"Charities lack cash and confidence" to explore new tech like the Cloud
Howard Lake | 12 May 2011 | News
Although eight out of ten charity workers agree that technology will help the sector develop amid the new financial landscape, funding cuts and lack of confidence mean only one in three workers has time to try new tools like cloud computing. These are among the findings of the Charities in the Cloud survey by Lasa and Civic Regeneration, in partnership with RegenerateIT.
Social welfare law and technology charity Lasa and Civic Regeneration surveyed 157 people about how charities and not-for-profit organisations in the UK use cloud technology. There is clear interest in the issue: 54% said they were already using them, and only 2% said they didn’t know. Forty five per cent of those surveyed have also considered using cloud technology in the next financial year.
The majority of the organisations surveyed were small, 77% of respondents having fewer than 30 employees, and 88% of these organisations having under 30 computers.
Terry Stokes, the Chief Executive of Lasa, which helps charities make the most of technology by providing practical advice and support, said: “When charities make the most of technology, it means better services for the people they support. Although many cloud applications are low cost, funding cuts mean charity workers don’t feel they have time to try new things.”
Lasa is holding a summit on 7 June when experts will be looking at how technology can help charities manage their relationships.
Robin Knowles, Managing Director of Regenerateit, said: “The sector needs to make both its leaders digital and its digital community into leaders. The days of Boards delegating anything with digital in the title downwards are fast coming to an end.”
www.lasa.org.uk
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.