Charity Digital Podcast

Get ready for a brand new Charity Digital podcast series - coming soon! ‘How did you get there...’ will delve into the lives of inspirational people working in the charity and tech sectors, helping us to learn more about their career and experience in their field.  In our first podcast of the series - launching on 4 May 2022 - our host, Sacha Dhabalia, talks to Danny Attias, former Chief Digital a...

High-tech is rapidly shifting the world of fundraising. Blockchain is increasing transparency, cryptocurrencies are expanding income streams, NFTs are offering new fundraising avenues, VR is digitally demonstrating impact, AI is automating the act of appealing to donors, and so on.  It’s an interesting time. It’s exciting. But it’s also a little overwhelming. So we thought we’d gather together som...

Creating content is becoming more and more important for charities. A nice blog post isn’t quite enough. You need to think about house style, formatting, imagery, tone of voice, consistency, titles, subtitles, hyperlinks, SEO, and so much more. One article requires a lot of attention.  And that’s just articles. You may also need to consider videos, podcasts, webinars, interviews, case studies, inf...

The role of the Charity Board is evolving. Having guided charities through the all the tumult of the last two years, 2022 is all about stability. Boards need to take on the lessons of the past two years and use them to build towards the future.   Have boards fully embraced digital, for example? Are they doing enough to address diversity? And what are the big trends that trustees and board members...

This podcast is being released as part of our content take-over week, to access more visit: Digital Transformation Week .  The positive impact of digital transformation on charities is unmistakable. Throughout the sector, you can find so many examples of best practices, learnings and success stories. But we rarely address the challenges that get charities to this point. Whilst a positive mindset i...

This podcast is being released as part of our content take-over week, to access more visit: Digital Transformation Week .  In 2020, 51% of charities said they didn’t have a digital strategy in place. But this is changing. Just one year later, there was a 10% increase in charities saying that they did now have a digital strategy. It’s clear the sector is improving rapidly when it comes to digital s...

Social media marketing sounds like it should be easy. But it rarely ends up being that way. For charities, it can often feel like it isn’t worth investing your time and money, but with more than half the world’s population using social media daily, it’s almost impossible to ignore. We recently ran a webinar with Nick Wyatt, Charity Digital Growth Marketing Executive, that aimed to help charities s...

2021 proved another tumultuous year for digital fundraising, with new lockdowns and restrictions, new rules and regulations, new obstacles and challenges. But, as the year came to an end, normality seemed within touching distance and a sense of stability emerged. In 2022, charities can finally develop their long-term digital fundraising goals. They can master hybrid events, conquer the world of Ga...

Tech has become increasingly important over the past few years. Tech helps charities to streamline processes, automate services, and improve day-to-day operations. Tech is essential, but it can be costly, especially high tech. But, if they research, if they find unique deals and options on the market, charities can access high tech and a low cost.  Today’s podcast discusses the main problems confr...

Cyber attacks happen – and charities are not immune. Around a quarter of charities in the UK were affected by a cyber attack in 2020, including half of large charities. Yet nobody seems to be talking about them.  Part of the reason these attacks succeed is a lack of awareness in their methods and how to defend against them. Cyber security experts Symantec estimate that there are 135 million phishi...

Successful fundraisers tend to rely on two core elements: laughter and tears. If you make people cackle, if you make them chuckle, then they’ll reach to their wallets. If you make people cry, if you draw sympathy, if you conjure an emotive reaction, people will almost certainly give you money. In today’s podcast, we are talking about fundraising ideas. We will discuss, among many other things, wha...

The pandemic may not be the only source of change in the charity sector but it certainly has accelerated the pace. Virtually overnight, charities moved their work home, adapted how they delivered their services, and started fundraising online. It’s a lot but we embraced it – and with 2022 on the horizon, we need to get ready to embrace even more.  In this podcast, we’re joined by Sarah Cousins, He...

‘Tis the most obvious time of the year. And we are going to do the most obvious podcast, based on the one Charles Dickens book that isn’t 900 pages. We are going to make egg-nog, drink in the office, and use our expertise to tell you about the past, present, and future of fundraising. The past will cover the joys and authenticity of in-person fundraising, the immediacy and the emotive connection,...

To paraphrase the Spice Girls, cyber security never ends. With new threats surfacing every day – one every 19 seconds, according to some calculations – charities in particular are facing an uphill battle when it comes to protecting themselves against them.  But we know that we’re trying. The recent NCSC survey showed us that the overwhelming majority of charities understand the importance of cyber...

In cyber space, no one can hear you scream. That’s a touch excessive, but we have your attention. Cyber attacks are often treated like scary stories, something we imagine will never happen to us, something that we know are true but sometimes treat as though they are phantoms. For the last few years, Charity Digital have been talking openly and honestly about cyber security. We’ve been inviting oth...

Charities have become an increasingly popular target for cyber criminals in recent years, due to the sensitive data they look after and the limited resources they have to protect themselves.   Although most organisations will have a cyber security strategy or team in place, the unfortunate reality is charities are particularly vulnerable to disruptive attacks such as phishing, malware, and denial-...

It has never been more important to stay in control of IT, and arguably, it has never been more difficult. Cyber threats are on the rise, remote working is becoming the norm, and everything we work on is kept in a cloud.   Yet these are just a few of the challenge facing charity IT services in 2021. Managing online events, keeping data safe, and employee retention and recruitment are all major IT...

Hybrid working has been hyped by employers and employees, with many charities adopting the working model post-COVID-19. But, as we return to the office for a few days a week, many of us are noticing some small and not so small issues. Lack of equipment, the complexities of social distancing, the sound of several Zoom calls in the background, half-virtual meetings, scheduling issues, and so on. We...

Virgin Money has announced the closure of Virgin Money Giving (VGM). The announcement follows a strategic review of the fundraising platform following the end of its partnership with the London Marathon. The closure is massive news for the UK charity sector, as it raises important questions about the viability of donation platforms, the viability of older models, and the future of fundraising. Tod...

Choosing the right CRM can be difficult. Most charities undertake a major software review less than every five years, making it a daunting project requiring a lot of big decision-making.  With so many options available, all wrapped up in hefty jargon and acronyms galore, charities often struggle to pick the CRM that best suits them. But worry not. We are here to help.  In this podcast, Charity Dig...

Charity Digital has been hosting a podcast for more than two years. We’ve learned a lot of important information in that time. We’ve mostly learnt what not to do. For today’s podcast, Nick Wyatt is joined by Lynsey Sweales, CEO at SocialB, Bex Rae Evans, host of the Tech for Good Live podcast, and Samuel Davies, producer and chair of the Charity Chat podcast. We come together to reflect on our sho...

Over the past year, charities in the UK and across the world have understandably focussed on immediate solutions, finding short-term fixes to short-term problems. But the emphasis on the short-term means that charities have often overlooked, neglected, or simply ignored elements of charity work that promote sustainability. That is particularly true when it comes to financial management - and that'...

The charity sector is experiencing burnout. Many of us are feeling fed-up with the persistence of COVID-19. We are frustrated by the permanence of transition, the promise of the so-called new normal that never arrives. We are struggling to find enthusiasm amid the ever-growing list of compliance and logistic demands, all stemming from constant change.     Simply put, the UK charity sector is feeli...

Back in May 2021, we hosted #BeMoreDigital Marketing Day. Throughout the event, we hosted five fantastic sessions covering some of the most important digital marketing topics for charities. Now, we’re releasing some of these as podcasts for you to listen to any time!  With a small team of just three paid staff, 15 Square were struggling to find the time and resources to market the great work they...

In March 2020, we held our annual #BeMoreDigital Conference virtually.  Now, we're bringing you some of the best sessions as podcast episodes for you to enjoy!  The Data Protection Act of 2018, commonly known as GDPR, has now been in place for nearly three years. Most organisations will have seen their working environment has changed drastically since GDPR was first enforced. But charities are sti...