Contents
- Nonprofit digital adoption statistics: digital strategy, maturity, and skills
- Nonprofit digital adoption statistics: digital tools in charity service delivery
- Nonprofit digital adoption statistics: artificial intelligence adoption and readiness
- nonprofit digital adoption: Nonprofit technology budgets, investment planning, and adoption decisions
- Nonprofit digital adoption statistics: technology spending and funding
- nonprofit digital adoption: Cybersecurity practices in UK charities
- Sources
Nonprofit digital adoption statistics: digital strategy, maturity, and skills
Digital maturity among charities is best understood here as a reported stage of development, rather than a technical audit. In the 2025 Charity Digital Skills Report survey, 672 charities contributed responses. The report groups organizations into stages ranging from curious to advanced, and describes the advancing stage as investing in digital without yet embedding it throughout the organization. These figures reflect respondents’ self-assessments. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 42
The largest share of respondents, 34%, described their charity as advancing with digital. Another 9% said they were at the advanced stage. The report defines charities with a digital strategy in place as those in the advancing or advanced categories; together, they account for 44% of respondents. The reported total of 44% is the report’s figure and should not be recreated by adding the separately rounded stage shares. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 42
| Digital-development stage or grouping | Share of surveyed charities |
|---|---|
| Curious, the earliest stage | 24% |
| Starting out | 32% |
| Curious or starting out, early stages combined | 56% |
| Advancing | 34% |
| Advanced | 9% |
| Advancing or advanced, the report’s strategy grouping | 44% |
Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 42
The early-stage grouping is substantial: 56% were described as curious or starting out. This sits alongside a smaller advanced group and a larger advancing group. The categories summarize how organizations characterized their digital development; they do not establish that every charity within a stage has the same tools, staff capacity, or formal planning process. The report also notes that 9% were advanced in 2025, compared with 14% in the prior year. That is a comparison between annual survey observations, not a tracking of the same charities over time. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 42
These figures make the report’s use of “digital strategy” specific: it refers to stage categories. A separate survey of nonprofit organizations asked directly whether technology appeared in the organization’s strategic plan. That distinction matters when interpreting strategy statistics: one describes a maturity grouping, and the other records a response about a plan. The two surveys also cover different populations and should not be merged into one estimate. Sources: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 42; 2024 Nonprofit Digital Investments Report, Appendix Table 11
Nonprofit digital adoption statistics: digital tools in charity service delivery
In the 2025 charity survey, 92% said they used digital in at least some aspect of service delivery. The report’s question includes services for other organizations, stakeholders, and volunteers, so the figure covers more than direct services to beneficiaries. It describes reported use, not the proportion of services delivered exclusively through technology. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 65
The response categories show a range of roles for technology. Digital played a key supportive role in organizing and delivering services for 44% of charities; examples included online registration and video sessions. Another 39% used digital in a limited, largely behind-the-scenes way. A further 9% offered services fully online or digital by default. These are distinct descriptions of service-delivery practice, not a scale that automatically indicates service quality or reach. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 65
| Reported role of digital in service delivery | Share of surveyed charities |
|---|---|
| Any aspect of service delivery | 92% |
| Key supportive role | 44% |
| Limited, largely behind the scenes | 39% |
| Fully online or digital by default | 9% |
Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 65
Reported practice varied by organization size. Among large charities, 61% said digital played a key supportive role in service delivery, compared with 38% of small charities. The comparison concerns this particular response category; it does not describe all digital use or establish why the groups differed. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 65
The report also asked about inclusion and reach. Among respondents answering questions about digital-service qualities, 33% said their digital services were inclusive of intended users to a great extent, while 63% said they were inclusive to some extent. In its 2025 analysis, the report included “not sure or not applicable” responses; an average of 11% selected that response across the areas. These response options describe respondents’ assessments, rather than an independent evaluation of service accessibility. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 66
On community reach, 76% said their digital services reached diverse communities, and 20% said this happened to a great extent. Separately, 63% reported monitoring diversity and inclusion among service users to a great or some extent; 23% said they were not doing this at all. The reach and monitoring figures address different questions. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 66
Digital inclusion also appeared as a form of support to people who may face barriers to using digital services. Overall, 55% of surveyed charities said they provided some support to help people with digital inclusion. Supporting clients with devices, data, or digital skills was an organizational priority for 16%. In Northern England, 25% said this support was an organizational priority. These figures distinguish provision of some support from whether the topic was named as a formal organizational priority. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 11
Nonprofit digital adoption statistics: artificial intelligence adoption and readiness
AI use was reported by 76% of charity survey respondents in 2025. The report compares this with 61% in its 2024 survey. These are separate annual observations, so they do not show how individual charities changed their practices. The 2025 figure includes organizations at different levels of use: 2% were at strategic-level use or planning to scale, 51% were exploring tool usage, and 23% were piloting and using AI. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 69
Reported AI use also varied with digital-development stage and organization size. Among charities with a digital strategy in place, defined in this report as advancing or advanced, 91% said they used AI tools. By size, the report found use among 89% of large charities and 72% of small charities. These are survey comparisons between respondent groups; they do not show that a strategy or organizational size caused AI adoption. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 69
AI use was not limited to charities further along the digital-development scale. Among those at the curious stage, 62% reported using AI tools in their organization. Within that group, 48% were exploring AI and 13% were proactively implementing it. These subgroup figures describe reported use and activity, rather than a single level of readiness. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 69
The report’s skills findings show that reported adoption does not necessarily mean staff feel equipped to use AI in everyday work. On skills to use AI tools in everyday work, 35% said they were poor at this, while 29% said they did not do this. These results are self-reported and speak to everyday-work skills, not the technical performance or safety of AI systems. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 69
The report lists several organizational AI use cases. In 2025, 48% reported use for administration and project management, up from 32% the prior year. Grant fundraising was reported by 36%, and communications and fundraising by 34%, compared with 19% in the prior year. Additional reported uses were impact and evaluation at 17%, strategic planning at 9%, and service delivery at 7%. The figures refer to organizational use cases, which can overlap within an organization. Source: Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, p. 72
nonprofit digital adoption: Nonprofit technology budgets, investment planning, and adoption decisions
In the 2024 NTEN/Heller Consulting survey, 40% of respondents said technology was included explicitly in their organization’s strategic plan. Another 33% said it appeared as a general topic, while 24% said it was not included. The survey covered a diversity of organizations in the United States and beyond; these self-reported responses should not be treated as a representative census of nonprofits. Source: 2024 Nonprofit Digital Investments Report, Appendix Table 11
Respondents described different rhythms for making major or significant technology investment decisions. For 62%, these decisions were made every year as part of fiscal-year planning. Another 45% said decisions were made frequently throughout the year depending on staff priorities, and 19% said they were made every few years as part of strategic planning. The response percentages are reported as printed in the survey table; the response categories should not be interpreted as mutually exclusive without further information from the report. Source: 2024 Nonprofit Digital Investments Report, Appendix Table 12
Cost, fit, security, and implementation all featured in decisions about significant technology investments. Cost significantly influenced decisions for 78% of respondents. Integration with current systems significantly influenced decisions for 68%, security for 56%, and time to implement for 54%. Training needed significantly influenced decisions for 34%; a further 48% said training influenced them to some extent. These are reported levels of influence, not measures of the final purchasing outcome. Source: 2024 Nonprofit Digital Investments Report, Appendix Tables 19
The reported mix suggests that respondents weighed both financial constraints and practical fit. The training result is especially relevant to adoption planning because a technology decision may require preparation for staff use. However, the survey records how respondents rated these considerations; it does not measure whether additional training would change adoption or implementation success. The results also reflect the survey’s respondents and should be read within that scope. Source: 2024 Nonprofit Digital Investments Report, Appendix Tables 19
Nonprofit digital adoption statistics: technology spending and funding
The 2024 nonprofit technology-investment survey asked respondents how they allocated their technology budgets. Hardware and equipment accounted for 54% of reported budget allocation, the largest listed category. Software and licenses accounted for 14%, services and consulting for 12%, training for 1%, and other spending for 19%. These are budget-allocation shares, not percentages of nonprofits adopting each type of technology. Source: 2024 Nonprofit Digital Investments Report, Appendix Table 4
| Technology-budget allocation category | Reported share |
|---|---|
| Hardware and equipment | 54% |
| Other | 19% |
| Software and licenses | 14% |
| Services and consulting | 12% |
| Training | 1% |
Source: 2024 Nonprofit Digital Investments Report, Appendix Table 4
Funding sources were uneven in their reported contribution to technology budgets. The general organization budget contributed significantly for 69% of respondents. For technology-specific foundation grants, 52% said those grants contributed nothing to their technology budget. This does not establish that such grants were unavailable to every organization; it records respondents’ reported contribution from that source. Source: 2024 Nonprofit Digital Investments Report, Appendix Table 5
Respondents also assessed whether their organization spent too little, enough, or too much on technology. The report states that 45% said they were spending too little. Among respondents in that subgroup, 77% cited available budget as a barrier. That 77% is conditional on respondents who said they spent too little, rather than a share of all survey respondents. Source: 2024 Nonprofit Digital Investments Report, Appendix Tables 7–8
Together, these responses describe budget allocation, sources of funds, and perceived sufficiency as separate aspects of technology spending. They do not indicate the total dollar amounts available to organizations or permit comparisons of absolute budgets. The report covers a diverse survey population in the United States and beyond, and its findings are self-reported rather than a census of nonprofit finances. Source: 2024 Nonprofit Digital Investments Report
nonprofit digital adoption: Cybersecurity practices in UK charities
The UK government’s 2024 Cyber Security Breaches Survey reports on UK registered charities. In the preceding 12 months, 40% had carried out at least 1 of the listed activities to identify cybersecurity risks. Specific activities were less common: 26% conducted a cybersecurity risk assessment, 23% used tools designed for security monitoring, and 14% tested staff, for example with mock phishing exercises. Source: Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024, Figure 3.1
Additional risk-identification activities were reported by smaller shares. In the prior 12 months, 12% of charities carried out a cybersecurity vulnerability audit, 8% conducted penetration testing, and 6% invested in threat intelligence. These measures represent different activities, and the 40% figure for any listed activity is the overall measure, not a total that should be calculated by adding the individual percentages. Source: Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024, Figure 3.1
| Listed cybersecurity risk-identification activity | UK charities, prior 12 months |
|---|---|
| At least 1 listed activity | 40% |
| Risk assessment covering cybersecurity risks | 26% |
| Specific tools for security monitoring | 23% |
| Staff testing, such as mock phishing exercises | 14% |
| Cybersecurity vulnerability audit | 12% |
| Penetration testing | 8% |
| Investment in threat intelligence | 6% |
Source: Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024, Figure 3.1
The survey also reports on cybersecurity policies and plans. Among UK charities, 32% had a formal policy or policies covering cybersecurity risks, while 22% had a business continuity plan that covered cybersecurity. These are reported policy and planning statuses, separate from the activities charities carried out during the preceding 12 months. Source: Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024
For specific technical safeguards, 33% of UK charities had a requirement for two-factor authentication when people accessed the organization’s network or applications. The survey reports this as an “any requirement” measure. It also found that 72% had cloud backups or other kinds of backups. These figures describe the presence of stated controls; they do not establish how consistently controls were used or how effective they were in preventing incidents. Source: Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024
The findings cover distinct parts of cybersecurity practice: risk identification, formal policy, continuity planning, identity and access, and backups. The time periods differ accordingly. Risk-identification figures refer to activities in the 12 months before the 2023–2024 survey, while policy, plan, authentication, and backup figures describe reported status in the survey. Read together, they provide a set of indicators of practice among UK registered charities, rather than a single measure of cybersecurity readiness.