People’s expectations of how easy it is to interact with organisations digitally are increasing all the time, and this applies to charities as much as any other organisations. We expect websites to work flawlessly, to be able to find the information we need, and to complete transactions online with no hiccups.
That means it’s essential for charities to make sure we’re doing what we can to meet those expectations. But we know that, for charities of all sizes, it can be hard to get to grips with how you’re doing digitally, and to work out what you need to prioritise in order to make the biggest difference with your next steps.
That’s where the digital maturity matrix comes in.
It’s a simple way of assessing your current strengths and weaknesses, and helping you see what you need to do next.
And I should say straight away that it’s completely free of charge!
The matrix helps you judge how you’re doing in eight different areas:
- Leadership and strategy
- Expertise and capacity
- Technology
- Service design
- Content
- Communications and campaigns
- Data and insight
- Security and data protection
It makes an excellent tool for boards or senior managers to track progress.
When you use the matrix, you create a unique login for your organisation which you can share with teams internally so everyone can log where they’re up to in their area of work.
You can get started straight away.
New and up to date
The digital maturity matrix was originally developed by Breast Cancer Care as a tool for themselves, but when they realised how useful it could be to others, they released it more widely and since then over 800 other charities have since used the matrix.
Because it was so popular with the sector, NCVO agreed to take on responsibility for the matrix and keep it up to date.
We’ve just completed a major overhaul of the tool, making it more accessible and easier to use than ever, with the help of a group of around sixty charity digital experts.
We’ve added new sections on the important topics of data protection and security, and on how to use insights from the people who use your content and services to refine them and make them better.
I’d really encourage you to have a play with the matrix – as I said, it’s completely free – and see how it can support your organisation. There are very few charities for which digital progress shouldn’t be a regular item on their board’s agenda, and this makes an excellent tool for tracking and reporting that progress, for example. You can also use the matrix to compare your results to other organisations and learn from each other.
Please let us know what you think and do get in touch if you have any questions.
Megan is director of strategy and transformation at NCVO and is responsible for the organisation’s strategy, planning and reporting. She also leads the digital, marketing and technology functions. 
