts. Numerous panellists expressed frustration over the difficulty in securing funding for digital initiatives, with government and funding agencies often not keeping pace with the sector’s needs for updated technology and software:
Government reporting databases that don’t allow uploads or sync with sector operating tools requiring duplication of data entry is a frustration. Annual reporting to the Provincial that does not retain last years data which also means duplication. So while we have progressed the Province and funders have not.
Our funders also do not let us purchase hardware for administrative use within the equipment grants (although equipment support is being discontinued anyway).
Conclusion
Ultimately, technology adoption depends on the vision and will of organizations. Charities need to actively engage with this process and confront the numerous challenges associated with it. In doing so, a key component – a workable digital strategic plan – is crucial for success. The fact that nearly 90% of Canadian charities appear to lack such a plan is an alarming concern.
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