2020 was dominated by covid-19, which highlighted the notable change in the way the charity operates, namely moving towards digital transformation. This has brought up many new challenges for charities and opened up opportunities for new ways of working and delivering on their missions. Not every sector was prepared for this future. The picture seems to be mixed.

Online donation and fundraising

When it comes to raising funds or harvesting donations online, it has been reported that fewer than 18% was successful in doing so. Moreover, only a third of leaders agreed about increasingly adopting online fundraising, whilst a third seems to disagree. If the pandemic continues for long and cashlessness becomes a new norm, these charities will find life increasingly difficult.

Tackling it together

One of the core reasons for lagging in the digital transformation for some charities is the resource needed to drive them towards digital transformation. We can help these charities by creating a supportive environment and a community. NuCha is one of the initiatives we have created to accelerate this process. It's more crucial than ever for charities to make digital transformation a priority for developing their resilience. But there needs to be demonstrable support for charities engaging with technology from the government, grantmakers and the private sector.

We at Nucha are trying to reach out to the experts in civil society to understand and collaborate in developing new technology that benefits society in this recovery phase.

Moreover, the government and grantmakers could help lead charities to digital transformation by providing additional funds, conducting debates to highlight the impact of new technologies, and enabling collaboration and knowledge sharing between different gov platforms.

It needs a combination of efforts from different sectors of society and government-led initiative along with funding programs especially for small charities as well as solid champions in government and civil society for a digital switch can help to drive change in the sector while building on the Covid-induced innovation that is already taking place.