May 13Building digital capabilities within a culture of devolved decision makingIn this post I’m exploring what the role of a digital, data or technology function could be in a charity which has a culture and structure based on local autonomy, devolved decision-making and a small core which seeks always to support and empower, rather than dictate or oversee. My thoughts…Digital6 min read
Apr 18, 2021A user manual for MeganAs I slowly tore myself away from NCVO earlier this year, one of my final acts was to encourage the new leadership team to write user manuals for each other. …4 min read
Mar 26, 20211+8 reflections on leaving an organisation after 18 yearsToday I leave NCVO after 18 years. I was 24 when I joined. Since then I’ve gotten married and had two children. I’ve grown up in this organisation. So many thoughts have been running through my head, so (because a friend said it was a good idea!) …5 min read
Published in The Digital Fund·Oct 23, 2020Thinking of hiring your first developer? What we learned from talking to developers in charitiesLate last year at NCVO we were considering hiring a developer for the first time. If you’re interested in why we thought it might be a good idea, and why we thought it might be the right time, have a read of my previous post. We wanted to take some…Digital6 min read
Feb 7, 2020Investigating service designIn my last post I reflected on how the field of digital had changed over the last 9 years, from when it was about websites and emails, through the emergence of ‘digital’ and to today, when there are many discussions about whether ‘digital’ is even what we should be interested…Service Design6 min read
Jan 17, 2020From websites to ‘digital’ and beyondAs we start a new decade, lots of people are looking back. In this post I share how I saw conversations about ‘digital’ changing over the last decade, and where we are now. Looking back: the emergence of ‘digital’ Ten years ago I was on maternity leave with a newborn. When I returned from maternity leave…Digital Transformation4 min read
Nov 26, 2019Should we hire a developer?At NCVO, we’re considering hiring a developer for the first time. That feels a bit scary. But it also feels exciting. We want to take some time to think carefully about whether this is the right thing to do, and learn about how to do it well. …Digital Transformation4 min read
Aug 1, 2019Recommendations, conversations and trials: finding the right technical partnersSince December I’ve been sharing our experience of developing a new digital strategy at NCVO, through mapping our digital ecology, learning about user needs and behaviours, developing a vision for a radical new technical architecture, and crafting a compelling business case. After NCVO’s trustee board approved our strategy the hard…Digital Transformation8 min read
May 16, 2019Making the case for investment — turning data and insight into a compelling strategySince December I’ve been sharing our experience of developing a new digital strategy at NCVO, through mapping our digital ecology, learning about user needs and behaviours, and developing a vision for a radical new technical architecture. We’re nearly at the end of this particular story. In this post I want…Digital Transformation7 min read
Apr 2, 2019The receptionist, security guard, decorator and delivery person — NCVO’s front controllerThe last post in this series about NCVO’s technology strategy started to describe an emerging vision for a future technical architecture — a leaner system that allows us to scale our impact in a sustainable way. In this post I want to dig deeper into the centrepiece of that vision…Web Development5 min read
