In an increasingly online world, information technology has become a key driver of success for charities but also one in which charities struggle to keep up with developments. The Charity IT Survey 2009 allows charities of all shapes and sizes to benchmark themselves against their peers. Once again, the benefit of data integration across departments is highlighted, especially in the context of web based solutions. With increasing representation at board level, IT is just about holding its own in the contest for resources but charities are finding it difficult to really drive improvements with major investment or to adopt new technologies as they emerge.

John Tate and Gareth Jones present the findings from the 2008 Charity Accounting Software Survey.

What are the main considerations when choosing a new software system?