What will charities look like in the future?

Many words have been written about digital disruption in the private sector. Less has been said — with commendable exceptions — about how charities will adapt to the digital age.

So what will the non-profits of the distant future look like? Let’s ignore 3- or 5-year time horizons and think ultra-long-term, to a world in which capabilities like big data and machine learning are as easy to use as electricity is now. How will good be done in a world like this?

The challenger charity

One way into this question is to start with the changes we’re already seeing in the private sector. Perhaps ‘Charity 2069’ will be to ‘Charity 2019’ as Airbnb is to Marriott. Maybe the familiar ‘challenger’ business model will spread, disrupting non-profits just like it’s already disrupting companies.

This gives us a sense of the answer. It now seems clear, for example, that all digitally-native organisations — whether they’re charities, businesses, or government departments — will have some qualities in common.

• New skills, particularly the ability to design, build, and evaluate digitally-enabled services. This includes UX/interaction design, user research, content writing, service design, product ownership, delivery management, and software development. In the future, as digital tech becomes more pervasive, it seems clear that these skills will become increasingly integrated. They won’t stand alone in a ‘digital’ or ‘technology’ team, they’ll…