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Lightful is a tech-for-social-good B-Corp founded in 2014 after its founders saw the need for reliable, robust, digital support and tools specifically for charity and purpose-driven organisations. Through our programmes we work with charities, community groups and NGOs to build digital strategies and tools that benefit their various functions, as well as coaching them in the skills they need to implement them.

To support our customers we have three primary product pillars: Lightful Products, Lightful Solutions and Lightful Learning. Lightful Products are a suite of off-the-shelf software, designed to drive organisations forward in their growth as well as the effectiveness of their services to customers. Lightful Solutions builds bespoke digital strategies and custom technology solutions for charities and non-profits, creating modern, streamlined systems that empower customers to make a greater impact.

Finally, Lightful Learning grows teams’ digital skills. The impact this final pillar is able to make on organisations, especially small, grassroots firms, is huge – for example, during 2020 it enabled charities to raise a massive 64% more funds through digital channels versus a tracked control group.
 
 

 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 
Myself, Vinay Nair and Johnny Murnane co-founded Lightful after we each saw a lack of digital support for charities and non-profits. Having all worked in the industry for a number of years, it was evident that the world was ever evolving but seemingly leaving the charity sector behind with its lack of digital strategy or digitally skilled employees.

What stood out to us especially was that a one-size fits all approach isn’t right for charities. This is the reason we developed a unique consultancy-based model that embedded our people within clients’ teams enabling us to work together to build the best strategy. We are then able to empower organisations with the digital knowledge and tools that they need to ensure they can expand their work and make an even bigger difference in their field.
 

How has the company evolved during the pandemic?

 
We’ve always had a hybrid working model, and the pandemic cemented that. We now have an even more flexible remote working scheme with staff located across the country, including me – I’ve relocated to the Shetland Islands! This has been a challenge at times as we’ve grown tremendously over the last year, which meant hiring staff to support our services and manage higher demand remotely. Onboarding people virtually is not the most familiar of situations but something we’ve had to learn how to do, and in a way that still fits our Lightful culture.

We had no choice but to adapt to the pandemic, like many other businesses, by making the best of what we could. We predominantly did this by stepping up with our offerings and even our internal processes, truly adapting to the challenges and benefits that working virtually brings. For us, it was always about how we will make it work, not ‘if’ it will work, so that we could continue to support the amazing things that our clients achieve every day.
 

What can we hope to see from Lightful in the future?

 
The most important thing for us at Lightful is to always be developing new products, services and training for those who need them.

We’ve recently released our next set of courses available for SMEs and fellowship programmes which will enable us to reach a larger audience and generate an impact across new industries. Alongside the new products we develop, it’s also important that we continue to update and invest in the products we’ve already built. We will never stop improving our solutions reflecting the evolving technology landscape and the requirements of our customers.

In short, our future will see the development of more products, more courses, more people and a bigger international footprint. We’ll continue to expand and provide the most beneficial services and products for those that need them.