Being a leader is fast becoming more difficult, given the changing environment and emerging technologies, and organizations, in whatever sector, need to be prepared and adapt to this change.

So what about charities? How can we lead in this digital age? Blockchain is one disruptive technology that may significantly influence our way of working in the future. Originally devised as part of the digital currency bitcoin, blockchain is a ledger of what are called “blocks” ie. information owned and maintained by all of those within the chain; and fast becoming quite significant, with a number of potential uses.

There are a number of ways in which Blockchain might support charities and their work, if they adopted blockchain. The Charities Aid Foundation have thought a lot about this. Here are just a couple of the ways that Blockchain could help charities:

  • Trust: Blockchain could raise trust in charities, but only with those who adopt its use, as it provides more openness and transparency about where charities money is being spent.
  • Asset transfer: Assets such as intellectual property, for example, copyright, can be transacted, generating other sources of income, with more opportunity to transact intangible, as well as tangible, assets, of which could be quickly and efficiently distributed to charities.
  • Data: Data can be analyzed of donors and businesses to direct to causes of interest.
  • Grantmaking: Grantmakers will have access to up to date supporting information, such as governance structures, and bank accounts. Efficiencies could be quite significant around how funders make grants, as well as access funding, with the development of smart applications and smart contracts, reducing transaction costs and time, integrating the physical and digital world.

Read the full article about how blockchain could change the way charities work by Orla Black at Medium.