Charity Digital Podcast Charity Digital Podcast

With the combination of sensitive data records, funds, and limited cyber security resources to protect them, charities can look like prime targets for cyber criminals. The 2024 Cyber Breaches survey from the UK Government revealing that around a third of charities identified cyber breaches or attacks in the last 12 months.
 
For today’s podcast, sponsored by PIR.org, the organisation that looks after the .org domain name globally, we are joined by Vinita Srivastava (Executive Leader - Product Development, Strategy, & Operations, PIR.org) to discuss the importance of maintaining a secure online presence, exploring the potential risks of neglecting security measures and sharing tips to keep you and your mission-driven organization safe online.

RESOURCES:




.ORG Learning Center - .ORG Learning Center  

Charity Digital - Cyber Security  

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2024/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2024  

Secure Your Website, Save the Internet 

Small Charity Guide (NCSC) 

​​As the world moves from in-person to remote, how can charities build lasting relationships with supporters? ​The picture might seem a bit bleak. Data regulation has impacted outreach opportunities. The pandemic and advances in technology have resulted in changes in supporter behaviour. Trends show a decline in the number of people supporting charitable causes. 

​But the loss of old opportunities presents new ones – charities have an opportunity to rethink how they engage with supporters. Digital enables charities to build stronger, more meaningful, and more engaged relationships with supporters than ever before.  

In this session, recorded from our 2023 Conference, Alan Perestrello from Trillium and Declan Hunt from ClearCourse show us how to grasp digital opportunities, the possible strategic routes you could take, and some practical tips to immediately start making changes within your charity. 

The world has gone digital, and tin many ways, that’s great: processes are quicker and easier than ever before, information is transmitted seamlessly across the globe, and new opportunities have been unlocked far and wide. But what about those who can’t experience these numerous benefits? 

People of any age and socio-economic background can be excluded from using devices and the internet, meaning that everyday tasks such as accessing information, staying in touch with friends and family, and being able to work – are threatened.

It’s a hidden problem that can combine with other difficulties in a person’s life to create a Catch-22 that’s difficult to recover from. And the problem is widespread: one in seven people are deprived across two or more dimensions of digital, according to the Digital Poverty Alliance’s most recent report.

In the digital age, all organisations, and indeed individuals, must play a role in creating an inclusive online environment. So, what is the role of charities, and how can they get started?

Resources:


Information about Good Things Foundation's free-to-join National Digital Inclusion Network
Information about the scale of the digital divide in the UK

During the cost-of-living crisis, many supporters have had to review how much they can continue to support their chosen charities, often causing a drop in income. With the number of lottery players in the UK still growing, Your Hospice Lottery and Make a Smile Lottery explain how offering supporters something in return (such as a chance to win money), can help retain and grow income during times when all charities are feeling the financial strain of rising costs. 

The session, a recording from our 2023 Conference, is delivered by Gemma Zweck and Jill Moore from St. Helena Hospice Limited, and Tony Bloomfield from the British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association. The session will cover, among many other things, how charities can overcome 2023’s financial strains by starting a new reliable income stream, how to throw a lottery from the point of view of a charity, the general benefits of collaboration, and so much more. 

We might have to whisper...but 2024 looks…promising. Giving trends suggest an uplift. The economic outlook is encouraging, with lower inflation, wage growth, and more spending power. There is a strange feeling in the charity sector, one that we have not felt for years: optimism. 

That optimism will shift fundraising. We still expect flexible giving to deal with the cost-of-living. We still expect ‘inverse giving’ to dominate and we expect charities to move away from big social media platforms. AI will have a hefty impact on forms of fundraising and Gaming for Good will still rise.  

But, on top of that, we expect an embrace of the long-term. Charities, with new economic freedom, might invest generative AI, might finance new socials, might put on more extravagant events, might focus on corporate partnerships, might shift to legacy giving. Or, indeed, they might not. 

The future is unwritten, but we will discuss that future with people who write about it. So join the Charity Digital Content Team for our final podcast of 2023, in which we discuss fundraising in 2024.   

It’s been a year of perpetual crises: the hangover of the health crisis, the emergence of geo-political crises, national and international economic crises, and an environmental crisis. Charities had to navigate various issues, overcome myriad threats, and practice resilience in the face of all challenges.

But, in the face of such challenges, we’ve also seen so many positives. Charities have shifted towards flexible giving, found innovative solutions to service user demands, embraced new and exciting tech such as ChatGPT, trialled new platforms such as Threads, and broadly embraced the digital.

We want to discuss the ups and downs of 2023. The Charity Digital Content Team, Laura Stanley, Josie Sparling, and Ioan Marc Jones dives into key developments, explore reactions to crises, and talk about tech. So join us to review 2023 in the UK charity sector.