We know that digital technology can be transformative in helping charities achieve their goals, whether it’s reaching new supporters or delivering more services. But there remain challenges around how inclusive digital technology is, with millions of people in the UK unable to get online.
This is a particular issue for the charity sector, whose purpose is reaching as many people as possible, from supporters to beneficiaries. Indeed, our report, Digital inclusion in the UK charity sector, revealed that 82% of charities are concerned about digital inclusion, with more than half finding it difficult to reach service users due to problems with digital technology.
In 2024, we launched a digital inclusion campaign to help address these problems. In this podcast, we explore what we’ve learned about digital inclusion as part of our campaign, sharing insights from our report and from working closely with charities engaged in tackling the issue.
Join us as we discover more about charity attitudes towards digital inclusion and what they can do to prioritise it in the future.
Useful resources:
Dr Emma Stone: AI shifts the goalposts of digital inclusion
Digital Inclusion Hub
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149: The digital service delivery landscape in 2025
Charities are mission-led organisations, with service delivery at their core. They help to uphold society with vastly ranging activities such as personal care, advice, research, advocacy, care for animals, environmental protection, community and cultural activities, religious events, and so much more.
But too often, the conditions that charities work within can get in the way. Recent years have financially squeezed charities, putting pressure on the services they deliver, and harming the communities who use them.
Working to achieve their ideals with limited time can also leave charities tied to traditional ways of operating, lacking the opportunity to overhaul their approach to be more effective, efficient, and empowering to those who use services.
In this podcast, we explore how charities are making the best of the current service delivery landscape, improving services with digital, and engaging with service users in new ways.
Have your say! Take our Reimagining Services survey: https://charitydigital.org.uk/topics/reimagining-services-take-our-survey-11931
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148: AI for charities 101
Understanding artificial intelligence (AI) in 2025 feels like a mammoth task, with new tools emerging out of seemingly nowhere at a time where we’re trying to get to grips with the existing ones.
For charities, the process of getting to know AI is yet harder. With a low threshold for risk, and vital services needing to be funded and delivered, charities have limited time and resource to dedicate to AI, despite its future potential to make charity operations more efficient and give us that time back.
This podcast aims to help. In this episode, we are joined by Adam Graham, Managing Director of Qlic IT, to discuss the opportunities and use cases of AI in the charity sector. We explore how AI can be used in the charity sector, how to create an effective AI policy, and share practical advice for your next steps on the AI journey.
Resources:
Qlic IT for charities
Charity Digital AI Hub
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147: What does digital accessibility mean for charities?
When websites and other elements of the digital world are poorly designed, people with disabilities experience significant barriers, causing frustration and getting in the way of independent daily life.
According to the Charity Digital Skills Report 2023, 58% of charities say their products and services are accessible to some extent, while 53% feel they are monitoring accessibility and diversity of users effectively. As a sector, we can do better.
In this podcast, recorded at Charity Digital's Digital Inclusion Summit in June 2024, we are joined by a panel of experts to share advice and learnings to help the charity sector improve its digital accessibility. You can find the video recording and additional resources here.
Host: Tara Lee, Account Manager, Charity Digital
Panel:
Avneet Jagpal, Accessibility Specialist, ReciteMe
Kwesi Afful, Executive Director of Digital and Marketing, Scope
Joe Chidzik, Principal Accessibility Consultant, AbilityNet
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146: How to make your social media accessible and inclusive
Social media can feel dizzying. Platforms are fast-moving, ever-evolving, and always demanding, with new rules, new trends, new styles, and so on. It can be tough to keep up. And charities can post without considering their users, their audience, even their own communities. That means posts can exclude the very people you want to serve.
This podcast, hosted by Prue Watson, Senior Social Media Manager at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) will delve into some practical tips for social media accessibility, including how to add and write image descriptions, how to use emojis and hashtags, and how to make your video content accessible.
The session was recorded at our Digital Inclusion Summit in June 2024. You can find the the video recording and additional resources here.
Looking to stay ahead of the digital curve? Kickstart your digital journey? Or just see how charities are making the most of technology? The Charity Digital podcast looks to inspire and educate, and connect charity pros to the latest trends in the (sometimes) scary world of digital. We'll be discussing poignant topics, pain points, and success stories. Don't forget to subscribe through your usual podcast provider to be the first to know when our next pod drops!
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