By Jean-Louis (JL) Ecochard, Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Director of the NetHope Center for the Digital Nonprofit
Over the past six years, nonprofits have made significant strides in their digital transformation, leading NetHope’s Center for the Digital Nonprofit to establish a new benchmark for the Digital Nonprofit Ability™ (DNA). The sector is now on the brink of becoming digital. More than 400 nonprofits across 90 countries have assessed their digital transformation, revealing a trend towards client-centric workflows, agile networked structures, and data-driven decision-making.
As we reach this digital threshold, a critical shift in priorities is evident: Data has surpassed Technology as the second most important category, right behind Readiness, which remains crucial for setting the right mindset for digital change. Technology, while essential, has become the trailing category. This indicates that without quality data and digital skills, technology alone is insufficient.
In 2018, the NetHope Center for the Digital Nonprofit created the Digital Nonprofit Ability™ (DNA) assessment and made it available for free to allow any nonprofit organization to make decisions to steward their digital transformation journey. The DNA is an online social sector benchmarking tool that serves as a GPS—mapping the route—for nonprofit digital transformation. With an investment of about 7 minutes on average, the survey measures and provides insights on a nonprofit organization’s relative strengths and weaknesses across six categories critical to nonprofit digital transformation: Readiness (overall mindset), People, Process, Technology, Data, and Investment. NetHope published a comprehensive understanding of the DNA and the results of the first round of assessment in the Digital Nonprofit Ability™ Assessment white paper.
Over time, the DNA has become a standard tool that nonprofits use to assess their overall digital transformation progress and identify which challenges to address next. Complemented with other assessments such as the Digital Nonprofit Skills and the Digital Nonprofit Finance, this portfolio of assessments enables nonprofits to maximize the value of their digital and change management investments.
On average, the DNA benchmark has increased by 18% and continues to track on the diagonal pathway, indicating that nonprofits are advancing both the digitalization of their programs and operations with equal importance. The major shift witnessed, beyond an increase in the overall DNA, is in the ranking of the categories. While Readiness remains at the top, setting the mindset of an organization to be digital, the Data category has increased by 31%, displacing the Technology category, which decreased by 3%. This indicates that technology without good data is not useful—there is an app for that, but is there good data for that, especially in the age of AI? NetHope has already published resources critical to strengthening nonprofit data, such as the Data Governance Toolkit.
As important as the rise of the Data category is the rise in the People category, which increased by 23% and is no longer the trailing one, indicating that nonprofits are recognizing the need to quickly address the new digital divide of digital skills and leadership. NetHope has responded to this trend with the NetHope Digital Leadership Institute, an online learning platform dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations to thrive in today's rapidly evolving digital landscape.
The initial benchmark for the DNA is thus moving up as follows:
| DNA Category | 2018 Benchmark | 2018 rank | 2024 Benchmark | 2024 rank | ∆ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DNA | 79 | 93 | |||
| Readiness | 90 | 1 | 103 | 1 | → |
| People | 74 | 5 | 91 | 4 | ↑ |
| Process | 61 | 6 | 80 | 6 | → |
| Technology | 88 | 2 | 86 | 5 | ↓ |
| Data | 79 | 4 | 101 | 2 | ↑ |
| Investment | 84 | 3 | 94 | 3 | → |
In conclusion, the transformation journey for nonprofits is not just about adopting new technologies but about embedding a digital-first mindset across all aspects of their operations, starting by changing the way people work through redesigned processes that are made possible by technology. The rise in the importance of Data and People categories underscores the need for robust data management and continuous digital skill development at all levels of an organization. As nonprofits continue to evolve, tools like the Digital Nonprofit Ability™ assessment will be essential in guiding their progress, ensuring they remain adaptive and resilient in a rapidly changing digital landscape. NetHope stands ready to support this journey, providing the resources and expertise needed by all nonprofits to navigate and thrive in the digital future.
This means not only supporting global nonprofits but also ensuring equitable advancement across the entire ecosystem, at local levels. Through conversation at our regional Chapter meetings, NetHope knows that many of our Members understand the importance of extending their digital transformation efforts beyond their own organizations. With NetHope, they aim to include and support their program partners in digitalizing the entire humanitarian aid supply chain. This is the beginning of a new era.
Digital Transformation and Innovation resources
NetHope’s New Strategic Plan – Digital Transformation & Innovation – AI Program Highlight
NetHope’s 2024-2030 strategy focuses on bridging the New Digital Divides. A generation ago, the Digital Divide described the gap in access first to computers, and then to the internet and essential technologies. But today, new digital challenges threaten international NGO mission advancement as organizations are forced to grapple with the widening gap between available resources and growing needs. These new challenges – what NetHope calls the New Digital Divides – represent critical gaps in infrastructure, systems, capabilities, and knowledge. Over the next decade, NetHope is leading collective action to bridge the New Digital Divides – skills and leadership, inclusion, protection, transformation and innovation, and climate adaptation and resilience - leveraging our powerful, proven model for advance global good.
Bridging the New Digital Divides Spotlight: Digital Transformation and Innovation
The innovation required to meet emerging and existing challenges to the nonprofit sector and the communities we serve only happens when it is made a priority. NetHope works within our network, data, and history of catalyzing collective action to see complex problems are met with insights, policies, and advice that are context-appropriate, efficient and scalable. NetHope will use our influence, networks, data, and history of catalyzing new and high-potential ideas to ensure complex problems are met with insights, policies, guidance, and technology solutions.
