March 2017

1. DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AND THE VOLUNTARY
SECTOR: DISRUPTION, TRANSFORMATION AND MATURITY
Gareth Lloyd
Veronique Jochum
Lisa Hornung March 2017

2. 2
FOREWORD
In everything we do at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS),
we recognise the power that technology has to
empower people and make a positive impact.
We take every opportunity to encourage our customers and partners to embrace digital transformation,
address the challenges facing businesses and society - to truly fulfil the opportunities of successfully
implementing new technologies.
Ultimately, all our work is directed towards helping businesses, the public sector, as well as communities
to adapt and take advantage of the digital economy. In order to do this we must consider a variety of
areas: digital skills, diversity, data collection, privacy, analysis, and legacy IT systems to shift the overall
mind-set of people and open their eyes to new digital solutions.
‘Digital Technology And The Voluntary Sector’, a report sponsored by TCS, demonstrates the impact
technology has in overcoming barriers and enabling transformation in the voluntary sector, and outlines
what considerations voluntary organisations must make in the technology adoption process.
The report also underscores TCS’ commitment to disrupting the status quo and collaboratively setting
up new ways of thinking and working, allowing organisations to keep pace with the rapid technology
advances we are experiencing.
Together, we can enter a new digital era that is more inclusive of – and more beneficial – for all.
Shankar Narayanan, Head of UK&I, Tata Consultancy Services

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CONTENTS
 OUR AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
 OUR METHODS
 LITERATURE AND DEFINITIONS
 MAPPING TECHNOLOGIES TO CHALLENGES
 TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION: CASE EXEMPLARS
 DRIVERS, ENABLERS AND BARRIERS
 TECHNOLOGICAL MATURITY
 CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY

4. CONTEXT, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

5. 5
CONTEXT
 This was an independent research project undertaken by NCVO, sponsored
by Tata Consultancy Services.
 Our research was carried out in late 2016 and early 2017, consisting of a
literature review, a workshop with digital experts working in the voluntary
sector, a mapping exercise of 103 examples of digital technology adoption in
the voluntary sector, and 20 more detailed exemplars.
 Our focus was on adoption of technology by established voluntary
organisations, rather than by smaller organisations that specifically work in
the areas of digital change and technology.

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RESEARCH AIMS
The research aimed to:
 show how technology-led solutions can help address some of the
challenges facing voluntary organisations.
 give organisations a clear idea of what makes a successful technology-
led solution and identify replicable solutions.
 identify barriers and enablers so that organisations looking to implement
technology-led solutions can deal with the former and make more of the
latter.

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1. Examine the transformative potential of digital technology.
2. Focus on the use and uptake of technology in relation to a number of
specific challenges.
3. Focus on technology application and usage that has been
transformative/disruptive but also replicable for other organisations with
low barriers to uptake.
4. Explore the barriers and enablers to adopting, embedding and using
technology within organisations.

8. OUR METHODS

9. 9
METHODS
Activity Methods Purpose Informs
Literature review Review reports and guidance
documents on technology in the
voluntary sector to explore research
questions.
Look at how organisations have used
technology in projects, and how best
to support these organisations.
Definitions
Drivers, enabler and barriers
Mapping technology projects in the
voluntary sector
Identify 100 technology-led projects
from the voluntary sector that have
addressed a number of specific
challenges.
Provide evidence and guidelines on
how organisations have addressed
challenges with specific technology
types in the past.
Drivers, enabler and barriers
Technological maturity
Identifying case exemplars Fit 20 individual projects to the
mapping exercise and describe in
more detail.
Help other organisations to ask
whether a similar project might work
for them.
Drivers, enabler and barriers
Technological maturity
Creating a digital maturity model Create method for fitting project
types (and corresponding barriers,
motivators and enablers) to the
Gartner Hype Cycle.
Help us – and other organisations – to
understand how barriers and enablers
or technological uptake change as the
technology itself matures and
becomes commonplace.
Future work

10. LITERATURE AND DEFINITIONS

11. 11
REVIEW MATERIALS
There are excellent and comprehensive
overviews and reviews of the use of
technology and digital in the voluntary sector,
as well as guidance for organisations who want
to use these technologies: we looked across
these for themes, challenges and patterns.

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DEFINITION - TRANSFORMATION
Transformation. Transformative uptake of technology is a process of organisational
change, from an organisation that has minimal or limited of technology in their
core business and/or day-to-day activities, to one that makes use of technology as
part of their core work. Adopting technology may also involve other associated
organisational changes required to enable that transition.
We recognise, however, the difference between compartmentalised and
transformative uptake of technology:
 compartmentalised uptake may involve the use of an external supplier to deliver
a digitally-focused project, or even the deployment of a group of staff to do the
same.
 where specific projects do not translate to wider change in the organisation, we
do not consider transformative change to have occurred.

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DEFINITION - DISRUPTION I
 Disruption. How can technology disrupt voluntary organisations, and how
is disruption characterised in the relevant literature?
 The initial review of materials revealed two distinct ways that the term
‘disruption’ was used.
• One was a broadly negative term for problems experienced during a
period or process of change.
• The other was more positive and related to innovation and disruption
of markets; in some cases, this was called disruptive innovation.
 This distinction is important because the term disruption alone may have
different meanings to different individuals from inside and outside the
voluntary sector.

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DEFINITION - DISRUPTION II
 In many of the materials reviewed for this report, disruption was treated as
either a negative by-product of change, or one that was to be tolerated
and/or mitigated against.
 Examples given included the need for staff members to train in and pick up
the use of new technologies, thereby disrupting and changing their pattern
of day-to-day activity. The materials reviewed highlighted this as an issue
for established voluntary organisations, in that existing staff may feel
uncomfortable with retraining to use new forms of technology and
software.
 Established organisations with only limited digital capacity might face
disruption when transitioning to delivery of digital-focused projects: these
organisations may be much more likely to experience disruption than other
organisations with stronger digital infrastructure and capacity.

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DEFINITION - DISRUPTION III
 While it is, of course, possible for changes in day-to-day activities to be
experienced in a beneficial or positive way, the materials reviewed tended
to take the view that continuing with ‘business as usual’ was, in general,
easier than changing day-to-day patterns in the short term.
 Perhaps a more useful definition of disruption for the purposes of this
report is in terms of the difficulties associated with breaking from
established ways of working.
 The more positive conceptualisation of disruption – disruptive innovation –
is discussed in detail at the end of this section.

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DISRUPTION AND TRANSFORMATION
Disruptive Non-disruptive
Transformative A successful implementation of technology/digital-led ways
of working, but the process was difficult and disruptive for
staff.
Example: a small, but mature charity (that has traditionally
done all of its work in person and via paper-based systems)
implements a digital financial, reporting and client
relationship management system, requiring all staff to be
trained in the new technology and use it in their day-to-day
work.
A successful implementation of technology/digital-led
ways of working, where staff did not feel that the process
was challenging or difficult.
Example: a small, but mature charity runs a limited digital
project with one team. This project is so successful and
easy to use that it is quickly taken up by all members of
staff.
Non-transformative A digital project that was either limited in scope or overly
ambitious, that failed to change culture at the organisation
but disrupted the day-to-day activity of staff. This is
perhaps the most negative outcome possible from a digital
technology project.
Example: a charity purchases various IT systems and trains
staff to use them. However the systems are found to not be
fit for purpose, and the costs and staff time expended are
wasted as staff gravitate back towards use of non-digital
methods.
A digital project that was either limited in scope or overly
ambitious, that failed to change culture at the
organisation but, at the same time, did not disrupt the
day-to-day activity of staff. This may or may not be a poor
outcome: it may simply represent a digital experiment or
pilot that did not work out at planned.
Example: a charity trials the use of a low-budget, easy-to-
implement piece of software for allowing staff to
communicate with clients. It is not well liked or fit for
purpose and is abandoned quickly, but with little
disruption to staff who treat it as a learning experience.
Disruption may be a consequence of transformative change, though not necessarily an inevitable and direct one.
Transformation and disruption can occur independently of one another, as illustrated by these hypothetical examples.

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SIZE AND ACTIVITY OF ORGANISATION
 There is little to suggest that how technology is adopted and implemented
depends the activity of the organisation. The support and guidance
provided for the voluntary sector is not tailored for different organisations
doing different forms of work.
 However, size of organisation appears to be important. Adoption and uptake
of technology can be higher risk for large organisations.
 Smaller organisations are often more able to embed technology-led projects
in their day to day work and have fewer legacy systems.

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DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION I
 What about disruptive innovation? It’s difficult to avoid talking about
disruptive innovation when talking about disruption and innovation,
because it is such a popular and interesting concept, and has been identified
as a driving factor behind recent funding programmes.
 Disruptive innovation (as defined by Clayton Christensen) describes a new
product or service that emerges at the bottom of a market and then
becomes widespread, eventually displacing established competitors.
 The term has been used when private sector markets have been changed
rapidly by less-established competitors employing emerging technology: for
example, AirBnB are often identified as disrupting the hotel industry.

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DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION II
 Two of the most notable examples of disruptive innovation are:
• Wikipedia (which disrupted models of traditional print encyclopedias) and
• digital photography (which disrupted traditional chemical-based cameras).
 Widespread internet access (and the growing development and awareness of
wikipedia) meant that people no longer needed physical access to an
encyclopedia. The availability of affordable phones with an integrated camera
meant that a complete photographic system was available to everyone who
owned one. The key message in both examples is that the technology emerged at
the lower end of the market in a way that opened up access to a greater range of
users.
 Christensen's definition is useful: "companies unwittingly open the door to
‘disruptive innovations’ at the bottom of the market. An innovation that is
disruptive allows a whole new population of consumers at the bottom of a market
access to a product or service that was historically only accessible to consumers
with a lot of money or a lot of skill."

20. 20
DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION III
 There have been suggestions that voluntary sector organisations are 'ideal candidates'
for disruptive innovation (such as Braden Kelly of Innovation Excellence). These
commentators claim that voluntary sector organisations are often prescriptive and top-
down about how they carry out their day-to-day work, and could benefit from
disruptive innovation. But this is contested, and it is not clear whether they mean that
individual organisations could benefit and improve via disruptive innovation, or that
disruptive innovation could cause a more fundamental change to the way that the
voluntary sector works.
 The disruptive innovation model has influenced digital project funding in the voluntary
sector. A number of funders have clearly attempted to foster and incubate the kind of
innovation observed in other industries, but the resulting funded projects may not
themselves be defined as disruptive innovation.

21. 21
DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION IV
 Our mapping exercise focused on the looking at transformative and disruptive change
in established organisations rather than disruptive innovation. However disruptive
innovation in the voluntary sector from external sources (for example, individuals and
the private sector) is a prime topic for future research.
 Disruptive innovation is different from the examples of disruption and transformation
that we are concerned with, because we are looking at voluntary organisations that are
seeking to transform their day-to-day operations via use of technology, rather than
being disrupted by emerging technologies from the lower end of the market.
 While disruptive innovation still deserves consideration, the transformative changes
that we are considering in this research are usually internal, with organisations seeking
to change their own practices. However, some organisations may also seek to disrupt
the wider voluntary sector, for example in promoting changes in good practice.

22. MAPPING TECHNOLOGIES TO CHALLENGES

23. 23
FOUR CHALLENGES FACING THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR
1 CONNECTING
2 SERVICE
DELIVERY 3 LEADERSHIP &
GOVERNANCE
4 FUNDRAISING
How to unite communities
and provide bridges
between different sections
of society
How to transform and deliver
the public services that are
needed by society in the
context of less public money
being available
How to develop effective
and transparent governance
and leadership, that inspires
confidence and trust in how
organisations behave and
what they can achieve
How to raise money for charitable
purposes in the most effective,
cost-efficient, and ethical way
We defined four key challenges that
the voluntary sector is facing.

24. 24
MAPPING TECHNOLOGIES TO CHALLENGES
 We identified 103 examples of projects that had been
carried out by organisations in the voluntary sector
that were based around the use of technology.
 We organised these into 18 technology types, and
mapped these to the four challenges.
 We looked at a smaller subset of 20 individual
example projects more closely (as shown in the
appendices).
 Finally we picked out some of these examples to
describe in more depth and draw out comparisons.
Technology type Total
App 12
Collaboration & Project
Management software
2
Connected IT
infrastructure
6
Contactless donation 5
CRM 2
Crowdfunding 6
Data & Analytics 8
Digital currency 2
Digital donation 1
E-learning 5
Games 9
Live support 6
Messaging services 10
Online platform/portals 5
Online shops 3
Social media 12
Virtual reality 3
Website 5
Total 103
Challenges
1 2 3 4
4 11 2 1
2
1 1 5 1
5
2 2
2 6
5 8 3
2
1
1 3 3
2 3 5
1 6
3 4 2 3
3 1 4 2
1 3
5 4 2 3
3
1 1 1 2
23 40 31 42

25. 25
MAPPING TECHNOLOGY TYPES
Social
media
Portals/
platforms
Website
IT infra-
structure
Online
shops
E-learning
Messaging
Data &
Analytics
App
Crowdfunding
Contactless
donations
Virtual
reality
Digital
currency
Online live
support
Games
CRM
Collaboration/
PM software
1 CONNECTING
2 SERVICE DELIVERY
3 LEADERSHIP & GOVERNANCE
4 FUNDRAISING
 Very few types sit under one
challenge only.
 The exceptions are fundraising-
related types. This may reflect
that fundraising has been a
more pressing concern, and that
more dedicated attention has
been given to it.
 Technology types that sit in the
centre of the chart are those
that address all types, and are
more generic, well-used
technologies; these tend to be
used as a tool to address not
only these challenges but a
wide range of other outcomes
and goals. For example,
websites are generic forms of
media.

26. 26
MAPPING INDIVIDUAL EXAMPLES
1 CONNECTING
2 SERVICE DELIVERY
3 LEADERSHIP & GOVERNANCE
4 FUNDRAISING
PETA
(WhatsApp)Carers UK
(App)
Link Age
(IT cloud)
Macmillan
Cancer Support
(Data & analytics)
National
Ugly Mug
(App)
NSPCC
(Online Live
Support)
Forget me not
children’s hospice
(App)
United Response
(E-learning)
BACP
(Board portal)
Childreach International
(WhatsApp)
Blue Cross
(Contactless donations)
Yorkshire Charity
(Online auction
portal)
RNLI (Bitcoin)
Depaul UK
(Game)
Cafedirect Producers' Foundation
(Digital currency)
RNLI (Game)
Charity:water
(Donor portal)
Cancer Research UK
(Crowdfunding)
Parkinson’s UK
(Data & analytics)
WWF (Virtual reality)
Scope
(Social media/
Storytelling)
 We also plotted individual
examples against the four
challenges. These 20 examples
were picked because they
represented adoptions of
technology by the voluntary
sector that were potentially
disruptive and/or
transformative. They are
described in more detail in the
following slides.
 Looking at these individual
examples, we see more
outside of the centre,
suggesting that the examples
identified serve more specific
functions than the technology
types we listed.

27. 27
CASE EXEMPLARS
 The following slides provide further information
on the 20 examples that we have mapped out.
They are useful in understanding what would
make the technology they used suitable for wider
adoption and replication.
 These examples are listed in the following slides in
a standardised format, describing the type of
technology utilised and challenge that is
addressed (via the coloured labels to the right of
the exemplar title).
• They can be used as starting points for drawing
out comparisons between technologies (as shown
in slides 38 and 39) or between challenges/goals.
CONNECTING
SERVICE DELIVERY
LEADERSHIP & GOVERNANCE
FUNDRAISING
3
4
1
2

28. 28
National Ugly Mug
2016 / APP
Reason Digital has helped to develop a smartphone app that sex
workers can use to warn each other about violent clients nearby.
The app is a collaboration between National Ugly Mugs (NUM)
and Reason Digital. The former is a UK charity that collects
descriptions of threatening individuals and then circulates them
via email and SMS among sex workers (and the police). The app
radically speeds up that sharing process.
The organisation
Annual income: £214,500 Sector: Health and care
National Ugly Mugs (NUM) is a pioneering, national organisation
which provides greater access to justice and protection for sex
workers who are often targeted by dangerous individuals but are
frequently reluctant to report these incidents to the police.
1 2 NSPCC
2016 / ONLINE LIVE SUPPORT & COMMUNITY
The NSPCC said Childline – which has been operating for 30 years
– had primarily been viewed as a telephone helpline, but last year
71% of children who contacted the service did so online. The
support offered by Childline today includes services such as one-
to-one online chats with counsellors, email counselling and
access to a community of young people on online message
boards and social channels.
The organisation
Annual income: £128,912,000 Sector: Children
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
(NSPCC) is a charity campaigning and working in child protection
in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands.
1 2

29. 29
2015 / ONLINE BOARD PORTAL
An online portal, used by the British Association for Counselling &
Psychotherapy, enables their board members to more easily
access relevant information. They now feel more supported and
tuned in to their organisation. Training is offered to every board
member and policies have been developed for iPad use. Training
also covers data protection issues. Using the portal has also led to
significant time and resource savings, e.g. hard copy board papers
no longer need to be collated and circulated.
The organisation
Annual income: £7,827,901 Sector: Health and care
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy is a
professional body representing counselling and psychotherapy. It
provides education and training, and provides information on
counselling and psychotherapy for the general public.
BACP 3 United Response
2011 / E-LEARNING
United Response uses its e-learning modules to deliver
underpinning knowledge, and for refresher training. To
accommodate some individual preferences for face-to-face
training, it has adopted a blended approach where, for example,
initial training is done face-to-face, but then refreshers are
delivered via e-learning. They have also been exploring the use of
webinars, and intends to increase these as they are working well.
The organisation
Annual income: £77,200,000 Sector: Health and care
UK charity providing personalised care and support to people
with learning disabilities, mental or physical support needs
allowing them to live their lives to the full.
3

30. 30
Cafedirect Producers' Foundation
2015 / DIGITAL CURRENCY
In 2015, the Cafédirect Producers' Foundation (CPF) launched a
campaign named #OneBigTweet, asking people to donate twitter
followers instead of cash. The idea was to grow the
#OneBigTweet concept to such a size that it can be auctioned for
charity. This will enable the business that wins the auction to
reach a huge number of people as their #OneBigTweet is
automatically retweeted from the accounts of supporters once
only as a kind of giant Twitter mailshot.
4
The organisation
Annual income: £819,202 Sector: International development
The Cafédirect Producers’ Foundation (CPF) is a UK-registered
charity who works with smallholder farmers and their
organisations growing tea, coffee and cocoa across countries in
Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Blue Cross
2016 / CONTACTLESS DONATIONS
The Blue Cross created the world’s first team of canine
fundraisers. By embedding contactless technology into specially-
designed jackets, it enabled the public to donate by patting dogs
during charity events. Their contactless devices accept donations
of £2. The idea came from the charity’s PR agency, and the Blue
Cross fundraising, marketing and communications team
developed the concept. First trials were run in summer 2016.
4
The organisation
Annual income: £34,158,000 Sector: Animal welfare
The Blue Cross is an animal welfare charity. It rehomes unwanted
and rescued animals and provides veterinary care for people who
cannot afford private vets' fees.

31. 31
Parkinson’s UK
c2010 / DATA & ANALYTICS
Parkinson’s UK teamed up with Wood for Trees, who specialise in
helping charities gain strategic insight into their databases, to
improve their use of CRM data. By analysing their own data
alongside information from other platforms, e.g. JustGiving,
Parkinson’s was able to gain deeper insight into who their
supporters are, who they associate with and what they do. This
resulted in an enormous reengagement of 70,000 people, and a
significant uplift in revenue.
The organisation
Annual income: £31,451,000 Sector: Health and care
Parkinson's UK is a Parkinson's research and support charity. It is
the largest charity funder of research into Parkinson's in the UK,
and offers support and information to people affected by
Parkinson's, their families and carers
4
Yorkshire Charity
2015 / ONLINE AUCTION PORTAL
The Yorkshire Charity worked with GiveSmart to offer an
innovative technology twist on their traditional silent auction
event. Each guest was able to browse and bid for auction items
via a mobile and online bidding site, while they enjoyed the sights
and sounds of the orient themed event. GiveSmart helped the
Yorkshire Charity raise £17,000 through the silent auction, double
what the organisation has raised before.
The organisation
Annual income: £118,914 Sector: Grant making
The Yorkshire Charity is a grant giving organisation supporting
local charities and individuals. It’s focusing on four main areas:
Health and Human Services, Education, Civic and Community
Programmes and the Arts.
4

32. 32
RNLI
2014 / BITCOIN
RNLI are the first major charity in the UK to experiment with a
Bitcoin donation scheme. The idea was based on research into
future trends and changes, and aimed to expose RNLI to new
audiences. In the first 3 months there had been 140 donations,
the largest were two separate donations of about £300 each. The
average Bitcoin donation was around £10. When a certain
amount is reached, RNLI converts Bitcoin into pounds to minimise
transaction costs and reduce the exposure to the risk of price
changes.
4
The organisation
Annual income: £191,334,622 Sector: Emergency and relief
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity
that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the UK, Ireland, the
Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. They also provide training
and education, particularly for young people.
WWF UK
2016 / VIRTUAL REALITY
In January 2016, 5,000 shoppers in the Westfield shopping
centres were transported to the tigers' forest habitat in Nepal. It
was all part of WWF's Tiger Experience, a virtual reality
experience designed to combat the public's negative perception
of face-to-face fundraising. WWF attracted an average of 16 new
donors a day during the Tiger Experience, a 50 per cent increase
on the 11 it normally signs up in two weeks. But the average
direct debit values remained static at about £7 a month.
The organisation
Annual income: £63,203,000 Sector: Wilderness preservation
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-
governmental organisation founded in 1961, working in the field
of the wilderness preservation, and the reduction of humanity's
footprint on the environment.
4

33. 33
Scope
2014 / STORYTELLING
Scope’s online community is a place where individuals with
disabilities can share their thoughts and experiences, and the
charity has made great use of this channel to tell stories in a way
that really makes people listen. The charity declared 2014 as their
most successful year yet for Scope’s film content, and they have
recently celebrated the release of their 100th film. Their
#EndTheAwkward series got over a million views on YouTube, and
combines humour with a powerful underlying message.
The organisation
Annual income: £101,068,000 Sector: Disabilities
Scope is a disability charity working with disabled people and
their families in England and Wales. It runs support services such
as schools, a college, residential care, training, short breaks and
runs a helpline providing information and advice on disability.
1 Depaul UK
2010 / GAME
In 2010, Depaul UK launched a tamagotchi-style app (iHobo),
which allowed people to care for a homeless youth for 3 days in
real-time. Push notifications would remind them to secure food
and shelter for the youth living on the street. Players could either
ignore the notifications and watch his life spiral out of control as
well as lose points, or could take care of the homeless youth and
earn points. The iHobo campaign had 600,000 downloads raising
awareness of homeless youth and earned over 3.8 million dollars.
The organisation
Annual income: £100,708,000 Sector: Children
Depaul UK is a youth homelessness charity and specialises in
working in communities where poverty and long-term
unemployment have resulted in generations of social exclusion
and high rates of homelessness.
1 4

34. 34
Cancer Research UK
2009 / CROWDFUNDING
Cancer Research UK was the first charity to build its own
crowdfunding platform ‘MyProjects,’ in 2009. The site looks
similar to many other crowdfunding sites. There are the details of
the projects, updates from the researchers, the tally of money
raised. Supporters can choose to give money to the research that
means the most to them, whether it’s childhood cancers, clinical
trials or cancer nurses. Until 2014, the site has raised over
£2million to help fund a wide range of research projects.
The organisation
Annual income: £634,808,043 Sector: Health and care
Cancer Research UK is a cancer research and awareness charity in
the UK.
1 4Charity: water
DONOR PORTAL – DOLLARS TO PROJECTS
Dollars to Projects is a feature within the charity’s donor portal
that tracks donations and links them to projects. The charity
works with partners on the ground to collect data on the kind of
water technology used, the population served, the cost per
project, the GPS coordinates and photos. They use a custom-built
Assignment Tool to match the money raised with the projects that
were funded. They provide a Project Detail Report, which shows
GPS coordinates, photos and other details within donor’s
customised projects page.
The organisation (US based but now also in UK)
Annual income: Sector: International development
Charity: water is a non-profit organisation bringing clean and safe
drinking water to people in developing countries.
1 3 4

35. 35
Childreach International 1 3
2016 / WHATSAPP
Childreach International uses WhatsApp to link staff located in
the UK, India, Nepal and Tanzania by sharing photos and vlogs
from the organisation’s projects. Communications executive Lisa
Boyles says “Staff now feel a closer and more immediate
connection to our work around the world. They are able to ask
questions to colleagues they would otherwise not get an
opportunity to interact with. This is also helping to provide fresh
and engaging content that can be repurposed for our social media
and online platforms."
The organisation
Annual income: £2,200,000 Sector: International development
Childreach aim to restore child-rights and empower children to
create positive change through community based solutions,
ensuring children have improved access to education, protection
and healthcare.
PETA UK
2016 / WHATSAPP
PETA started using WhatsApp to support email journeys,
encouraging supporters to go vegan. Around 700 participants
receive one message a day, with content such as recipes, advice
on shopping for vegan products and information on nutrition.
They also send participants a survey at the end of the month to
ask them whether the messages had been useful and if they
planned to stay vegan going forwards. "The response was
overwhelmingly positive, with many people replying
enthusiastically to our messages.”
The organisation
Annual income: £3,161,382 Sector: Animal welfare
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
Foundation is a UK-based charity dedicated to establishing and
protecting the rights of all animals.
2 3

36. 36
Carers UK
2014 / APP
Carers UK has been researching caring technologies for many
years and has found clear evidence that the challenges of
‘distance caring’ and ‘sandwich caring’ can be eased with
technology. They decided to launch a new service to help connect
people caring for a member of their family or a friend. The app
Jointly combines group messaging with other useful features to
help support and coordinate care. It enables multiple carers to
share a calendar, task and medication lists and allows for group
messaging.
The organisation
Annual income: £3,484,667 Sector: Health and care
Carers UK is a national membership organisation for carers in the
UK giving cares support and advice about caring.
1 2 3 Link Age Southwark
2016 / CLOUD BASED IT INFRASTRUCTURE
Link Age turned to tt-exchange to access donated software, and
decided to make use of Office 365, providing cloud-based
licences of Microsoft Office Suite. This meant that no computer
storage had to be taken, and all files could be found in one place,
saving time to search through documents and databases. Logging
new service users and matching them to suitable volunteers, a
task which could previously have taken up to a week, could now
be done in a matter of minutes.
The organisation
Annual income: £301,683 Sector: Health and care
Link Age Southwark is a local charity providing volunteer support
to isolated, older people in Southwark. They help older people
stay connected with their communities, alleviating loneliness, and
improving health and wellbeing.
1 2 3

37. 37
Forget Me Not Children Hospice
2015 / APP
The Forget Me Not Children's Hospice developed an app to make
it easy for families to offer immediate feedback after a visit and to
communicate any care related enquiries. The app is also used to
hear families’ opinions on other care related issues, e.g. what they
would like to see at future events, or other services that would be
helpful to them. This app enables the organisation to constantly
listen and respond to the changing children and family needs, and
therefore to deliver a high quality service.
The organisation
Annual income: £3,152,792 Sector: Health and care
The Forget Me Not Children's Hospice supports children with life
shortening conditions and their families across West Yorkshire.
They support children and their families through their hospice at
home service and at their hospice, Russell House, in Huddersfield.
2 3Macmillan Cancer Support
2014 / DATA & ANALYTICS
The cancer charity has been analysing NHS data sets, including
cancer registration and mortality, to create a desktop tool for
commissioners to plan cancer care in advance in any area of the
UK. The model developed by the charity's team of data scientists
predicts how many people will be diagnosed with cancer, what
types they will have, how many will die and what their needs will
be in one to three years' time. Data can also be filtered by cancer
type, health and social care trust and council area.
The organisation
Annual income: £230,211,000 Sector: Health and care
Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the largest British charities
and provides specialist health care, information and financial
support to people affected by cancer.
2 3

38. 38
RNLI
2015-16 / GAME
The Beach Builder Challenge, using the interactive video game
Minecraft to create and build virtual worlds, has been created by
the RNLI to teach children about beach and water safety at a time
when many young people will be visiting the coast during school
summer holidays. In its first year, the Beach Builder Challenge was
a huge success with more than 8,000 children participating from
all over the world. It also proved successful in helping to reach a
high number of children living in inland communities across the
UK and Ireland.
The organisation
Annual income: £191,334,622 Sector: Emergency and relief
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity
that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the UK, Ireland, the
Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. They also provide training
and education, particularly for young people.
1 2

39. 39
COMPARING EXEMPLARS: CARE COMMUNICATION APPS
Forget me Not Children’s Hospice
The Forget Me Not app allows families to leave feedback on the
care received, as well as pass on care-related messages and
enquiries. It allows FMN staff to respond more quickly to these
enquiries, as well as to provide further information to families and
distribute surveys about the level of survey that they provide.
Carers UK
Carers UK’s aim was to help connect people caring for a member of
their family or a friend. They developed an app for this purpose:
called Jointly combines group messaging with other useful features
to help support and coordinate care. It enables multiple carers to
share a calendar, task and medication lists and allows for group
messaging.
Both Forget Me Not and Carers UK have developed and launched apps to support and speed up how their beneficiaries
communicate. Both are available for Android and iOS devices, but have different aims and target beneficiaries.

40. 40
COMPARING EXEMPLARS: CARE COMMUNICATION APPS II
Carers UK/Jointly (CUK) Forget Me Not (FMN)
Developed by: Pivotell Dogma Creative Ltd
Price: £2.99 Free
Stated goals: To allow networks of carers to co-
ordinate care via group messaging and
sharing information
“Encouraging greater interaction with the families
they support” via private messaging and feedback
mechanisms between families and FMN staff
Transformative
elements?
Provided ways for CUK clients to
communicate that bypass the
organisation
Encouraged more regular feedback mechanisms
from client families
Disruptive elements? None reported; provided enhanced
services for clients but few changes to
way that CUK operated
Changed the way that FMN staff communicate
with client families, both in terms of method and
shorter timescales

41. 41
CATEGORISING AND RATING EXAMPLES: EXERCISE
 Identify suitable examples (either of those provided or from elsewhere)
 Assemble a working group
 Each member to rate each example from 1-5 on the following categories:
• Is the example innovative?
• Was the example risky for the organisation carrying it out?
• Did the example transform the organisation’s day to day work or activities?
• Did the example affect the organisation’s impact on beneficiaries?
• Is it replicable? How easy would it be to carry out at our organisation?
 Discuss answers as a group: look at where these is agreement and disagreement on ratings, and why.
In assessing these examples, we devised a series of categories that can be used
to rate and compare them. The exercise below outlines how organisations can
use them to assess existing examples of technology adoption in order to use
them in their own work.

42. DRIVERS, ENABLERS AND BARRIERS

43. 43
DRIVERS, ENABLERS AND BARRIERS
Drivers, enablers and barriers are useful in considering whether the examples
in the previous section are replicable in other organisations.
 Drivers are the desired changes that underpin why organisations adopt
technology. They can be external, with drivers of change coming from
outside of the organisation; or internal, with an organisation seeking to
develop or change its own systems and/or practices.
 Enablers are the positive factors that help ensure that digital technology
projects will achieve their goals.
 Barriers represent obstacles to the implementation of digital technology
projects.

44. 44
DRIVERS I
Improving customer focus The reports did not identify user experience as a general
theme, but it was raised in a number of case studies and
recommendations. User experience refers to a series of
design and research principles that aim to make digital
systems easier to use by reducing barriers and challenges
that users have when interacting with the system (whether
via hardware, dedicated software or websites).
Improving efficiency Efficiency-related goals stated included improving team
communications, faster publishing and uploading of
content, delivering services via digital platforms, and better
accessibility for people with disabilities.

45. 45
DRIVERS II
Improving user experience In terms of customer focus, this translated to new systems
of data monitoring, and reporting and using those data in
marketing and communications. It involved working on
user journeys and changing how they work with
customers via use of CRM. The desired outcome of these
changes was increased conversion rates in fundraising and
campaigning.
New fundraising methods Many organisations expressed an interest in crowdfunding
as a solution to the funding issues identified and
discussed previously; however, as pointed out in the New
Reality report, digital transformation is often approached
as a core cost and therefore would not be easy to
communicate as a crowdfunding campaign. Crowdfunding
is more commonly used for products or service
development, and may be better viewed as a mechanism
for improving digital capability through individual projects.

46. 46
ENABLERS I
Internal support Having adequate internal support, not only in terms of IT, but on
other internal mechanisms that ease change such as HR and
finances.
New fundraising methods This includes having enough material resources including
funding and physical resources; it also includes staff time and
the ‘mindsets’ of staff members to take up new ways of working.
Not having these resources could also constitute a barrier.
Flexibility Focusing too much on the use of a certain technology can be
dangerous, and mean that the technology itself does not fit the
overall goal of the project. Being willing and able to iteratively
devise a technology-led solution to a goal will have a better
outcome: but the actual technology used may be very different
to what was envisioned.

47. 47
BARRIERS I
Leadership issues Leadership-related barriers to digital uptake were partly
based around a lack of understanding around
responsibility in leaders and senior staff, and a tendency
for the process of transformation to be delegated to lower
level staff members. Furthermore, trustees appeared to
be detached from the process in many organisations,
while the most prominent champions of digital uptake in
the sector were more concerned with delivery than
overall strategy.
Skills gaps Costs of training staff, along with unwillingness or
uncomfortable feelings of staff members in picking up
new technologies and ways of working were the main
issues relating to skills. The literature also covered general
skill deficits in data analysis and the difficulty of having to
continually adapt to changes in technology.

48. 48
BARRIERS II
Overreliance on external support Organisations surveyed in the literature talked about the
issues associated with using external agencies or suppliers
for digital support. Few had the capabilities for in house
support. Both of these challenges were associated with
higher costs.
No space to innovate There are certain conditions that promote innovation, and
others that act as a barrier to it. In the literature,
organisations mentioned the pre-requisites of being able
to innovate and to experiment with digital processes.
Innovation may need the right skills, hardware, software
and funding; but maybe more important staff time, an
appetite for change and a structured approach to research
and development.

49. 49
BARRIERS III
Lack of funding and investment A running theme throughout these challenges has been
cost, and organisations reported difficulties in obtaining
capacity-building funding for technological
implementation and maintenance. Cost issues are
compounded by a lack of confidence in the impact of
spending on digital systems: organisations were, in
general, unsure of the return that such spending would
involve in the short or long term. Furthermore, there is a
lack of confidence and knowledge about the sustainability
of spending on digital: in some cases the maintenance and
upkeep costs are unknown factors.

50. MATURITY IN TECHNOLOGIES

51. 51
BARRIERS AND MATURITY
 We have presented drivers, enablers and barriers: but can we go further and
link these to types of technology? Is there a better way of understanding
how these drivers, enablers and barriers are present in certain types of
technology and not others?
 In the following slides we will introduce Gartner’s Hype Cycle for
technology, and suggest a way that voluntary organisations can use it to
plan and implement digitally-focused projects.
 What are Gartner Hype Cycles? “They provide a graphic representation of
the maturity and adoption of technologies and applications, and how they
are potentially relevant to solving real business problems and exploiting new
opportunities.” (Gartner, 2017)

52. 52time
expectations
GARTNER’S HYPE CYCLE FOR TECHNOLOGY
PEAK OF INFLATED
EXPECTATIONS
TROUGH OF
DISILLUSIONMENT
SLOPE OF
ENLIGHTENMENT
PLATEAU OF
PRODUCTIVITY
TRIGGER
Potential
technology
breakthrough:
early proof-of-
concept
stories and
media interest
trigger
publicity.
Often no
usable
products and
commercial
viability is
unproven.
Early publicity
produces a
number of
success stories
and failures.
Interest wanes as
experiments and
implementations fail to
deliver. Producers of
the technology shake
out or fail.
Second and third
generation products
appear from technology
providers. More
enterprises fund pilots;
conservative companies
remain cautious.
Mainstream adoption
starts to take off.
Criteria for assessing
provider viability more
clearly defined and
broad market
applicability and
relevance are paying
off.

53. 53
BARRIERS AND DIGITAL MATURITY
 There is no single definitive hype cycle for technology: Gartner provide their
own, but this is from a whole-industry perspective.
 Individual sectors, organisations or even individuals may see the cycle in a
very different way, and can draw up their own perspective of the cycle, in
terms of either their own readiness or their own perceptions of their
industry or sector.
 To do this, they can either start off with an empty chart, or use the whole-
industry cycle that Gartner provides as a starting point, and plot our own
definitions of relevant technologies along the cycle.
 The following chart shows an example devised for the voluntary sector.

54. 54
HYPE CYCLE: ONE PERSPECTIVE OF THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR
PEAK OF INFLATED
EXPECTATIONS
TROUGH OF
DISILLUSIONMENT
SLOPE OF
ENLIGHTENMENT
PLATEAU OF
PRODUCTIVITY
TRIGGER
Games
Crowdfunding
Apps
Data &
Analytics
Contactless
donations
Virtual
reality
Bitcoin
CRM
Connected IT
infrastructure
Social
media
Website
Online portals/
platforms
Online
shops
Online live
support
Storytelling
Messaging
E-learning
time
expectations
Here’s an example of a hype cycle that we created of
technological readiness in the voluntary sector. Others
people working in the sector might have different
views, and the cycle would also look different if we
drew it up for our own organisation rather than the
whole sector.

55. 55
HYPE CYCLE: CHARACTERISTICS OF TECHNOLOGY TYPES
The chart also helps us to look at what technologies are ‘immature’, such as those that are based on new
hardware or software developments, and which are ‘mature’, which have more generic applications. We can
outline further characteristics of these two broad types.
+Buzz, hype and interest
+Enthusiasm
+May offer unique solutions to challenges
+An opportunity to get ahead of competitors
- Specialised hardware
- Bespoke systems
- High cost
- Specialised support only available
- Few open source tools
- Riskier and not well tested
- Little community support
- Unfriendly systems
- Little consideration of User experience
+ Runs on generic hardware
+ Generic systems
+ Low cost or open source alternatives
+ More open source tools and community
support
+ User friendly systems
+ Mature UX
+ Tried and tested
- May be perceived as ‘playing catch-up’
with competitors
- Less external interest and enthusiasm
Characteristics of
‘immature’ technologies
Characteristics of ‘mature’
technologies

56. 56
HYPE: BARRIERS, ENABLERS AND TECHNOLOGY TYPES
 Greater reliance on external support
 More issues with legacy systems and
data
 Require stronger leadership to
implement
 Harder to implement
 More likely to expose skills gaps
 Require carving out more space to
implement
Barriers in ‘immature’ technologies  Enablers in ‘mature’ technologies
• Less reliance on external support
where community support available
• Compatibility issues with with legacy
systems and data likely to have been
solved
• More refined and easier
implementation process, requiring
less input from leadership and less
staff time/space to implement
• Staff are more likely to have
familiarity with similar systems
Immature technologies are attractive and
exciting because of the opportunities that
they may bring: but they bring more barriers
and fewer enablers. They are higher risk, but
with potentially greater reward.
Mature technologies will be lower risk:
cheaper and easier to implement, but with
more predictable rewards.
Finally, we can think about how those characteristics translate into barriers
and enablers, and choose one which best suits our goals and our needs. In
general, immature technologies are associated with barriers; mature
technologies with enablers.

57. 57
BARRIERS AND MATURITY: AN EXAMPLE
Creating a game in 1982
Creating a game in 2017
Purchase a C64 US$595 (equivalent to £1,185 in 2016)
Learn BASIC and Assembly (estimate 2 fulltime weeks
for the basics to months/years to sufficient knowledge
to code a game)
Code the game (by typing in code)
Test the game (these 2 stages together represent
months to years of work, depending on complexity)
Distribute the game on tape or disc, or arrange a
publisher to do this for you
Purchase a generic PC (£200-500)
Install GameMaker Studio Free (Free!)
Learn to use GMS – can learn basics in a day, and uses
a windows interface.
Code and test the game – possible to create a simple
game in less than a day, but more complexity means
more time.
Distribute and promote game online
Process
Process
Friends
Commercial books
Support mechanisms
Support mechanisms
Free community resources:
forums, wikis, video tutorials,
interactive tutorials
Commercial books

58. 58
HOW TO USE THE HYPE CYCLE: SUMMARY AND GUIDE
 Set out the goals of your project without specifying a specific type of technology
 Draw up a hype cycle for your organisation
• You can use Gartner’s general cycle or our own example cycle for the voluntary
sector as a starting point
 Identify which technology types could fulfil your goals
• This is a good stage at which to consult external experts: are you missing any
technology types off your cycle that could achieve your goals?
 List barriers and enablers for each suitable type
• Use these as a starting point for exploring free, well-supported, open source,
and off-the-shelf solutions for mature technologies
• For immature technologies, the barriers are higher and the enablers more
scarce: but if you have the resources and drive to commit to newer, untested
technology types then they may still be worth considering. But if more mature
technologies exist, you will need to weigh potential costs and benefits.

59. CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY

60. 60
CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY I
Our findings suggest two main questions that organisations should ask in the
process of adopting technology to solve challenges and problems.
1. Will this technology transform our organisation’s work and day-today
activities, and does it need to?
2. Will this technology – and the process of adopting it – disrupt our
organisation's work and day-today activities?
There is no optimal order in which to answer these questions; instead, they
should be addressed as an iterative process, to be asked of all possible types
of technology that can be utilised. The first question focuses on strategy,
planning and resources; while the second focuses on practical concerns and
implementation.

61. 61
CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY II
Will this technology transform our organisation’s work and day-today
activities, and does it need to?
 This question should form part of the planning process, and inform selection
of the right type of technology to achieve the desired goal.
 The answers to this question will determine the level of resources to be
allocated, and subsequently inform how much risk and disruption is
acceptable.
 Helpful activities here may include identifying suitable technology types,
examples from other organisations, and mapping examples to challenges.

62. 62
CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY III
Will this technology – and the process of adopting it – disrupt our
organisation's work and day-today activities?
 This question focuses on implementation, and involves looking at the
various technologies that could be implemented to meet the current
challenge.
 It encourages consideration of riskier, more exciting technologies –
sometimes those that Garter’s Hype Cycle for Technology labels as
immature – but at the same time requires these to be compared with other,
more established, more mature technologies which may have fewer
implementation issues.
 Helpful activities here are identifying barriers and enablers, and looking at
examples of mature and immature technology types and the pros/cons of
each.

63. 63
CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY IV
Technological maturity provides a method for looking at barriers, enablers
and disruption in the adoption of technology.
 Mature technologies – such as those that have more generic
applications, are well used, have lower barriers – can be transformative,
but are less likely to be disruptive.
 Immature technologies – such as those that are based on new hardware
or software developments, are not well used, and have more barriers to
their use – can also be transformative, but the process of adopting them
is likely to be more disruptive.

64. 64
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