Digital Marketing Trends(and Nonprofit Communications Trends in General)

Kivi Leroux Miller

NonprofitCommunications

Trends Report

2015

http://npmg.us/2015#npcomm2015

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http://www.pinterest.com/npmktgd/2015-nonprofit-communications-trends-report/

Who Says? Where’s This Data From?

• Online survey by NonprofitMarketingGuide.com during November 2014 (This is our 5th year doing the survey)

• Full survey completed by 1,535 nonprofits

• 87% in the United States, 7% in Canada

• Evenly split between annual budgets under $1 million and over $1 million

• 25% in Human Services, Housing, Food, Jobs; 15% in Education; 11% in Health, Disease, Medical Research

WHYnonprofits are communicating

1. Engaging Our Community (57%) 2. Retaining Current Donors (53%) 3. General Brand Awareness (51%)4. Acquiring New Donors (50%) 5. Thought Leadership (33%)

Big Change on Goals:Donor Retention jumped from

4th to 2nd, and Acquiring Donors fell from 1st to 4th.

% Putting Goal in Their Top 3

Communications is about

community engagement and

our brand.

We need to do it all! Fundraising

should drive our communications.

Sound Familiar? Who Has What Job?

Communications is about

community engagement and

our brand.

We need to do it all! Fundraising

should drive our communications.

Sound Familiar? Who Has What Job?

Communications Director Development DirectorExecutive Director

Is Engaging Our Community a Top 3 Goal?

Communications Director Development DirectorExecutive Director

65%

51%

39%

Is Engaging Our Community a Top 3 Goal?

Communications Director Development DirectorExecutive Director

Is General Brand Awareness a Top 3 Goal?

Communications Director Development DirectorExecutive Director

68%

42%

25%

Is General Brand Awareness a Top 3 Goal?

Communications Director Development DirectorExecutive Director

Is Retaining Current Donors a Top 3 Goal?

Communications Director Development DirectorExecutive Director

36%

60%

94%

Is Retaining Current Donors a Top 3 Goal?

Communications Director Development DirectorExecutive Director

Is Acquiring New Donors a Top 3 Goal?

Communications Director Development DirectorExecutive Director

33%

54%

89%

Is Acquiring New Donors a Top 3 Goal?

Communications Director Development DirectorExecutive Director

Not a Surprise, Really. But Few Orgs Talk About It Openly.Your Goals Change Based on Your Job Title!

Are you directly responsible for meetingannual fundraising goals?

(i.e. raising a certain amount of money in the next 12 months)

Yes, meeting specific annual

fundraising goals is one of

my responsibilities.

35%

Somewhat. I am on a fundraising team, or fundraising is a

broad goal, but I am not personally

accountable for reaching a specific fundraising goal.

38%

No, meeting specific annual

fundraising goals is not one

of my responsibilities.

27%

Development Staff: 72% feel directly responsible; 24% feel somewhat responsible; 4% do not feel responsible.

Executive Directors: 67% feel directly responsible; 25% feel somewhat responsible; 9% do not feel responsible.

Communications Staff: 12% feel directly responsible; 48% feel somewhat responsible; 40% do not feel responsible.

Are you directly responsible for specific community building and engagement goals?

(e.g. growing your email list or event participation, or improving email open rates or Facebook Page engagement)

Yes, meeting specific community building

and engagement goals is one of my

responsibilities. 55%

Somewhat. I am on a marketing team, or

community engagement is a

broad goal, but I am not personally

accountable for reaching a specific

community building or engagement

goal. 36%

No, meeting specific community building and engagement goals is not

one of my responsibilities.9%

Communications Staff: 65% feel directly responsible; 31% feel somewhat responsible; 4% do not feel responsible.

Executive Directors: 64% feel directly responsible; 29% feel somewhat responsible; 7% do not feel responsible.

Development Staff: 44% feel directly responsible; 43% feel somewhat responsible; 13% do not feel responsible.

HOWnonprofits are communicating

The Six Most ImportantCommunications Channels

1. Website – 81%

2. Email Marketing – 64%

3. Traditional Social Media – 62%

4. In-person Events – 54%

5. Print Marketing – 39%

6. Media Relations/PR – 34%

Most ImportantCommunications Channels

Very Important (Ranked in Top 4) Somewhat Important Least Important Ranked as #1

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

(Ranked in Positions 5-8) (Ranked in Positions 9-13, NA)

WHEN& HOWnonprofits are communicating

More in 2015: Email Appeals

45% of nonprofits will email an appeal at least monthly (up from 33% in 2014). 26% will email an appeal quarterly. Only 5% won’t send an email appeal at all.

E-Newsletter: Same as Usual62% will send an e-newsletter

at least monthly (up from 59%). 23% will send an e-newsletter quarterly.

Only 5% won’t send an email newsletter at all.

More in 2015: Direct Mail Appeals36% will send direct mail appeals at least quarterly

(up from 28% in 2014) 31% will send twice a year (up from 29%)

14% will send only once a year (down from 20%)12% will not send any direct mail appeals (down from 15%).

Print Newsletters: Same as Usual26% will send a quarterly print newsletter

16% will send a print newsletter twice a year 9% will send a print newsletter monthly 32% won’t send a print newsletter at all.

WHEREnonprofits are communicatingvia social media

Top Social Media Sitesfor Nonprofits in 2015

Facebook – 96%Twitter – 76%

YouTube – 46%LinkedIn – 32%

Instagram – 20%

% Putting Site in Their Top 3

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2013 2014 2015

Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn

Instagram Google+ Pinterest Tumblr

Nonprofits and the Social Media Sites in Their Top Three, 2013-2015

Post three times a day. Yes, three times a day.Do it when your people are online. Facebook tells you when that is.

AARP’s Rule of Onefor Facebook:

One photoOne sentenceOne linkOne request from readers

How Much Time is Spent per WeekProducing Various Communications?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

FacebookUpdates

EmailNewsletters

PR or MediaRelations

Email EventMarketing

Blog orWebsiteArticles

Presentationsto be

Delivered inPerson

EmailFundraising or

AdvocacyAppeals

PrintFundraising

Appeals

PrintNewsletters

No time in typical week 1-2 hours 3-5 hours 6-10 hours

11-15 hours 16-20 hours 21+ hours 1-5 hours (combined)

Kivi Leroux Miller@kivilmFacebook.com/ nonprofitmarketingguidekivi@ecoscribe.com

Trends Report:npmg.us/2015