Across the country, charities, community organisations and volunteers continue to do extraordinary work.
Helping people through crises, reducing isolation, tackling inequality, strengthening communities, caring for our environment and the animals that we share it with, and creating opportunities, hope and joy are but a handful of examples.
Unfortunately, however, demand continues to rise while funding remains under pressure.
Workforce and volunteer shortages persist. Political uncertainty is growing, communities are increasingly divided, and some charities are under threat simply due to their cause.
Technological shifts
At the same time, we are living through one of the most significant technological shifts in the history of mankind.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already changing how most organisations think, make decisions, and engage the people they serve.
For civil society, these advancements present enormous opportunities and raise important questions. Ethics, bias, accountability and trust matter deeply in a sector built on public confidence and human relationships, and yet there are few reliable answers available.
Most organisations are still trying to find the resources, capacity and confidence to put AI to work in a way that furthers their aims.
Technology will never fully replace the empathy, trust, and personal connections that form the foundations of civil society.
However, it will continue to help organisations make better decisions and enable them to automate administrative processes, allowing them to spend more time on more impactful work.
Adoption on the rise
The question is no longer whether technologies such as AI will shape the future of civil society. It already is and adoption is on the rise.
Powerful tools that were until recently beyond the reach of most organisations are now well within the grasp of charities and community groups of all sizes.
Some of the larger charities are already investing in, learning about, and experimenting with AI and my hope is that the resulting capabilities will be shared with other participants in civil society.
NCVO will work hard to affect this transfer by continuing to convene our members and other stakeholders around the most pressing challenges and opportunities of our time.
Becoming more adaptive
My ambition as chair is to ensure that NCVO does all it can do to help create the conditions in which all of our members can thrive, regardless of size.
This will primarily include helping them navigate technological change with confidence, strengthening their connectivity across the sector, and ensuring they are heard by those who have influence over the environment in which they strive to succeed.
For civil society to grow in size and strength sufficient not only to deal with the increasingly complex web of challenges we face but to bring about real improvements, it must become even more adaptive.
At the same time, it must remain faithful to the values that form its distinctive character: its unwavering fortitude, its selflessness, and its extraordinary ability to deal with the most complex of challenges with calm and compassion.
Ultimately, success will depend on participants’ willingness to collaborate, to learn from one another, and to innovate on behalf of the causes we exist to serve.
Throughout its long history, civil society has consistently shown an extraordinary capacity to respond to deeply challenging shifts. There is no reason to doubt that this will continue, and I am confident that NCVO will play its part with absolute conviction.
NCVO’s new strategy – Together for a Stronger Society – is published today
Jude Sheeran is chair designate of NCVO and managing director (EMEA) at SambaNova Systems
