Can We Close the Digital Equity Gap? New Report Challenges Funders to Join Nonprofits

By Mike Yeaton and Marnie Webb

The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF ) recently shared the results from their 2023 Statewide Survey on Broadband Adoption . They surveyed 3,560 Californians on topics related to broadband availability, cost, usage, and digital skills. Among the findings:

• The broadband connectivity rate in California (home or mobile) has remained steady at 91%, while only 3% rely solely on smartphone access.
• The rates have improved for groups including households with disabilities (91%), adults 60+ years old (90%), and adults without a high school degree (79%).?
• However the rate for families with school-age children dropped from 97% in 2021 to 93% in 2023, likely due to the expiration of school-based pandemic programs.
• Broadband service costs an average of $83/month across the state; for low-income families, this exceeds the FCC recommended threshold of 2% of household income. Cost is the most cited barrier to access for these families.
• The Affordable Connectivity Program (part of the 2021 Infrastructure Act) provides subsidies for low-income families; however 61% of eligible respondents were not aware of it.?
• After cost, the next biggest obstacle to usage is digital skills. This particularly impacts low-income households and those with language barriers.

“To truly eliminate the digital divide, we must confront racial/ethnic disparities by implementing targeted strategies and policies that uplift digitally disadvantaged communities,” said Fran?ois Bar, co-author of the study and professor of communication and spatial sciences at USC Annenberg.

At TechSoup, our mission is to build a dynamic bridge that leverages technology to enable connections and innovative solutions for a more equitable planet. We believe civil society organizations (CSOs) are key to positive change; we have over 1 million registered CSOs globally and served more than 300,000 last year through our programs.

Nonprofits play a critical role as trusted institutions in the communities they serve, have the ability to provide deep insights about the issues they tackle, and can therefore play a critical role in understanding how communities access and use the Internet. They can also serve as frontline support in the delivery of programs and services aimed at providing some of the most hard-to-reach groups with broadband Internet access.?

Nonprofit Perspectives on Barriers to Progress in our Digitizing World

In 2022, TechSoup and Connect Humanity conducted a digital equity survey of CSOs (including nonprofits and libraries) and published a report and an interactive data dashboard . We surveyed CSOs in 136 countries and 26 languages, receiving 7,558 qualified responses (including 1,574 from the United States). The topics and questions were closely related to the CETF study, but instead of households, the survey focused on CSOs and the people they serve. Respondents were CSOs that answered questions about their own experience and that of their community; thus the views on the community are seen through their eyes. These organizations are working with community members facing social, economic, health, and other challenges. The topics and questions were closely related to the CETF study, though there were differences in the methodology .

For comparison purposes, we will focus on the results from our U.S. respondents, first by looking at findings that support and amplify the CETF report:

• 55.8% of CSOs say their community lacks reliable access to the Internet (Q17); For those serving rural areas, that rises to 74.5%.
• 81.7% say their community finds the cost of Internet access too expensive or unaffordable.?
• The most important uses of the Internet for communities are for news and local events (56.9%), email and chat (53.2%), and social media (36%). Health information (including telehealth) is most important for 26.7% of respondents.
• 8.4% say their community does not feel safe online.

Other findings from our study highlight the opportunity for CSOs (especially nonprofits and libraries) to help bridge the digital equity gap:

• Only 33% of CSOs are aware of programs to subsidize Internet access for low-income families; this is a missed opportunity to increase participation through grassroots outreach.
• 62.6% say their community lacks access to digital skills training, while 89% say digital skills will be increasingly important in the next five years.
• Most say that their community finds digital skills training (79.7%) and technical support (82%) too expensive or unaffordable.?
• Nonprofits and public libraries are the most cited resources for digital skills training, yet only 22% say their organization provides digital skills training for their community.?

Nonprofits are Essential Partners in Addressing Digital Equity

Studies by Independent Sector have shown that a majority of Americans (52%) trust nonprofits — more than the federal government (24%), corporations (26%), and the news media (24%). The public also shows a strong preference for small, locally operated institutions. The CSOs responding to our survey were small (49% have five or fewer employees), yet they support between 251 and 1,000 community members on average. This combination of trust and reach makes CSOs an essential partner in any effort to address digital inequity.

To serve this purpose, nonprofits require funding. A study commissioned by Connect Humanity found that only 0.05% of overall giving between 2010 and 2019 was directed at closing the digital divide, a number that has remained largely stagnant for the last 10 years despite our increasing dependence on new technologies. Between 2018 and 2020, half of those dollars came from just 10 funders.

Nonprofits and libraries are essential partners in any effort to address digital inequity. They can be a critical part of understanding how our community members access and use the Internet. They can also be a key part of getting the programs that support Internet access to our hardest-to-reach community members. This can include subsidies, digital skills training, help in finding trustworthy information, and support to safely navigate the many venues of the Internet. To accomplish this, they need all our support in the form of funding, tools, training, and skilled volunteers. Continuing research like this is critical to understanding how far we have to go to achieve digital equity for all.?