About the session

When someone wants to give, join or apply, can they do it in the way they would choose?

That choice can be where an organisation gains or loses someone's support. Your supporters, members, service users and volunteers measure the experience, often without realising it, against every other service they use, and they rarely make allowances for the type of organisation they are engaging with.

Many in the communities you work with now find information, engage and interact using only their phone, including a growing number of those facing the greatest barriers to support. For them, digital can be an easier way to stay in touch and get help, used alongside face-to-face contact. Ongoing contact from organisations often still runs through email and SMS, which suit some well but offer less to those who want quicker, more flexible ways to engage on their own terms.

Responsibility for that experience usually sits across fundraising, membership, services, communications and digital teams, each with its own systems, budget and priorities. Bringing it together, starting with how your priority audiences want to engage and working back to the channels, data, systems and skills needed to make that possible, is a strategic gap we see in organisations of every size, and one that often finds its way to the leadership team.

Expectations continued to shift in 2026, across every demographic. Organisations are working to grow engagement across all their audiences, and for many that includes reaching younger people and first-time visitors while keeping the personal contact that returning supporters and established relationships are built on. AI is changing engagement in both directions: more people now use AI tools to look for information, support and recommendations, and Ofcom recorded 1.8 billion UK visits to ChatGPT in the first eight months of 2025, almost five times as many as the year before. At the same time, organisations are starting to use AI to respond more quickly and personally, and to free up time for the contact that needs a person.

In this webinar, Mark Luckins, Louis Childs and Sian Smith will share what Adapta has learnt from its work with purpose-led organisations this year. They will offer a different way of thinking about audience engagement as you look ahead to 2027 and beyond.

Join us on 10th December if how people engage with your organisation is something you and your leadership team want to focus on in the year ahead.

What the webinar includes

• What changed in 2026 in what people of all ages expect from the organisations they support, join or use
• What it looks like when people can engage with your organisation in the way they choose, and what that means for the different audiences you work with
• How organisations are responding, from self-service and messaging to making better use of the data they already hold
• How AI is changing engagement in both directions, and how to approach it with the right safeguards
• The leadership decisions on ownership, priorities and investment that bring channels, data and teams together

The programme

2.00pm - Welcome and introductions

2.10pm - What 2026 taught us: how audience expectations changed, with examples from our work this year

2.25pm - How organisations are responding, and where to start

2.40pm - Open discussion and Q&A: bring your questions, and the challenges you're working through

3.10pm - Summary and close

Who this event is designed for

This leadership event has been designed for the people who set direction. It is aimed at:

• Chief Executives and Directors
• Directors of Fundraising, Membership or Engagement
• Directors of Services and Programmes
• CIOs, CDOs and Directors of Digital or Technology
• Trustees and board members with a digital, data or technology remit

To make a booking

Attendance is free and open only to charities, membership organisations and other NFPs. Book places, here.