Deloitte invites charities to apply for digital development programme

• Applications welcomed from education, employment or climate action charities and social enterprises.
• Last year Deloitte invested £800,000 in the digital programme.

Deloitte has opened applications for 35 charities and social enterprises to join the second cohort of Deloitte Digital Connect, a programme that helps charities scale their impact.

Selected charities will take part in six months of digital training and receive advice and access to a peer network to support their digital development. The programme is delivered in partnership with CAST, a charity helping organisations use digital for social good.

Deloitte encourages applications from charities and social enterprises that have a project or programme aligned to education, employment or climate action.

Last year Deloitte invested £800,000 in Deloitte Digital Connect* and the programme has already had a significant impact on charities. The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust took part while it was developing the Ready, Steady, Go app, which helps young people in hospital regain fitness. The app will support 150 patients in their recovery at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital by helping them become more physically active.

Richard Houston, senior partner and chief executive of Deloitte UK, said: “Technology has the power to transform charities and their services. We’ve brought together what we do best around technology and applied it to charities and social enterprises so they’re able to digitally deliver vital services to those most in need.

“I’m proud to see how Deloitte Digital Connect is helping charity digital leaders to build capacity and capability within their organisations. This has been critical for them as they transition through the pandemic into the new hybrid world.”

The new cohort of charities will have their individual digital needs assessed by Deloitte’s 5 Million Futures team and CAST to identify the most effective actions to assist them. Charities will be given access to mentoring sessions, group coaching calls, workshops and masterclasses and peer support sessions. Deloitte will also offer one-to-one support from teams across the firm including tech, digital and legal advice.

Bridging the digital divide

The latest research from the 2022 Charity Digital Skills Report revealed that just over half of charities have a digital strategy and only a third of charities have someone leading on digital either as part of or in addition to their work, a ten per cent decline from 2021.

Ben Hilton, chief executive of the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, reflected on the support his charity received: “Taking part in the programme allowed us to understand how to develop a digital product and we have been using all the learnings and resources to help us plan projects for the future. From an executive level, the roundtables with Richard Houston were insightful; hearing how big business is coping with the external factors we are all experiencing, and enabling us to take hints, tips and best practice back to the Trust and the wider sector.

“On a day-to-day level, the peer sessions and knowledge sharing workshops were incredibly helpful when piloting our new app to young people in hospital. Throughout, the support from Deloitte and CAST was thoughtful, timely and engaging and it was an honour to be involved along with a number of other great charities.”

Dan Sutch, co-founder and director at CAST, said: “Deloitte’s long term commitment to supporting charities to develop their digital capabilities means we’re able to build on last year’s partnership to provide even greater support to charities across the UK. Being able to harness digital, data and design is critical for charities to deliver the vital support they provide to individuals and communities, and equally vital to ensure that civil society has an influential voice. CAST is delighted to support Deloitte and a new cohort of charities.”

To apply for the programme, please complete this short online application form by 12 noon on Monday 17 October.

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Notes to editors

Please see the website to read the more about Deloitte Digital Connect and eligibility.

If you have any questions, please register to join one of our Q&A sessions on Thursday 6 October at 3pm or Wednesday 12 October at 3pm or email your queries to deloittedigitalconnect@deloitte.co.uk.

The 2022/2023 programme will begin in November 2022 and run until April 2023. It will bring together around 35 charities, including some of Deloitte’s 5 Million Futures existing charity partners. Up to 25 places are available on the programme outside of Deloitte’s 5 Million Futures charity partners.

The programme is part of Deloitte’s 5 Million Futures social impact goal, which aims to help 5 million people access education and employment by 2030.

The programme’s first cohort, who joined from January to May 2022, learned from a peer community that utilised Deloitte’s skills and expertise, including over 60 mentoring sessions, 36 group coaching calls, 19 workshops and masterclasses, 12 peer support sessions and monthly newsletters.

*The investment included programme costs, bursaries for charities to participate in the programme and pro bono business services.

About Deloitte 5 Million Futures

5 Million Futures (5MF) is the Deloitte North & South Europe social impact strategy, aiming to help five million people get to where they want to be through access to education and employment. 5MF seeks to address inequality by overcoming barriers to education and employment, empowering individuals with the skills needed to succeed in today’s economy.

Focused on inclusion and aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development goals, 5MF is part of Deloitte’s Global WorldClass commitment to empower 50 million people by 2030. This is one of the ways we are bringing the firm’s purpose to life by making an impact that matters. Read more about Deloitte's purpose.

About CAST

CAST helps people use digital for social good. Its mission is to create a more responsive, resilient and digitally-enabled social sector. CAST does this by supporting nonprofits to embed digital and design across their services, strategy and governance, and work with sector leaders, funders and Government to make this happen.

About Deloitte

In this press release references to “Deloitte” are references to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”) a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity. Please see deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.

Deloitte LLP is a subsidiary of Deloitte NSE LLP, which is a member firm of DTTL, and is among the UK's leading professional services firms.

The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

For more information, please visit www.deloitte.co.uk.