Very few Canadian non-profits incorporate technology considerations into their strategic planning processes. In the view of Katie Gibson and Marc-André Delorme, this is a missed opportunity to build an organization’s digital resilience.
Canadian non-profit technology experts consistently report that most non-profits do not meaningfully integrate technology considerations into their strategic planning. Although incomplete, quantitative data supports this view. A survey of civil society organizations conducted by TechSoup found that, in the Global North, only 22% have “defined a strategy and timeline for achieving digital readiness.”
CanadaHelps surveyed 1,470 organizations about their digital skills (key findings here; full report available with email address). Thirty-one percent identified “Digital is not incorporated into our strategic plan” as one of the barriers that prevents their organization from using software and digital tools to their fullest capacity. Forty-six percent identified “It is not a big enough priority compared to other activities” as a barrier; this also points to a lack of strategic emphasis on digital enablement.
In Quebec, Centraide of Greater Montreal recently surveyed more than 500 community organizations participating in DATAide, a project that seeks to build data and digital readiness. One in 10 respondents report having a digital transformation plan in place, and one in four are in the process of developing one. A review of more than 300 grant applications to the DATAide program found that no organizations requested funding for strategic planning that included technology planning.
Non-profit technology consultants in other jurisdictions agree that this practice is uncommon. “I have rarely seen organizations ask questions like ‘What kinds of technology investments might be required to help these strategies succeed?’ or ‘How might we leverage technology to be a more effective organization?’” says Minnesota-based consultant Karen Graham.
Why is technology being ignored?
There are four leading explanations for why technology is left out of strategic planning:
1/ Technology is seen as tactical, not strategic
“Most non-profits do not see technology as a strategic driver of their mission,” says Charles Buchanan, CEO of Technology Helps. “So it’s not staffed or invested in as a strategic driver.”
Technology is then considered under implementation, not strategic planning. “The [strategic] plan gets packaged up in a nice, neat package. Then it’s given over to the IT lead to implement as a ‘how to’ consideration,” says Chantal Forster, former executive director of the Technology Association of Grantmakers. “What I’d love is for this to move from a ‘how to’ mindset to an ‘imagine if’ mindset.”
A digital strategy needs to mesh with the rest of your strategy.
Dan Sutch, Centre for the Acceleration of Social Technology
In other cases, organizations develop a stand-alone technology plan without first considering technology as part of the organizational strategy overall. This is usually not the right first step. Dan Sutch is the director of CAST (the Centre for the Acceleration of Social Technology), which helps UK charities use digital, data, and design. He explains why in a blog post: “Digital technology is a servant to the rest of your strategy, and the link between that and the needs, behaviours and expectations of your community. And so a digital strategy needs to mesh with the rest of your strategy. It needs to help you get more quickly to where you’re already going.”
Montreal consultant Parker Mah emphasizes the need to “start with organizational objectives, not technological objectives.”
2/ Organizations don’t have the skills and confidence to consider technology fully
Put simply, many non-profit leaders don’t prioritize technology. “That kind of thinking and planning and alignment of technology with business objectives is not something people do automatically,” Buchanan says.
Also, technology is not typically treated as its own portfolio and does not have a representative at the leadership table to advocate for technology priorities. “It is very rare to have a knowledgeable strategic technology voice on the board of directors or as a member of the executive,” says Helen Knight, vice-president of IT at Legal Aid Alberta.
It is very rare to have a knowledgeable strategic technology voice on the board of directors or as a member of the executive,
Helen Knight, Legal Aid Alberta
Structurally, the technology portfolio typically sits under the finance or operations portfolio. “We’ve seen one organization where it reports to facilities,” Buchanan says – it is treated like just another piece of office equipment.
According to CanadaHelps, only 5% of survey respondents “have someone leading on digital as their primary function” and 4% “have an in-house digital team.” It is more common to have a junior “accidental techie” on staff. Twenty percent of those surveyed by CanadaHelps “have someone leading on digital as part of or in addition to their main work.” It is therefore unsurprising that 48% rate “We do not have the skills, expertise, and knowledge” as one of the barriers that prevents their organization from using software and digital tools to their fullest capacity.
3/ Strategic planning and technology planning are considered separate skillsets
With their existing strategic plan expiring, many non-profits turn to consultants to guide their process. Unfortunately, few of these consultants have expertise in technology. “Non-profits often engage strategic planning experts who aren’t prepared to also talk about digital enablement. These zones of expertise seem to not overlap often,” says Canadian tech consultant Aine McGlynn.
Non-profits often engage strategic planning experts who aren’t prepared to also talk about digital enablement.
Aine McGlynn, tech consultant
At the same time, business technology consultants are frequently unfamiliar with the specific needs of non-profits. Non-profit leaders report that they encounter consultants who have little understanding of the community context, and even less understanding of the organization’s operating realities (e.g., small team size, lack of in-house digital expert, limited financial resources), which too often leads to poorly scoped projects and suboptimal investments. These bad experiences can make organizations reluctant to commit to future digital investments.
4/ Technology is not generally prioritized by funders
“The reason more non-profits don’t prioritize technology and include it in strategic planning is because the majority of funders don’t make it a priority,” says California-based consultant John Kenyon, “for themselves or for their grantees.”
Parker Mah notes that strategic planning and technology planning funding typically come from different funding “envelopes,” and it is rare to receive both at the same time.
Integrating technology considerations into strategic planning may incur additional costs, a challenge for organizations already operating on a shoestring. Moreover, once technology is prioritized in a strategic plan, further investments will typically follow, such as shoring up cybersecurity or improving communications with members.
For output- and outcomes-driven funders, the rewards of investing in this work may be too removed. “The incentives don’t align,” Graham says. “Funders pay for projects, not strategies, and they prefer low-risk grants over the inherent risk of any technology project. The benefits of a good technology strategy, in the shape of improved quality of service or talent retention, often don’t reveal themselves until months or years after implementation and are difficult to trace back to a specific cause.”
THE CASE FOR INTEGRATING TECH PLANNING AND STRATEGIC PLANNING
“Trying to do technology planning without a sense of the organization’s strategy and goals is like embarking on a hike without a destination,” Graham says. “And leaving technology out of the strategic plan is like embarking on a hike without any shoes.”
Technology is a mission multiplier
The appropriate adoption of digital technology helps non-profits meet their mandates. “Technology is one of the greatest levers we have available to increase organizational impact, and not integrating tech planning into strategic planning means opportunities may be missed,” says Canadian non-profit technologist Jason Shim. “All organizations can benefit from it, especially organizations that have ambitions to scale and grow their impact – the technology can be an accelerator.”
Organizations that have prioritized digital have benefited
Leaders of Canadian non-profit organizations that have prioritized digital in their strategic plans speak to the many benefits to their staff and communities.
Toronto charity Furniture Bank, which redistributes donated household goods to marginalized communities, has consistently prioritized digital projects in its strategic plans. “We embraced technology when we realized it could extend our reach and amplify our impact, not just streamline costs,” executive director Dan Kershaw explains. As a result, “we escaped the fate of so many charities – funder-dependent, scarcity mindset, grappling to survive year to year.” He believes that without the investment in digital, Furniture Bank would have shut down in 2014. The organization now supports “a national, cloud-based, sector collaboration framework that can free other organizations.”
We embraced technology when we realized it could extend our reach and amplify our impact, not just streamline costs.
Dan Kershaw, Furniture Bank
Malvern Family Resource Centre, a community hub in Scarborough, Ontario, prioritized digital transformation in its latest strategic plan. Had they not invested in digital? “Less impact, less members, less revenue, decreased staff morale,” says executive director Josh Berman says.
Philanthropic Foundations Canada (PFC) also prioritized technology in its most recent strategic plan, finalized just as COVID-19 struck. This proved to be “a transformational moment,” says CEO Jean-Marc Mangin. PFC’s efforts to bring real-time transparency to its members’ pandemic granting made Mangin realize that “our own internal systems were not strong enough to support such an initiative.” The organization invested in a refreshed brand and website and hired consultants to optimize data-management platforms and productivity tools. “The end result is using our existing tools better,” he says.
Your beneficiaries and donors are using technology
An organization’s leadership may not value technology, but there is no way to ignore it. Your beneficiaries and donors are already using, and affected by, technology.
Dan Sutch emphasizes that technology is changing the context of each organization’s work. “For example, how have your communities’ behaviours changed? Where are they seeking support and help? Where are they communicating about issues related to your work? Are there new forms of harm that you need to understand – such as online stalking extending the challenges that domestic-violence orgs seek to address? Are there new solutions that change the value of your work – like the 250,000 apps that aim to help people have more positive mental health?”
Omar Yaqub, who leads Islamic Family and Social Services Association in Edmonton, knows that beneficiaries are already using messaging platforms for communication. For him, technology is a tool for building relationships and measuring impact. “Where I think technology comes into play is really thinking about ‘How can we use technology to build more lasting relationships that allow us to better measure the impact of our work?’” he says.
Your staff is asking for technology leadership
Almost half the respondents to the CanadaHelps survey identified “A clear vision of what digital could help the organization achieve” as the number one priority for how the CEO and board could improve their knowledge about digital transformation.
Having technology in the strategy ensures that it is properly resourced
In most organizations, annual budgets are aligned with the strategic plan. “The benefit of integrating tech planning into strategic planning is that it is not regarded as an afterthought and ensures that technology is properly prioritized and budgeted for,” says Jason Shim.
Based on the strategic plan’s commitment to digital transformation, the most recent two annual plans at Malvern Family Resource Centre have “prioritized technology and system improvements in the areas of program data, HR, and finance,” Berman says. “It is always hard to prioritize technology improvements amongst the real and often expanding needs in our communities, but it’s imperative that we invest to ensure that these systems support rather than hinder our mission.” Likewise, it was the strategic imperative to reinvent its digital ecosystem that enabled PFC to budget for and implement two major technology initiatives.
Organizations have to put it as a part of the strategy to make funders realize this is needed if we’re going to deliver to the level we need to.
Almin Surani, Avanade
Funders may also require an anchor in the strategy so funders take it seriously. “Organizations have to put it as a part of the strategy to make funders realize this is needed if we’re going to deliver to the level we need to,” says Almin Surani, global non-profit digital transformation lead at Avanade. “It can’t be an afterthought.”
Non-profit budgets are tight, and technology is expensive. Poorly planned, scattershot implementations waste resources. A strategic approach to technology planning can ultimately save money. “Smaller non-profits especially may face challenges in allocating resources to technology amidst competing priorities, which is even more reason to be strategic with their choices and spending,” John Kenyon says.
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A major barrier to integrating technology considerations into strategic planning is that leaders do not know where to start or how to do it. Our forthcoming article will focus on the “how” – with specific advice from practitioners on what to do and what not to do.
