NCVO overhauls digital maturity matrix and adds new sections

02 May 2019 News

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NCVO

NCVO has today launched an updated version of a tool that helps charities benchmark their use of digital and track their progress.

The digital maturity index was developed by the digital team at Breast Cancer Care in 2016 and NCVO took responsibility for the tool in 2017.

Over 800 charities already use the tool which helps to identify gaps in their capabilities and processes, prioritise areas for development and benchmark themselves against other organisations.

The updated version includes new sections on security and data protection. Other sections include; content; communications and campaigns; service design, and leadership and strategy.

It was developed after consultation with a group of around 60 charity technical and content experts over the last six months.

There is and increased focus on user-centred approaches, leadership and strategy, and content has been rewritten to make it easy to understand for organisations at all stages of their digital journey.

‘Digital must be on every board’s agenda’

NCVO urged charities to think about how they could be using digital to interact with beneficiaries, supporters and other members of the public.   

Karl Wilding, director of public policy at NCVO, said:With the public having higher and higher expectations of how they can interact with charities of all kinds, there are very few organisations where progressing digital capabilities shouldn’t be a regular item on the board agenda.

“But getting an accurate grip on where you stand as an organisation in making the most of digital opportunities can be challenging. It’s hard to know what you don’t know and to compare yourself to other organisations.”

The charity digital code was launched last year, setting out how charities should be using digital to its best advantage, and Wilding said the refreshed digital matrix should support this work.

He said: “The digital maturity matrix lets senior managers and board members track their progress. It helps leaders understand what good looks like and where the biggest gains can be made in their organisation.

“This tool is the standard for assessment in this area and it’s a practical accompaniment to the charity digital code’s aspirational framework. By using common benchmarking and sharing results across different organisations, together we can strengthen the whole sector’s digital skillset.”

The tool is free to use on NCVO’s website.

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