New research highlights charities’ urgent need for IT funding

Lack of IT funding is a key factor in voluntary and community sector organisations (VCOs) failing to make better use of available technology. This is one of the main findings of a new online survey, carried out by the ICT Hub and the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists (WCIT).

A staggering 88 per cent of VCOs said their planned spend this year on IT support costs was either ‘not enough’ or ‘completely inadequate’, while 63 per cent claimed lack of funding ‘definitely’ prevented them from making better use of IT. Only 38 per cent had had any success in obtaining funding specifically for IT.

The online survey of almost 500 VCOs carried out in spring 2006, also found that it was far easier to obtain funding for more ‘visible’ elements such as IT equipment for use by clients than for back office infrastructure and running costs. A significant majority of VCOs (59 per cent) said that it was ‘very difficult’ to get funding for IT support contracts and staff.

The scale of responses underlines just how crucial technology is to the sector. 97 per cent of organisations surveyed said IT was very important to their administration/finance/ communications while 83 per cent claimed it was very important to their core activities/delivery of services. This emphasis was endorsed by 98 per cent of respondents who indicated that their effectiveness could be improved with better IT facilities.

Based on the survey findings, the ICT hub is now working with funders to highlight the importance of providing revenue as well as capital funding for ICT. It is also partnering with voluntary organisations to enhance the quality of their IT funding applications and to provide improved access to pro bono IT support.

David Edwards, WCIT’s operations director, said: “The voluntary sector clearly recognises the need to invest more in IT in order to improve both internal efficency and the quality of service delivery. This report confirms the current shortfall in funding for ICT, and highlights the particular problems with revenue funding of IT and IT support costs The WCIT will be working with the ICT hub to promote these messages to funders while continuing to provide pro-bono resources for the sector through our IT volunteering programme, iT4Communities.”