“We don't need to reinvent it, we just need to scale”: How digital transformation for non-profits can accelerate

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Digital inequity is not a new problem. The conversation around it has been ongoing for years, and only ramped up even more since the pandemic made the issue, like it has with many others, stark. Communities across Canada have been dealing with the lack of connectivity, poor know-how and unaffordable access to technology, while non-profits are battling the same issues within their own organizations.

Many experts are now saying it’s time to move past just having this conversation and onto implementing solutions for digital equity and digital transformation. In fact, many communities and social purpose organizations have already started to figure out solutions on their own.

Digital innovation is happening across the country in modest but effective ways. The First Nations Technology Council is working with government, communities, and non-profits to support Indigenous communities in the digital world. Connect Humanity does research to find which communities need support, and help fund community-led initiatives. On the advocacy front, OpenMedia creates campaigns and raises awareness around affordable and surveillance-free Internet access.

The work now is to understand what solutions are out there, and build the capacity to spread these efforts in a larger way throughout Canada and the social sector, experts say.

A recent report by Technovate titled ‘Building Nonprofit Digital Resilience’ identified four main gaps when it comes to digital development for non-profits in Canada: connectivity, skills, tools, and infrastructure gaps. Keeping these issues in mind, the report argues there needs to be a coordinated effort from Canadian philanthropy in which sector leaders connect with organizations working towards digital transformation — and support them.

Helena Shimeles, Director of Social Impact and Innovation at RBC, says awareness around the need for digital transformation is growing. The topic comes up at almost every non-profit conference now, which was quite rare before 2020, she says.

“The dialogue is happening,” says Shimeles. “We have the language now to talk about digital equity, digital inclusion, digital philanthropy — so I feel like that whole infrastructure is developing as we speak right now.”

Mapping out the digital transformation landscape in Canada

Aside from the growing conversation around digital transformation, the groundwork is already underway for some communities and non-profits who have been forced to think on their feet to adapt during COVID-19.

“There are actually lots of little pockets of good stuff happening. Sometimes we don’t need to reinvent it, we just need to scale what already exists,” explains Doug Gore who leads partnership development at the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

TakingITGlobal’s Connected North initiative (previously run by Cisco), Gore explains as an example, focuses on delivering education to remote Indigenous schools across Canada. They create and deliver programs like interactive workshops and connect students with virtual lessons and field trips through Cisco Webex, the organization’s video conferencing software. The program started in 2013, and has now grown to serve 21,000 students in 109 Indigenous schools across the country.

The efforts towards digital transformation need to be less on reinventing the wheel and more about mapping, says Shimeles. “It’s about mapping who already does this really well, serving vulnerable communities that have been historically marginalized, and mapping the resources that might already be available.”

At the same time, building nonprofit digital capacity won’t matter if the communities these organizations want to serve don’t have access to the Internet.

Maureen James, Community Investment Program Manager at CIRA, funds community-led access initiatives through their annual grants program, and says that organizations like Connect Humanity are also trying to build a network where communities can learn from each other on how to improve their digital infrastructure.

“There’s some really interesting and innovative approaches that are being taken that are very much focused around building the community as opposed to a big telco coming in providing the service and leaving nothing in the community,” says James.

There needs to be a national support system for digital transformation

Another gap exists because of the lack of connection between service providers and non-profits or grassroots organizations that work directly with communities but lack the resources to build digital capacity.

“[Charities and non-profits] are so busy running their business and providing services and products to their core audience that it’s off the side of their desk because [funders] have not resourced them, so there remains a missing piece of digital capacity that needs to be supported,” says Gore.

Yet every organization needs a different level of support, adds Gore. Some folks just need knowledge on how to set up a virtual program, others might need funding to change their systems, and others may need full and complete support (from acquiring tools to implementing programs) to build their digital infrastructure.

Another challenge comes from the fact that organizations are all trying out different solutions for adapting to the digital world, and lack the opportunity to talk to and learn from each other by sharing what is and isn’t working for their team.

“We have very little  in place to support them,” says Gore, adding that the social impact sector needs a kind of resource hub or ecosystem of support to fill these needs for communities, non-profits, and charities.

The Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience (CCNDR) which was launched earlier this year, is working to become that sector-wide resource hub for charities and non-profits seeking to build up their digital skills and infrastructure. Being community driven, the Centre’s efforts include research into the specific challenges the sector is facing in terms of digital transformation, training social impact leaders on digital skills, and creating guidelines for ethical use of technologies.

James explains that despite the challenges non-profit organizations face, they somehow manage to do whatever they can, even if it’s a do-it-yourself approach, to lean into digital service delivery.

These organizations switch to virtual sessions, train their own staff on how to use new software, find online programming, and new ways of connecting with the communities they work with; they just find a way, says James. “What has been frustrating is that funders haven’t been finding a way as quickly to support this.”

But, the awareness around funding for digital has been increasing over the past two years, and the momentum is picking up, according to Shimeles.

“The solutions are there, and we are seeing more digital based partnerships. And I find the non-profit sector is excited to be finally working on this together,” says Shimeles “And we’ve only just begun to explore the opportunities here, there is so much more to come.”

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