The Charity Digital Benchmark is an online service, made up of a group of UK charities who pool their digital data in order to compare and evaluate their online performance. CharityComms organisational members receive a discount on the participation fees.
Get involved with the award-winning benchmark to find out how your charity compares!
What is the Charity Digital Benchmark for?
The benchmark is a unique collaboration aimed at improving the performance of all participating charities, and was recently rated good or excellent value for money by 84% of participants. It has two main objectives:
- To allow charities to compare the metrics, facts and figures of their own digital activities with other charities.
- To provide insights and ideas into how charities can develop their digital communications and fundraising work.
Who is the Charity Digital Benchmark for?
The three main intended audiences for the benchmark are:
- Senior management teams, both as part of an established reporting function and as justification for activity/investment.
- Digital teams, to show how performance compares to other charities.
- Other teams within the organisation, to show what is and isn’t working and to act as both stick and carrot for wider organisational digital participation.
How does it work?
Participant charities grant Digital Benchmark Ltd access to their Google Analytics data. This Analytics data is then pulled into an interactive dashboard in Google Data Studio, where participant charities can see how their stats compare to their peers.
To get a feel for how it works, check out the Charity Digital Benchmark brochure.
Do you measure anything else?
Beyond the dashboard, there is also an annual survey of participants to provide more detailed insight into online fundraising and campaigning, the results of which are delivered at an annual meeting. The questions evolve every year to reflect the digital landscape, but crucial components always include:
- the structure of digital teams and cultures
- digital systems and tools
- online fundraising tactics and results
- online service provision and communities
- online campaigning
How can you use the data?
- Understand your online performance
“Highlights areas where you can improve as well as areas that you’re performing well in.” - Set high standards
“We use the results alongside other data to show progress against digital KPIs and how we compare across the sector. It also helps us set KPIs.”
- Maximise your marketing ROI
“Great value for money. We use the tool to complement other reporting, to ensure we’re investing our digital spend in the places where we can maximise impact.” - Make your case for additional resources
“A powerful tool when trying to gain support for projects and initiatives.”
What is needed from participant charities?
If your charity wants to join, you will need to provide four things:
- Access to a Google Analytics view containing your website’s data, which is maintained in accordance with the guidelines.
- A commitment to complete the annual survey as fully as you can.
- Payment.
- Acceptance of the terms and conditions.
Who else will be able to see your data?
All charities who participate in the benchmark will be able to see your data. We also work with external suppliers to deliver the benchmark, who may be able to see your data. All external suppliers sign an NDA before we allow them access to any sensitive data.
No one else will be allowed to access your charity’s data (though we may share certain trends and top-level statistics based on aggregate data.)
Who runs the benchmark?
The benchmark is managed by Digital Benchmarks Ltd. who are owned by digital marketing agency Uprise Up.
The Charity Digital Benchmark was first created in 2013 by CharityComms in collaboration with Uprise Up and digital expert Bertie Bosrédon.
If you have any questions, please contact the team.
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