Latest from Newid: Our survey says…

So, what’s happened since previous posts from project partners? In short, a lot! Our fortnightly Operational Group meetings are key as we’ve worked together to think about which 25 organisations we will work with to develop their digital ways of working, based on responses to the baseline survey which allowed us to capture real-world reflections on the state of digital in our third sector.

Project recap and progress

· Baseline survey has received 522 completed responses

· External project evaluation underway

· Digital for Trustees event series launched

· Brightsparks developing digital learning resources

· Designing Digital Services course open

· Getting ready for Gofod3.

We’re also developing the Community of Practice, thinking about how we will turn feedback from the sector into adoptable solutions, where a one-size-fits all approach will not work. After all, there’s no BSI standard for going digital. What works for a local volunteer-led group will not work for a national charity.

For me, it’s not to put too much emphasis on theory, avatars and what we think will work so we are very grateful to those who responded, telling us what is really needed on the ground.

What third sector organisations said

Gladly, survey responses reflected a positive step in right direction with 54% of larger organisations required assistance in areas of; digital adoption, digital engagement, people and skills, digital diversity or digital forward planning.

Indications from the survey do however suggest digital confidence may be the predominant actual — or more likely perceived — barrier to digital adoption.

This is reflected in the 42% of micro organisations which indicated in the survey their confidence with digital is “Okay” and 19% said they were, “Not confident at all” with tech.

Digital confidence is obviously important but equally, organisations must ensure they benchmark themselves against comparative counterparts with a progressive outlook on embracing digital, with their unique needs in mind.

This will ensure they get the best from peer-to-peer shared learning which will be a sizable part of Newid’s next phase — no matter what stage of the digital journey they’re on.

At this point it’s worth highlighting the need to ensure we reach those organisations which perhaps didn’t (or couldn’t) go online to complete a survey about ‘going digital’, on a digital platform. We’d be very interested to hear your thoughts on this.

Charity Digital’s Digital Skills Report 2021 showed 52% of charities were worried about excluding some people or groups and 24% are concerned that their audience is not online and 12% of charities themselves have struggled with basic tech access. Therefore, it’s particularly important to not to completely abandon the idea of traditional communications methods in order to reach those most in need of help with navigating digital.

Getting the message out

What’s also clear is the need for clarity of message. Dovetailing the familiar and understandable with the new and innovative is inevitably going to be a challenge, but the Newid baseline survey tells us there’s certainly an appetite from a good cross-section of the sector for giving it a go.

Messaging must relate to and be understandable for the least digitally-inclined organisations, for whom the chasm to cross may seem incredibly daunting.

They may also wonder why they should bother ‘going digital’ at all, particularly if the benefits aren’t communicated clearly. We’ll be working hard around this point and will be producing case studies to show it can be done and how to do it.

These case studies will also shine a light on the less tangible social value created by helping organisations connect with their service users and wider communities. After all, creating positive change is not all about metrics!

Looking forward

As someone with a broad communications background and grew up with dial-up internet and an Amstrad in the wilds of West Wales, I do have a certain familiarity with frustrations of working with below par tech and gives me a good perspective of how traditionally paper and pen type of organisations might view going digital, based on a legacy of lacklustre infrastructure.

While some rural areas of Wales do evidently struggle with slow internet speeds by conventional standards, efforts are being made to mitigate this through projects such as the Local Broadband Fund and Winter Hardship Project — the latter being specifically for recent hospital leavers most at risk of digital isolation.

With this rapid transformation and digital cold spots very much in the foreground, the time is now for those organisations to take the next steps with going digital with audiences and users front-of-mind, particularly when we consider how we store, share, protect and use their data.

Digital competency training is also more accessible than ever, with training provision abundant — including the Designing Digital Services course. Individuals or teams from organisations will be supported to design, test and develop new digital/hybrid services or rethink existing services.

The WCVA’s Catalyst project allows individuals to apply for £2,000 to cover time to compensate for time spent developing digital competency.

Brightsparks are in the process of developing the learning materials for the Knowledge Hub to help with self-directed digital training.

Charity Digital also offer a wide range of support, with recommended applications to help third sector organisations to develop the community engagement with digital.

In summary then, there are fewer excuses than ever for taking a head-in-the-sand approach to digital, with evermore support to explore and embed ways of working which could radically improve how you operate and communicate. The key is the vital first step and knowing we are here to help.

Keep your eye out on Medium for the next update or join us at Gofod3 — take care until then!