Enga­ged.

Why is digi­tal enga­ge­ment so crucial for the phil­an­thropy of the future?

Fran­ce­sca Giar­dina: Digi­tal enga­ge­ment brings phil­an­thropy closer to the pulse of social deve­lo­p­ments. The digi­tal trans­for­ma­tion is now affec­ting almost every area of funding: digi­tal proces­ses increase effi­ci­ency and create social and econo­mic added value. At the same time, new chal­lenges are emer­ging: for exam­ple, when effi­ci­ency gains are cancel­led out by increased resource consump­tion, when people are left behind by the change or when cyber thre­ats and the loss of privacy reach a criti­cal level. Social media enable new forms of networ­king and parti­ci­pa­tion, but at the same time they influence opinion forma­tion, skills and mental health – and thus the reali­ties of many target groups. This is why we need to engage with digi­tal pheno­mena in a targe­ted way and align our funding prac­ti­ces accor­din­gly: by streng­thening digi­tal skills, rese­ar­ching the social impact of digi­ti­sa­tion or deve­lo­ping tech­no­lo­gies for the common good. Being digi­tally visi­ble and enga­ged means taking an infor­med stance, both in the deve­lo­p­ment of your own orga­ni­sa­tion and in your funding strategy.

How does this change the dyna­mics, and what oppor­tu­ni­ties and chal­lenges does it create?

The world is moving faster, topics are chan­ging rapidly, and new discour­ses are emer­ging over­night. In this envi­ron­ment, “simply conti­nuing as before” is no longer enough. Digi­tal enga­ge­ment offers enorm­ous oppor­tu­ni­ties for inspi­ra­tion, exch­ange and cross-sector colla­bo­ra­tion – precis­ely because it brings toge­ther funders, non-profits, experts and other stake­hol­ders and carries their ideas back into the analo­gue world. At the same time, these trans­for­ma­tion steps are often chal­len­ging. But those who do not actively parti­ci­pate risk miss­ing out on rele­vant deve­lo­p­ments. Digi­tal enga­ge­ment does not mean follo­wing every tech­no­lo­gi­cal trend, but rather consciously taking on the right impul­ses and helping to shape the change.

What does this mean in prac­tice today? 

Digi­tal enga­ge­ment is not an end in itself, but a criti­cal future skill. It is about using simple tools in a targe­ted way and not over­loo­king signals from the funding field. This does not mean simply putting more infor­ma­tion online or proces­sing more appli­ca­ti­ons, but rather funding more timely, iden­ti­fy­ing more rele­vant projects and ente­ring into equal part­ner­ships. Those who engage digi­tally today are laying the foun­da­ti­ons for remai­ning effec­tive and capa­ble of action tomorrow.

Get invol­ved now

In a series of artic­les and webi­nars, the Merca­tor Foun­da­tion Switz­er­land, the Alli­ance Digi­tale network and Sphe­riq offer a start­ing point for foun­da­ti­ons that want to reflect on their commit­ment, streng­then their digi­tal presence or reori­ent their work. Experts from various fields – from the envi­ron­ment and climate to society and art and culture – will shed light on current deve­lo­p­ments and show how projects and orga­ni­sa­ti­ons can actively shape the change.

spheriq.ch/en/engaged