Tech For Good Hub

Comic Relief's Tech for Good programme for charities and social enterprises etc

Archives for May 2020

How and why we changed our Tech for Good initiative in 2020

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The Comic Relief and Paul Hamlyn Foundation Tech for Good fund has been running since 2016. It has supported non-profits to take a significant digital step forward by funding them to develop digital solutions that make their work or services more effective, and providing access to digital experts.

A core ethos of the Tech for Good fund has always been encouraging organisations to keep their users’ needs at the heart of development. As funders, we are mindful that our users are the non-profits engaging with us, applying to our programmes, and accessing our funding.

That’s why, in 2019, we reviewed the fund with the help of Think Social Tech to make sure it was still fit for those it served. One of the main findings of our review was that organisations needed early stage support, through ring-fenced time and funding, to enable them to focus their energy on thinking about the direction and potential of digital development in their context, before embarking upon full scale development.

While this need was identified by our review, which came before COVID-19 emerged, it’s clear that organisations are now facing more pressure than ever to adopt digital practices – this is being well documented by Catalyst, a charitable network which helps the voluntary sector strengthen its digital capabilities. Through their granular and on-the-ground work with organisations, Catalyst has identified a range of areas that organisations are currently dealing with. One of the biggest mid-to-long term challenges outlined is the way organisations are dealing with the impact on services. Issues include the surge in demand alongside adjusting to rapidly shifting modes of service delivery, understanding the medium-term evolving needs of service users, and how to effectively safeguard them.

We were due to launch a new strand of our funding, ‘Explore’, in summer 2020, offering short, early stage scoping funding and support to organisations. We have worked with CAST to slightly adapt this offer to the current circumstances. However, we think the same broad principles still apply. We want teams to access the right conditions for meaningful digital development; this is even more crucial for charities thinking about the challenges outlined above, and the implications for mid-to-long term service delivery as the consequences of COVID-19 become clearer.

The Tech for Good ‘Explore’ programme, delivered by CAST, and co-funded by Comic Relief and Paul Hamlyn Foundation, will support 40-50 organisations to undertake early stage digital scoping:

  • It will guide organisations through a three-month structured design programme supporting teams to gain experience and understanding of user-led, test-driven approaches, and enable them to develop a prototype to test with their service users
  • It will also offer £5,000 grants for single organisations and £7,500 for collaborations to backfill staff time and operational cost. This was designed to make digital service development conceivable and feasible for organisations, ensuring their use of digital was best suited to their contexts.

‘Explore’ support forms part of a wider digital journey for organisations, and has been designed with this in mind. We hope that this early stage support will not only help organisations to respond to the current need for digital solutions, but play a role in the longer term digital transformation of the sector within and beyond our own funding programmes.

You can find out more about the ‘Explore’ programme and apply here.

Comic Relief and Paul Hamlyn Foundation announce ‘Explore’, a new early stage digital funding strand, in partnership with CAST

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Tailored support to help charities accelerate the development of digital solutions

Comic Relief and Paul Hamlyn Foundation are pleased to announce that they are adding a new early stage strand, Explore, to their Tech for Good funding initiative.

The Tech for Good programme was developed in response to the emerging need for charities to use technology to explore different approaches to delivering better services. The Explore programme will help charities to scope a digital solution to improve outcomes for the people they support, and to build the skills to develop a strong, user-led approach to digital service delivery.

Funded by Comic Relief and Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the programme will be delivered by digital service design support partner CAST.

The £230,000 Explore programme will allow charities to engage in a 12-week learning journey to scope out the kinds of digital services they might provide and to explore how digital technology could transform the ways they work. The programme includes grants of £5,000 for individual organisations, or £7,500 for collaborations.

It will offer organisations the chance to:

  • Identify the user need they are trying to address
  • Examine whether a digital solution is the best idea
  • Identify the key implications of implementing a new solution
  • Design a prototype which can be tested and made ready for further development
  • Look at how it might be possible to obtain funding for further work.

The application process is open to UK charities and not-for-profit organisations with incomes of between £75,000 and £10 million, and applications should address one of the following core issue areas – A Safe Place To Be, Fighting For Gender Justice, Children Survive and Thrive, and Global Mental Health Matters. More information on these themes is available here.  Applications addressing challenges related to disability outside of the themes specified above are also welcome, acknowledging the critical potential of digital technology in tackling this issue.

40 to 50 grants are expected to be awarded. Applications open on 20th May, and close on 22nd June 2020. Applicants should visit the CAST website for full details and a link to the application form.

Organisations will receive a flexible and tailored package of support, including access to an online curriculum, one-to-one support calls, and virtual community meet-ups.

The new strand of funding follows a period of learning, listening and reflection by Comic Relief and Paul Hamlyn Foundation after co-funding the fourth round of Tech for Good in 2019.

It also draws on CAST’s experience of providing support to charities in the development of digital services, including on the Tech for Good initiative. In light of COVID-19, this fund is especially relevant now as organisations seek to respond to a new context.

The Explore programme forms part of a wider digital journey. In advance of the programme, applicants should be able to identify key service redesign needs and challenges. Applicants are welcome to participate in CAST’s free Design Hop course, which will help identify these needs.

The initiative also aims to put organisations in a better position to apply for further social tech funding, for example to the wider Tech for Good fund, which the funders plan to launch in late 2020.

Moira Sinclair, Chief Executive, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, said:

“Tech for Good was developed to support charities to deliver better services for their communities through technology. We could hardly have known at the time just how transformational an acceleration was around the corner and how much more relevant this programme would feel as a result.  We hope the introduction of our new Explore strand will give charities the space and support they need to transition to digital service delivery, bridging the digital divide and continuing to connect to the people and communities that need them most.”

Ruth Davison, Chief Executive, Comic Relief, said:

“Our Tech for Good initiative, co-funded with Paul Hamlyn Foundation since 2017, is continuously evolving to ensure it meets the needs of organisations and the people they support. We’re excited to announce Explore, our new funding strand, which will give organisations the crucial time and head-space to scope how a digital approach can be best utilised in their service delivery, a need exacerbated by the current context. We are also excited to be working with CAST and Catalyst to deliver Explore, complementing the work being carried out by them and tapping into their excellent networks of practice to support sustainable and meaningful change.”

Dan Sutch, Director, CAST, said:

“It’s fantastic to be able to work with Comic Relief and Paul Hamlyn Foundation on this new programme. Now, more than ever, it’s vital that charities have access to the advice and support needed to develop high quality digital services. We look forward to directly working with charities as part of Explore and connecting them to the wider Catalyst network of support.”