Charity Digital Podcast

Cancer awareness messages usually encourage people to check themselves, look out for various symptoms, or potentially go for a test. But for prostate cancer, there’s no clear call to action, so it can be tricky. Prostate Cancer UK developed the 30-second Risk Checker to solve that problem and make effective public health campaigns possible. It led to the largest-ever charity partnership with NHS E...

The world can sometimes feel a little gloomy. But it’s always worth remembering that thousands of people dedicate time, money, and resources to charities every single day. Even now, in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, in the midst of multiple economic challenges, donations remain strong, with fundraising campaigns continuing amid the various pressures. We want to celebrate fundraising efforts...

Our latest podcast explores the different aspects of developing and implementing a digital strategy. Each of the guests brings a different perspective to the practice of creating a digital strategy, as leaders, as consultants and advisors, and as professionals in the charity sector. Areas explored in the podcast include the most important elements to consider in developing and implementing a digit...

The Charity Digital podcast started more than three years ago with old headphones, not much sense of direction, and perhaps a little too much ambition. But now, as we speed past our 100th episode, we are growing and growing, with professional equipment, backing tracks and editing software, external thought leaders and internal experts, and still too much ambition. Our podcast was born in February...

Social media is an essential tool for charities, in terms of raising awareness, increasing reach, meeting demands of service users, and much more. But it’s become increasingly important as a fundraising tool, helping charities to share their impact and find droves of new donors. But charities need to use the tool in the right way. Our latest episode makes it easy. We show you how much you can achi...

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in weather patterns and average temperatures, largely caused by human action. The impacts of rising temperatures have already been felt across the world and, if we do not take action, the consequences of further increases could be catastrophic. Charities should remain at the forefront of climate action. They should lead by example, showing others in our co...

As a small charity you can often make change happen quicker than bigger organisations. This podcast talks you through how Agile working can help you act quicker and think big.   Our hosts Jen Lowthrop (Digital Consultant and Agile Coach, Feel Good Do Good) and Kathryn Dingle (Digital Product Manager, NPC) look at different software and processes that can help you act like a big charity without the...

Nearly a third of charities have reported a decline in income over the last 12 months, according to research from Blackbaud. But while funds are required to help charities continue delivering their services as demand continues to rise, organisations also must balance this with looking after their donors too, particularly as money worries grow.  In this podcast, Charity Digital’s host, Laura Stanle...

When it comes to fundraising, data is your biggest asset. It’s the key to unlocking what, when, and how your supporters want to donate. But with great data comes even greater responsibility. Excellent management should be the number one concern for any charity, especially in the age of online giving.    It is now more important than ever for charities to focus on data management, especially when i...

Trust is bread and butter to charities. Without it, they struggle to build meaningful relationships with donors and beneficiaries, raise funds, and deliver much-needed services to the communities they serve.   Good use of technology only reinforces a charity’s commitment to act in its audiences’ best interests. It can make charities more efficient, easier to reach, and crucially, keep their data a...

As leaders, charity CEOs have been at the forefront of every digital change, but they're not necessarily digital experts. Just like others, digital might have been relatively new until the pandemic hit. Digital change is about involving everyone. It’s about using the strength of your teams, asking for help, and achieving lasting impact. Now, charity CEOs face a new age of digital for which they mu...

Ten years ago, the Giving Tuesday movement began to encourage people to give back to a good cause after taking advantage of the money-saving deals of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Since then, Giving Tuesday has grown exponentially, with £14,000 being raised per minute for participating charities in 2020.   Giving Tuesday provides charities the chance to expand their supporter base and generate mo...

One in five people in the UK are living with a disability, according to disability charity Scope. Yet, despite this number, organisations still fail to cater to people with disabilities online. Confusing layouts, small fonts, and poor colour contrasts all contribute to inaccessible online experiences.  For charities, making sure their content and design is inclusive and accessible is more importan...

The cost-of-living crisis has swept the UK. Everyday essentials like energy and food is rising much faster than average incomes. The cost-of-living will have a huge impact on charity employees, volunteers, service users, potential donors, and day-to-day operations of the charity themselves.  It is vastly important that charities learn about the crisis, understand some of the potential issues that...

Emails, emails, emails - they're all we've got to go on. They are, perhaps, the most well-known form of online communication, used for business, replacing meetings that don’t need to be meetings, and, importantly, marketing.  Emails are a great way of getting your charity’s message out there to different audiences and at low-cost. They are a way of directly communicating with your key audiences, f...

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an organisation in possession of a website must be in want of a blog. Everybody seems to blog. It is possible that too many people blog. And the abundance of blogs, from organisations of all shapes and sizes, means that your blog gets lost amid the noise. But worry not, bloggers. We are here to help. Today’s podcast is an overload of information on how...

Our ‘How did you get there...’ podcasts delve into the lives of inspirational people working in the charity and tech sectors. We are going to talk to CIOs and MPs, life-long volunteers and tech innovators, to learn about their experience and to learn from their experience. We want to celebrate the people who inspire, energise, and educate us. In our second podcast, our host, Sacha Dhabalia, talks...

Customer service is essential in the charity sector. Excellent customer service boosts loyalty for donors and volunteers, helps users access services, increases organisational reputation, improves data analytics, and much more. But so many charities see customer service as an afterthought. Today’s podcast aims to show you otherwise. We highlight the importance of excellent customer service and sho...

There are myriad ways to grow a charity. Charities may need to build an effective strategy, develop a clear and concise mission statement, define your budget, raise more funds, optimise marketing, engage local communities, work with other charities, revise strategy, and so much more.  There are so many choices, so many routes to success. The need to grow can feel a little daunting, perhaps even sc...

Marketing is a broad and all-encompassing term. It refers to any act an organisation takes to build up an audience, drawing them to the services that you offer. It is simply the act of self-promotion, raising aware, building loyalty, and demonstrating the value of your services. Every charity uses marketing, regardless of shape and size. It is an essential part of charity. But there are so many ch...

Charities, by definition, are in the business of doing good, for their service users, for the communities they serve, and for society as a whole. It sometimes feels shocking, then, that people might want to commit fraud in a sector that exists for the benefit of others.  Charity Commission research estimates that fraud costs the sector more than £2 million each year. Fraud can include insider frau...

The ways that charities deliver their services have changed remarkably over recent years. While the pandemic may have accelerated trends towards digital service delivery, the Charity Digital Skills report 2021 revealed that nearly three quarters of charities plan to continue delivering in this way.   But the digital world changes quickly. What might have worked in 2020 might not work now. And with...

This episode is produced as part of the Heritage Digital project.  Heritage Digital provides heritage organisations with standalone learning resources that answer the sectors most pressing digital questions about digital content. Heritage organisations are in the business of telling stories. And there is perhaps no better way to get your story out there than with a podcast.  Podcasts are designed...

What will working life look like in ten years’ time? Will robots perform volunteer services, while we wear virtual headsets? Will the future consist of entirely virtual platforms, held together by self-managed teams under flat organizational structures? Will we work four-day weeks, six-hour days, with unlimited holidays? Or, perhaps more likely, will things look quite similar, with some small adju...

Our brand new podcast series, ‘How did you get there...’, delves into the lives of inspirational people working in the charity and tech sectors.  We are going to talk to CIOs and MPs, lifelong volunteers and tech innovators, to learn about their experience and to learn from their experience.   We want to celebrate the people who inspire, energise, and educate us.  In our first podcast of the serie...