# Charity Digital Skills Report 2026: AI use hits 79% as funders urged to act fast

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2026/07/13/charity-digital-skills-report-2026-ai-use-hits-79-as-funders-urged-to-act-fast/
- Published: 2026-07-13T11:23:48+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**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](https://charitydigitalskills.co.uk) for the full 
report and regional insights.

 * **[Charity finances are the biggest barrier to moving forward with digital, report finds](https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/07/11/charity-finances-are-the-biggest-barrier-to-moving-forward-with-digital-report-finds/)(
   11 July 2024)
 * **[250 digital learning grants available for 2026](https://fundraising.co.uk/2025/07/08/250-digital-learning-grants-available-2026/)(
   8 July 2025)
 * **[Catalyst develops justice, equity and digital funders database](https://fundraising.co.uk/2025/04/11/catalyst-develops-justice-equity-and-digital-funders-database/)(
   11 April 2025)**