An overwhelming majority of organizations working to advance the social good around the world are struggling to ensure that their staffs and the people they serve have access to the internet and other virtual tools, according to a new survey.
Lack of such access limits the work of about 80 percent of the nonprofits surveyed by Connect Humanity, a fund that makes grants and loans to close the digital divide with support from organizations like the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Truist Foundation. Ninety percent of the 7,500 organizational representatives who provided data in the survey considered the internet critical to their work. The survey included results from 136 countries and 26 languages and includes additional breakdowns of survey results by region, cause, and urban or rural people served.
An estimated 3 billion people around the world can’t connect to the internet, even as it becomes more critical for finding job opportunities and getting medical care. It’s important that nonprofits and grant makers help lead the way to ensuring equal access to digital technology and services, says Christopher Worman, co-founder and chief partnership and strategy officer at Connect Humanity.
Nearly 70 percent of people served by the nonprofits surveyed by Connect Humanity rely on their cellphones to access the internet, with even higher percentages in rural areas. That can make critical digital tools difficult to access, says Worman.
“Imagine doing your taxes with your cellphone,” he says.
While internet access and affordability remain major issues for both nonprofits and those they serve, over half of nonprofits would prioritize paying for the internet over other services that benefit their organization, and many people would go without other necessities to stay connected, says Worman.
“They’ll miss a meal rather than lose access to the internet because they need the internet to figure out their next three meals,” he says.
The fact that the internet is out of reach for so many people is a market failure, says Worman. He and other nonprofit advocates hope philanthropy can help fill the gap by supporting nonprofits working to expand internet access, teach digital skills, or advocate for digital rights.
There’s a growing appetite among governments and foundations to support broadening internet access, but there’s still a long way to go, says Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, a membership-based group of nonprofits. According to previous research by Connect Humanity and Candid, only .05 percent of giving by large foundations in the United States goes toward closing the digital divide.
Among grant makers that responded to the survey and already provide grants to ensure everyone has digital access, the majority plan to increase their grant making over the next five years.
But many foundations do not provide grants for that purpose at all. U.S. foundations contributed an average of only $20 million per year to enhance digital access from 2018 to 2020, according to previous research by Candid and Connect Humanity. Siefer cautions that government funding alone, including the Digital Equity Act, passed by Congress in 2021 to provide more than $2.5 billion to increase internet access in places where it is hard to buy, won’t be enough to help everyone who now can’t connect to the internet.
“I can unequivocally tell you $2.5 billion is actually not enough money — it will not solve the digital divide,” says Siefer.
Expanding Wi-Fi Access
In many areas, affordability is a major driver in the uneven distribution of internet service. Many programs that aim to bridge the digital divide focus on making internet access more affordable and accessible for people who currently can’t get online easily.
When the pandemic hit in March 2020, LaShawn Williamson had just launched Wave 7, a small internet service company in her husband’s hometown of Enfield, N.C., a rural community whose residents have been largely left behind by major internet providers.
Three years later, the company has significantly expanded affordable internet access for local residents, thanks to a loan and grant totaling $350,000 from Connect Humanity. The company offers residents a flexible pay-as-you-use model that allows people to pay only for the amount of internet they use. The grant portion of the group’s financing is also helping the company offer free public Wi-Fi hotspots and digital training workshops for residents in partnership with a Community of Hope Center, a local nonprofit.
“The town really embraced us,” says Williamson, who is especially proud that the company is now able to provide free Wi-Fi at the town’s public library and is working toward its goal of reaching 400 new local subscribers.
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