The Covid19 pandemic has affected many areas, as we all know.

Throughout the pandemic, I've been working alongside many charities and non-profits with their data, and I've spotted a bit of a trend. Does this trend resonate with you? If so, please share your ideas in the comments.

Let's go back to summer 2020. Your team has all started working from home and suddenly all your spreadsheets and documents on your internal servers are harder to access. You're also meeting less regularly face-to-face, so it's harder to share what's happening with your donors, clients, and stakeholders. The solution for your team seems clear: "we need to become more digital".

The great catalyst for digital change

The past year or so has been a great catalyst to help charities become more digital. I've worked with dozens of charities to help them source and implement their new cloud-based CRM systems and databases. In turn, systems are improving as more charities are investing in them and so there is now a much wider range of fit-for-purpose systems out there. Amazingly, funding has followed and many funders are seeing the importance of investing in digital in their partner charities.

But recently, these positive changes have been met with a hiccup.

It's been dubbed 'the great resignation'. According to a Microsoft survey, 41% of workers were considering quitting or changing professions. Many of us have had time for soul searching, and trying to understand what's really important for us (myself included!) and with that, often comes career change.

So what does this have to do with being more digital?

Well, databases aren't just databases. They have to be run, managed and maintained by people. Your people are so important to your systems running effectively and efficiently. Becoming more digital is a change process and, like with any change process, your people need to be a part of that.

You may now find yourself in the place, where halfway through finding or implementing a new fundraising CRM system, you've lost key team members who were involved in the process.

You could be one of the people who have come into a new role and been handed the task of implementing a new service user database.

I've had examples where key team members have left their roles just as the new beneficiary database is about to be implemented. They had fed into the requirements and helped to select a system, but handed in their notice just before the new database was commissioned.

I've also worked with people who are new to their role. Their predecessor had been key to selecting the new CRM and that team member is now tasked with implementing it.

What does this mean for you and your charity?

1. Firstly, the knowledge that you're not alone! Why not share your experience in the comments, to help others, or feel free to book in a chat with me if you're finding yourself in this situation and want someone to offload to.

2. It could mean that things take longer. You may need to re-engage staff or go back a step to ensure you have full buy-in on your digital migration.

3. It may delay your implementation schedule if you have to focus more of your resources on hiring and training new staff. Be kind to yourself on this. Also, be honest and work with your consultant or database provider to see if timescales can be changed to account for the change.

4. If your migration is funded by a Trust or Foundation, have a frank conversation with them and try and negotiate an extension, especially if there are any deadlines on spending your budget.

5. Recognise the positives! If someone has decided to change their career path, they'll likely by starting filled with enthusiasm, and hopefully, be with you for the long run.

6. New people can help the change process, as they have less to compare to life before the change. I spoke with one charity who mentioned that many of their staff struggled with their Fundraising CRM migration, as they were so used to the way things were done before. Their new staff member, however, was thrilled to be working with the new system as they hadn't known how things had worked before.

What are the success stories and pushbacks you've had with your charity becoming more digital over the past year? Share in the comments and, as always, get in touch if you'd like to chat more.