TechSoup released findings from the largest global research study of civil society organizations ever fielded to understand the data handling practices and digital readiness among nonprofits and to identify ways that organizations like TechSoup can help advance nonprofits’ digital transformation journeys and enhance sector impact. The study commissioned by TechSoup and supported in part by a generous grant from Okta for Good, surveyed 11,758 civil society organization technology decision makers in 135 countries and across 41 languages. 

The study, which was fielded during the Summer of 2020, queried organizations on IT resources, digital readiness, data management and the impact of COVID-19. Some key findings include:

  • Tech Budgets: IT budgets are typically low but expected to increase within the next 2 years. Most IT product and service decisions are made at the staff level, with a median purchase size of $375 requiring approvals. The number of employees working on an IT team is limited, and volunteers are frequently used. 
  • Transition Ready?: A quarter of nonprofits have a defined strategy for achieving digital readiness. Top barriers to digital adoption, digital improvement and data management are cost and staff training and availability.
  • Data Handling: Most organizations collect beneficiary, donor and finance data. Across data types, cloud-based data storage is now the most frequently used option.
  • Killer App: Organizations rely upon spreadsheets to in all aspects of data handling including, collecting, storing, and sharing data.
  • Pandemic Pivot: The large negative impact of COVID-19 affected workstreams across the organization—prompting rethinking of how they work. Most program delivery, fundraising and marketing were negatively impacted, while internal communications improved. COVID-19 prompted digital adoption mostly in cloud-based apps, followed by hardware and desktop apps.
  • Nonprofit Needs: The adoption of cloud-based services, cybersecurity tools and other digital resources could be accelerated by increased funding, access to IT consultants/staff to facilitate digital transformation, staff skills or training and increased awareness of digital tools available.

Access a copy of the report here.