Whether you're the founder or an individual contributor within a nonprofit organization, your dedication to its success is unquestionable. Yet, in the pursuit of your mission, nonprofits often find themselves entangled in technical challenges that consume precious time and resources.  

In such scenarios, effective management of technology can be a transformative force. The difficulty, however, lies in finding areas where technology can truly enhance operations. It's often said that we 'don’t know what we don’t know,' making it challenging to objectively assess whether your organization's people, processes, knowledge, and tools are aligned with your mission. 

Fortunately, our partners at Sowen, an impact consultancy focused on harnessing data to accelerate social change, have developed a free assessment tool to help nonprofits gauge their digital maturity. 

Want to skip ahead to the assessment? You can find it here. 

What is Digital Maturity? 

Digital maturity is the extent to which an organization can adapt to new processes and systems given its current resources, tools, and people. It goes beyond simply adopting modern tools or data utilization; it encompasses the culture and practices that foster a data-driven environment. 

By using Sowen’s Data Accelerator assessment, nonprofits can understand where they are in their digital maturity journey. To use the concept of digital maturity constructively, it’s important to think of it without judgement. No score is objectively good or bad. Instead, it’s a context marker to understand what to prioritize to develop your strategy in the most impactful way possible. 

Some of the benefits of doing so include: 

Making More Intentional Decisions 

During busy times, it’s hard to take a beat and think about how your actions are contributing to your mission. We all fall into habits that, when put under a microscope, can seem unnecessary. Having a direction given by experts in data and strategy gives you an opportunity to take a breath and evaluate if you’re on the right track. 

Saving Time and Effort 

Nonprofits hardly have time to spare to begin with. By understanding what to focus on, you can more effectively allocate resources to initiatives that have a higher chance of success. This can save countless hours of unnecessary or duplicated work and frustration from your team.  

Opening Space for Creativity 

Taking a pause to reflect on the work you are currently doing usually reveals areas that don’t serve your mission. Take back that time and use it for creative and inclusive decision making. Less is often more and, in these cases, applying creative solutions can improve efficiency, engage your team, and produce results that would have otherwise been unobtainable.  

Are you looking to be a more intentional, efficient, and creative leader? A helpful tool to get you started on this path is the jobs-to-be-done theory, which you can read more about here. 

The 4 Pillars of Digital Maturity 

Sowen’s Digital Accelerator assessment is a means to understand what your current situation is with respect to 4 strategic pillars. Each pillar unites people with technology, since technology alone can’t solve any issues. Rather, it’s people and processes that are key to success.  

Knowledge 

It’s easy to fall into the false assumption that everyone in your organization has the same information that you do. Unfortunately, knowledge is rarely distributed evenly. Who are the keepers of knowledge in your organization? Where is that knowledge stored? If you have trouble answering either of these questions, it may be an indicator that you need to think deeply about this pillar. Knowledge, in this context, refers to: 

• Your team understands the needs and preferences of your constituents 
• You can easily communicate changes across your organization 
• You understand the environment that you work in 

People 

In any organization, people are the most important asset to your success. Organizational culture unites people towards a common mission – it is the unspoken values and agreements held by all members of your team. Building and maintaining a culture that creates shared understanding is arguably the most important factor for any organization, as it is foundational for individual motivation, healthy team relationships, and perceived success. In the context of digital maturity, nonprofits can think about people and culture by assessing the following: 

• How well can your stakeholders articulate your mission, vision, and purpose 
• You can use data to create compelling stories of impact 
• Your team believes that the technology they use helps empower them in their work 

Process 

Whether they’re managing campaigns, running programs, or carrying out fundraising activities, every person is following a sequence of steps that have a predictable outcome. People following their own playbook can lead to some great innovations, however, if you don’t have your most important processes documented, you’ll have inconsistent results. The following are indicators that you have robust and consistent processes: 

• Technology enables collaboration across areas in your organization 

• You can reliably and accurately capture the impact of your activities 
• Your team proactively uses data to inform their decisions 

Tools 

It may surprise you that only one out of the four pillars of digital maturity is about technology itself. Tools without thoughtful consideration add little value to your organization. Before choosing to use any solution, you need to know who your users and administrators will be, how the solution will work with other tools you have, and what are the policies of use of each solution. Though tools are powerful enablers for your team, they can only be chosen once the context of their use is well defined. Your tools may be digitally mature if: 

• You have robust policies and procedures for every tool you use 
• The tools you have are integrated and data can be shared between systems 
• Your team can evaluate modern technology solutions like AI to work more effectively  

Take the Assessment 

Don't let uncertainty hinder your organization's digital transformation journey. Take advantage of Sowen’s free Digital Accelerator Assessment today to unlock valuable insights and propel your nonprofit towards greater impact and effectiveness. 

Take the Assessment Now  

By leveraging Sowen’s expertise and resources, nonprofits can navigate the complexities of the digital landscape with confidence, ensuring that technology becomes an enabler rather than a barrier to their mission-driven work. 

iATS Payments by Deluxe partners with organizations like Sowen to bring actionable best practices to our nonprofit clients. As the only payment processor dedicated exclusively to nonprofits, we believe in the power of collaboration and community to deliver long-term and holistic solutions that help nonprofits pursue missions.