Even though the technology had been there for years, at the dawn of 2020, virtual meetings were still a novelty. Working from home was something mostly only those high-tech startups did. Then Covid-19 forced nearly everyone into the virtual working world.

With vaccines rolling out, there is hope we will finally see the backside of the pandemic. What happens then? Do we go back to the way things were, or push forward with digital transformation?

For nonprofits and charities, it’s not just about whether the weekly staff meeting keeps happening on Teams or Zoom. It will be a question of whether offering programs and services virtually is a sustainable long-term strategy. In my experience, the answer is a definite yes. Digital transformation offers a wealth of new possibilities for delivering services and programs more efficiently and sustainably. Here are some tips and lessons I’ve garnered from WE Charity’s digital journey.

If there’s one thing the pandemic has shown us, it’s that people are willing to do more online. Before the pandemic, my organization had already begun taking its educational resources, and youth events like WE Day, online. Covid-19 forced an acceleration of digital adoption because we couldn’t do live teacher development sessions anymore or pack youth into an auditorium. Before the pandemic, only a portion of our resources were available virtually; now they are 100% available online. We started 2020 working with 50,000 teachers, and in one year we're almost at our goal of connecting with 100,000 educators by the end of 2021.

If you are worried that going digital will hamper your organization’s impact, trust me: It won’t.

But be ready when they come. When you offer resources or services online, make sure your backend technology can handle a surge of demand. No one wants to deal with a crashed server. If you are doing an online event, ensure nobody’s shut out because the communications tool you’re using limits participation.

Read the full article about digital transformation by Craig Kielburger at Forbes.