Charity Digital Skills Report 2026: AI use hits 79% as funders urged to act fast
Howard Lake | 13 July 2026 | News
The Charity Digital Skills Report 2026 has been published following a record participation of 807 responses, its highest turnout yet. The findings suggest UK charities have crossed a threshold with 79% of organisations now routinely using AI, a marked shift in how organisations deliver services, engage supporters and run operations.
Despite tight budgets and rising demand digital progress is accelerating: 81% of charities report progress this year, up from 60% in 2025. Large charities remain ahead, but small charities, who made up 71% of respondents, are closing the gap, even as funding and technical expertise stay scarce.
The report was co-authored by Zoe Amar, who founded digital agency and social enterprise Zoe Amar Digital in 2013, and Nissa Ramsay, the founder of Think Social Tech, providing independent research, learning and evaluation consultancy. They were helped by partners including Microsoft, Corndale, Media Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Torchbox, Think Social Tech and Manifesto.
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Skills, not tools, are now the priority
Building staff and leadership capability is the top priority for 59% of charities (72% among larger organisations), up from 43% last year. Training tops the funding wishlist too, cited by 44% as their greatest need, and 60% say sector-wide AI training is essential to their future.
At a glance: the headline numbers
| Metric | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Charities routinely using AI | 79% | n/a |
| Reporting digital progress | 81% | 60% |
| Citing skills as top priority | 59% | 43% |
| Access to digital funding from trusts/foundations | 17% | higher |
Time saved, trust strained
AI is already delivering efficiency gains, according to the charities surveyed: 63% of charities use it for admin and project management, 45% for grant fundraising. But 56% cite limited skills as the biggest barrier to adoption, and trust concerns have more than doubled since last year, particularly among charities working with marginalised communities.
A two-speed picture on digital inclusion
The report found that 52% of charities support beneficiaries with digital inclusion, often informally. Charities led by and for disabled, deaf, neurodivergent and global majority communities are driving accessibility efforts, yet face disproportionate barriers to funding and infrastructure. Twenty two per cent of charities say their digital services aren’t reaching diverse and marginalised communities, and 27% rarely co-design services with users.
AI is changing how charities apply for funding, but access is falling
Forty five per cent of charities now use AI in fundraising applications, and over half of funders report changes in application volume and repetition as a result. Yet access to digital funding from trusts and foundations has fallen to just 17%, hitting smaller charities hardest. Without intervention, the report warns, only the best-resourced charities will benefit, widening inequality across the sector.
“If, as a sector, we’d introduced any other kind of tool with the metrics the report is showing us, 79% uptake in AI, but one in three unable to use it effectively, we’d for sure have done something about it by now.”
Will Ranjan-Churchill, Technology Lead, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
What charities should do
- CEOs should prioritise upskilling staff and volunteers as a strategic priority, not an afterthought.
- Boards need to raise their AI game: a third of boards and a quarter of CEOs are rated poor on AI skills, and only 36% of small charities have an AI policy.
- CEOs should set a clear digital vision; 49% of charities want this from leadership.
- Put equality, diversity and inclusion at the centre of digital and AI planning.
- Talk to your community about AI: only 6% of charities have researched how the people they serve use it.
What funders should do
- Fund skills, training and leadership development as a core priority, not an add-on.
- Allow digital and core costs into funding applications; currently only 17% of charities can include them.
- Invest in sector-wide AI infrastructure, guidance and governance frameworks.
- Engage actively with how grantees are using AI rather than treating it as a compliance issue.
- Target digital inclusion funding specifically at AI, so it narrows rather than widens inequality.
Visit Charity Digital Skills for the full report and regional insights.
- Charity finances are the biggest barrier to moving foward with digital, report finds (11 July 2024)
- 250 digital learning grants available for 2026 (8 July 2025)
- Catalyst develops justice, equity and digital funders database (11 April 2025)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.