71% of CSOs in Bulgaria do not have a digital strategy and half of the participants in the survey do not collect and process data important for their work
According to data from a survey on the digital transformation of the civil sector in Bulgaria, conducted by the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation among 94 Bulgarian organizations, the average rating of the state of digitalization is 2.9 on a scale of 1 to 5, respectively from very poor to very good. These results contrast, to some extent, with the answers to a question related to whether organisations have and follow a defined digital strategy. To this question, 71% of the organisations said that they did not have such a strategy, and 24% responded that they had considered the steps to create a digital strategy, but one that was not formally set out. The discrepancy between the assessment of the state of digitalisation and the lack of a formally adopted digital strategy can be attributed to several key factors.
Lack of capacity and budget: major obstacles to digitisation of the civil sector
Lack of knowledge is proving to be a major barrier to wider ICT use and digitisation. Almost 90% of organisations surveyed said they do not use automated process tools or are unsure whether they do. This shows that even basic automation technologies that could save time and effort go unnoticed or unused.
According to the survey, lack of skilled staff is the third barrier to the adoption of ICT tools in organizations (32%). A lack of information about ICT tools and their capabilities (42%) was second, and lack of resources (52%) first.
Many organizations rely on volunteers or external contractors to manage ICT infrastructure. This allows for cost optimization, but requires more effort to synchronize processes.
The average total ICT budget of organisations for the last two years is around BGN 4,774, with approximately 83% of organisations reporting a total ICT budget for the last two years of up to BGN 8,800. These amounts cannot cover significant investments in new technologies to meet the needs of the sector in the country.
Insufficient data analysis
The survey shows that even in one of the most important activities for the organizations – fundraising from individual donors, the majority state that they do not collect data on their donors. Even more worrying is the fact that 31% of the organisations that do collect data do not analyse it. Data analytics, for example, is the essential tool for optimizing giving campaigns, expanding the donor network, and measuring the impact of donations. Without it, organizations are left without a clear picture of the effectiveness of their efforts.
Although giving campaigns are a core part of many CSOs’ activities, almost half of them do not collect and analyse data on their donors.
49% of organizations surveyed said they collect data on donors, while the remaining 51% do not perform this basic process of tracking donor activity.
Dependence on basic data tools
CSOs most commonly use basic applications such as Excel and Google Sheets to process data. These tools offer only basic spreadsheet functions, but the options for more sophisticated analysis and visualization are limited. Many organisations do not use functional solutions such as Power BI, Microsoft Access and various CRM platforms, mainly because of the need for a higher level of training. Lack of knowledge of these tools is a major reason for the respondents indicating that they did not know how to improve their data analysis processes.
Key areas for investment in ICT infrastructure
According to the survey data, CSOs identified several priority areas in which they should invest. First is the need for new software licenses and services, followed by the acquisition of new hardware. Alongside this, organisations point to the importance of training that needs to take place to improve the skills of staff and volunteers to enable them to cope with new technologies.
Prospects for CSOs
In conclusion, although digitalisation has a huge potential to improve the performance of CSOs, it faces many barriers. Lack of resources, knowledge and skilled staff slow down adaptation to new technologies that can bring significant benefits. To make progress, it is necessary not only to invest in technology, but also in training and capacity development for staff and volunteers.
The study on digital transformation in the civil society sector in Bulgaria aims to provide clarity on the current state of the technology infrastructure of CSOs and to suggest strategies to increase their digital literacy and effectiveness. See the full survey report here (available only in Bulgarian)
The survey was conducted by the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation as the sole TechSoup partner for Bulgaria to provide data through which to seek solutions for important civic sector technology resources.
TechSoup is a global network of civil society organisations working to improve the quality of work of organised civil society by providing access to resources – technology solutions and skills.
The platform provides donations of software, discounts on their purchase, access to hardware products, validation to receive financial donations, knowledge and skills to increase the competencies of CSO team members on topics related to technology and its effective use, and more. This support frees up valuable resources for CSOs, and the savings can be invested in the important causes they work on. See more on TechSoup Bulgaria’s website here.