A Culture of Innovation: When Digital Technology Becomes Second Nature

In a context where nonprofits must do more with less, a culture of innovation becomes an essential strategic asset. But how can it be put into practice?

In this article, Jean-François Dommerc, President of Yapla’s partner Riposte, explores concrete ways to integrate digital technology into the heart of your operations, not as an isolated project, but as a sustainable organizational habit.

Discover real-world examples and clear benchmarks for moving from piecemeal DIY to a true digital culture. He also addresses how to simplify your processes, make better use of your data, and mobilize your teams so that innovation becomes second nature when it comes to moving your mission forward.

Why a Culture of Innovation is Key for Nonprofits

In many boards of directors and management teams, we find the same obstacle: the word “innovation” is scary.

Indeed, it can bring to mind major upheavals, the implementation of complicated new technologies, and above all, budgets that we imagine to be out of reach.

However, innovation is not primarily a question of resources. It is a question of attitude: the collective ability to ask ourselves “what if we did things differently?”, “what if we simplified?”, “what if we stopped being at the mercy of our tools?”

In other words, innovation begins long before the tool. It arises from the way we look at a problem.

Digital Transformation: Aiming for a Collective Reflex

In your organization, is digital transformation a one-off project or a collective reflex?

The question may seem theoretical, but it changes everything.

A one-off project is when digital technology arrives in waves. A website redesign this year. A new CRM next year. A registration platform because “we need one.” We're moving forward, but in bits and pieces.

A collective reflex is something else. It's when digital becomes an organizational habit. It's integrated into your ways of working, your team discussions, your strategy, and not just into the management of a specific tool or a current emergency.

Aiming for collective reflex is what allows innovation to become natural, rather than a periodic stress.

What Obstacles are Blocking Digital Innovation at Nonprofits?

Three realities come up very often in the field. They explain why developing a digital culture is becoming vital:

1. Resource pressure

Budgets are stagnating, grants are more uncertain, and expectations are rising. We need to demonstrate greater impact and manage more projects with less margin for error.

2. Digital fragmentation

Too many tools, too many platforms, not enough integration. Data does not communicate with each other. We export data to be able to communicate. Decisions are often made based on “rough estimates” rather than facts.

3. Tired teams

Many nonprofits have digitized by stacking solutions on top of each other. As a result, instead of making everyday life easier, digital technology has sometimes added a layer of complexity. Teams are exhausted from coordinating tools.

The idea is not to blame anyone. It is to identify a realistic starting point.

Moving From a “Cobbled-Together” Digital Approach to an Integrated Digital Culture

What do we mean by a cobbled-together digital approach?

A cobbled-together approach is when we pile on technologies without an overall vision.

One tool here. Another there. One solution for members, another for events, a newsletter platform, a CRM somewhere else. Often, each file is handled by a different person, with their own perspective.

In the end, we feel like we've “gone digital.” But since nothing communicates with anything else, we stray from our goal... and create extra work.

An integrated digital culture is the opposite

When digital becomes a reflex, we don't start with the tools.

We start with our needs:

• What are our recurring problems?
• Where are we wasting time?
• What is holding us back?
• What data do we have and how can we use it?

Only then do we make technological choices. Digital becomes a strategic lever, not a collection of solutions.

If you want to see another illustration of this logic, Pascal Jarry's article on Yapla's digital transformation is a good example: the same progressive approach, the same focus on the mission.

The “Simplify, Measure, Mobilize” Method to Activate Innovation

Riposte sums up its field recipe in three verbs. Simplify. Measure. Mobilize.

This trio transforms a “digital” organization into a learning organization. An organization that progresses, instead of chases the next trend.

Simplify

Every click in your digital ecosystem has value.
Simplifying means removing what is unnecessary and automating what is repetitive. Every Excel file we eliminate, every duplicate entry we replace, every step we shorten, frees up time for the mission.
It's rarely spectacular. But it's extremely energy efficient.

Measure

NPOs generate a lot of data. But little of it is actually usable because it is scattered or unstructured.

Measuring means giving yourself good dashboards and, above all, discipline:

• Who participates in our activities?
• Who donates, when, and why?
• What really works in our communications?
• Where are the gaps in our processes?

The goal is to make informed decisions, not to manage “by feel.”

Mobilize

A digital culture cannot be decreed; it must be cultivated.

Mobilizing means creating spaces where the team can think about digital together.

Not just an isolated tech committee. Shared discussions where everyone has a voice. Where each new project is looked at with the same basic question: how can our current tools help, before adding new ones?

Without this mobilization, innovation remains an individual effort. With it, it becomes a collective driving force.

Conditions That Promote a Sustainable Digital Culture

Jean-François observes that successful organizations are not those with the most tools. They are those that have put a few winning conditions in place.

A clear vision

Your digital presence must be linked to your mission and strategic objectives. Not just to things like “management” or “communications.”
It's a significant effort, but it's what aligns choices and prevents you from spreading yourself too thin.

The logic of small steps

Innovation means trying, measuring, adjusting, and starting over.
You don't need a perfect three-year plan. You need the ability to make steady progress, with visible learning.

Committed leadership

According to Riposte, the key to success is having management that is on board. Not management that says, “It's too technical for me, I'll leave it to someone else.” Digital technology affects the mission, so it affects governance.

A culture of sharing and documentation

In the nonprofit sector, there is staff turnover. If processes are not documented, everything has to be started over.

Documenting means creating knowledge transfer agents. This is what makes your ecosystem resilient, even when the team changes.

Adding Artificial Intelligence 

AI doesn't just fall from the sky like a trendy gadget: it's part of a culture of innovation.

It will become part of your activities: financing, member management, content, donor relations. It's advancing quickly, sometimes too quickly for a committee to “stay up to date” at every meeting.

AI is not a destination. It is a new environment.

So the real question is not “which AI should we choose tomorrow morning?”

The question is: do we have the culture of innovation necessary to learn how to navigate this environment as it evolves?

If the answer is yes, AI becomes a lever.

If the answer is no, it becomes an additional source of stress. Hence the importance of building a collective reflex now.

Among the uses already available to nonprofits, semantic search is a good example of how AI can simplify everyday life and increase impact without weighing down the digital ecosystem.

In summary

• Innovation is not a major undertaking reserved for organizations with significant resources. It is a collective approach.
• Digital transformation benefits from becoming a collective reflex, not a series of isolated projects.
• Three realities are holding nonprofits back: resource pressure, digital fragmentation, and tired teams.
• Moving from tinkering to reflex means starting with needs and mission before choosing tools.
• The Riposte method is based on three levers: simplifying processes, measuring with useful data, and mobilizing the team.
• A sustainable digital culture is built with a shared vision, small steps, involved leadership, and documentation.
• AI is added to this landscape as a new environment. It is the culture of innovation that allows us to take advantage of it with confidence.

Jamie Rubenovitch, Chief Marketing Officer