Deloitte announces collaboration with CAST

Deloitte has announced it is launching a new programme with CAST, a charity helping organisations use digital for social good.

“Deloitte Digital Connect” will be delivered to help charities “close the digital divide”.

The programme will bring together up to 50 charities, including Deloitte’s 5 Million Futures existing charity partners, and “connect them with expertise, advice, and a network to support their digital development”.

Research from the ‘Charity Digital Skills report’ showed how charities have been impacted by COVID-19. It found that 78% of charities have deployed digital to speak to new audiences and 83% of charities changed their services in response to demand.

Richard Houston, senior partner and chief executive of Deloitte UK, said: “New technologies are rapidly changing how charities need to operate and there’s a growing digital skills gap that threatens their future.

“The pandemic has inflicted huge disruption to fundraising and volunteering and through our 5 Million Futures strategy we want to share our knowledge and resources to ensure that no charity is left behind.”

Deloitte’s Black Action Plan charity partner Blueprint for All’s chief executive, Sonia Watson, said: “This will be transformational for us and timely, demand has never been higher for our work and digital delivery is paramount.

Dan Sutch, co-founder and director at CAST, added: “The pandemic has shown how critical it is that charities have digital capabilities and capacity for service delivery, fundraising and how they operate.

“Over two-thirds of organisations see digital as a priority yet less than half, 42%, of charities have someone leading on digital as part of their role. Together with Deloitte, we are here to connect charities with expertise, advice and knowledge sharing – and to support charities to grow their influence and impact.”