Embracing Digital Transformation: A Guide to Digital Community Engagement for NGOs (Part 1)
By: Ashley Pettifer, Director of Client Experience and Operations, Ryelle Strategy Group
Non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, are in a unique position to advocate for meaningful change, deliver essential support, and foster community building. But due to budgetary constraints, gaps exist in sustaining critical organizational functions. This is often true when it comes to their digital engagement tools and strategy, which has become an essential means of broadening their impact.
What does ‘going digital’ mean for NGOs? It spans a robust architecture for facilitating virtual collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and even program delivery. And it is a strategic decision that empowers NGOs to innovate and increase their scope, capacity, and impact.
With the right digital tools for communication, donor outreach, program delivery, and organizational management, NGOs can establish a culture of change and innovation that shapes how they fulfill their mission.
The good news is, not all resources come with a big price tag. With the rapid growth of digital platforms, a smart strategy of digital tools means NGOs can connect with their audiences with minimal investment for higher returns. And now that digital engagement has shifted from a “nice-to-have” feature to a necessary tool to reach target audiences, it’s helpful to understand the ways in which an organization can build a successful digital engagement strategy.
Investing in Digital Engagement
Free subscriptions and grants offer opportunities to test out applications and, in many cases, sustain a modest outreach strategy, especially when being smart and nimble in budgetary allocations is necessary for NGOs. Another critical component to a sustainable digital strategy is investing in the right talent, individuals who are equally passionate to make meaningful change while cognizant of the unique constraints an NGO faces in sustaining momentum.
Investing in digital transformation and building pathways to digital community engagement is an empowering step in revitalizing stakeholder engagement, marketing and communications, and future programming design. The for-profit sector has adopted these mechanisms and enjoyed great success and growth as a result. It would benefit NGOs to think along the same lines, while retaining their heart and purpose.
Does your NGO have a digital engagement strategy? Is your organization looking to invest in your digital presence? Our experts at Ryelle Strategy Group are here to support you in choosing how and where to invest in digital engagement to amplify your reach and impact. Check out our services page for more information.
