Free self-assessment
How digitally ready is your organisation?
Thirty-two questions across eight areas. You get a score out of 100, a breakdown by area, and a ranked list of what to fix first. Nothing is graded against you and there is no wrong answer.
What this is
A diagnostic, not a test
Most organisations know something is not working digitally without being able to name it. This puts a number on each part of it, so you can start with the part that is actually holding you back.
Minutes, roughly
Four questions in each of eight areas. You can stop and come back, your answers stay on this device while the page is open.
Areas scored
Foundations, communications, data, systems, governance, funding readiness, skills and AI adoption. Each scored separately.
Ranked actions
Your four weakest areas, with a specific first step for each. Practical instructions, not principles.
Cost
Free, with no obligation and no requirement to give your details. Useful whether or not you ever work with Namela.
Who it is for
Built for community organisations, not corporates
The questions assume a small team, a tight budget and shared devices, because that is the reality for most of the organisations doing this work.
The assessment
Start here
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If it does not load, email hello@namela.org and we will send you the questions and scoring sheet as a document you can complete offline.
How scoring works
The five maturity bands
Every question scores from 0 to 4. Thirty-two questions give a raw score out of 128, reported out of 100. Your band describes where the organisation sits overall, but the area breakdown is the more useful part.
| Band | Score | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | 0 to 20 | Little or no digital infrastructure in place. A common starting point, and entirely fixable. |
| Emerging | 21 to 40 | Basics started, but inconsistent and person-dependent. Continuity is the risk. |
| Developing | 41 to 60 | Core systems working, with gaps in data, governance or skills. |
| Advanced | 61 to 80 | Reliable systems, evidence-based reporting and funder-readiness. |
| Digital Leader | 81 to 100 | Digital is strategic, measured and improving on its own. |
A low score is not a judgement on the work an organisation does. Some of the most effective community organisations in the Free State would score in the Foundation band, because their energy has gone into delivery rather than infrastructure. That is a reasonable trade until it starts costing you funding.
Your information
What happens to your answers
Nothing is sent to Namela. Your answers are scored in your own browser and stay on your device. You can print the result or save it as a PDF. If you close the page without saving, the result is gone, so save it before you leave.
You can choose to send your results to Namela at the end. We email you a copy, and your organisation is included in the South African NGO Digital Readiness Index 2026. You receive a unique reference number for the submission. Giving your email address does not send anything on its own, you still have to press the submit button.
Only what is needed for follow-up, reporting and aggregate sector learning: your organisation details, contact details and area scores. We do not sell or share personal information. Under POPIA you may ask to see, correct or delete what we hold, by emailing hello@namela.org. Aggregate findings are published without identifying individual organisations.
Benchmarking requires real data from a real sample. The South African NGO Digital Readiness Index 2026 has not completed its first data collection round, so no national comparison figures exist yet. We would rather show you nothing than a comparison we have made up. When the first round closes, participating organisations will be able to see where they sit.
After your result
Three different things, often confused
The assessment tells you where you stand. These are the other two routes, and they do different jobs.
This assessment
A diagnostic for your organisation. Thirty-two questions, a score, an area breakdown and four ranked actions. Immediate and automatic.
The NGO Digital Readiness Survey
Sector research, not a personal score. Seventeen questions about the challenges NGOs face nationally. Findings are shared with everyone who takes part.
A digital health check
A person from Namela looks at your actual setup and writes you a short report. Deeper than the assessment, and limited by our capacity, so places are finite.
Know your score. Now close the gap.
If your result shows gaps you do not have the time or skill to close, that is exactly what Namela's digital assistance exists for. Register your organisation and we will start with a conversation, not a quote.