2013 nonprofit engagement data management study: a graphic report
DESCRIPTION
We surveyed nonprofit professionals about the "engagement" data their organizations track, how they use it, what their key challenges are regarding working with this data for their missions, and what their plans are regarding engagement data projects in the next 12 months. This is our graphic report of the results. The study was conducted by NTEN (nten.org) in partnership with Avectra (Avectra.com) in the spring of 2013.TRANSCRIPT
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NONPROFIT ENGAGEMENT DATA MANAGEMENT STUDY:
2013
A GRAPHIC REPORT
When it comes to tracking and using “engagement” data – the actions, interactions, and even conversations that relate to an organization’s work but don’t necessarily represent the transactional or financial data that have been traditionally used for measuring an organization’s health –today’s nonprofits are either tracking a lot, or hardlyanything at all. And very feworganizations are applying thatdata to make decisions about their programs or measure their strategic outcomes.
What Kind ofNON-FINANCIAL
HOW DOES YOURORGANIZATIONUSE THIS PARTICIPATION OR ENGAGEMENT DATA
ACTIVITY ARE YOUTRACKING ABOUT
Email Open-Rates 88%
86%
86%
72%
69%
E-newsletter Subscription
Activity on Organization Facebook Page
Mention of Organization Twitter Profile
Virality or Reach of Social Networks (i.e. "sharing" activity and reach of your fans/followers/networks)
CONSTITUENTS?
(i.e. "participation" or "engagement")
Email Open-Rates 24%
Attendance at free events 27%
23%
18%
17%
17%
E-newsletter Subscription
Activity on Organization Facebook Page
Mention of Organization Twitter Profile
Virality or Reach of Social Networks (i.e. "sharing" activity and reach of your fans/followers/networks)
SO
CIA
LTR
AD
ITIO
NA
L
Email Open-Rates 20%
Attendance at free events 23%
16%
16%
14%
14%
47%
35%36%
30%31%
38%
E-newsletter Subscription
Activity on Organization Facebook Page
Mention of Organization Twitter Profile
Virality or Reach of Social Networks (i.e. "sharing" activity and reach of your fans/followers/networks)
SO
CIA
LTR
AD
ITIO
NA
L S
OC
IAL
TRA
DIT
ION
AL
To measureOUR ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH
To measureOUR STRATEGIC OUTCOMES
APPROXIMATELY2/3 OF RESPONDENTS
Annual Fundraising AmountFrequency of DonationsGiving Level (gift size)Constituent/Donor RetentionConstituent/Donor GrowthEvent Participation
SEE AT LEAST SOME CORRELATION
BETWEENENGAGEMENT DATA AND OTHER KEY INDICATORS
ENGAGEMENT/PARTICIPATION Have you seen any correlation between your
data and other areas of your work for which you collect data?
ENGAGEMENT/PARTICIPATION Do you plan to invest in any resources related to this kind of
data collection, analysis, and use in the next 12 months?
"PARTICIPATION" OR "ENGAGEMENT" DATA?What is your organization's biggest challenge in terms of collecting and using
What does this mean for
Brought to you by
YOUR ORGANIZATION?
Organizations tracking and analyzingthis kind of engagement data are finding “some” to “a significant amount of” correlation between engagement level andother key organization areas such as: annual fundraising amount, constituent and donor retention, giving levels and frequency, and event participation.
1 in 10 organizations respondedthat they don't know how to determine correlation for engagement data and other key organizational areas such as: annual fundraising amount, constituent and donor retention, giving levels and frequency, and event participation.
Yet despite acknowledging an inability to track and/or measure a correlation between engagement data and other key operational areas, organizations indicated a plan to invest in evaluation projects, sta� and even new systems in the coming year to begin or improve their management of this type of constituent data.
If your organization has room for improvement – or just needs to get started – when it comes to tracking and making use of the engagement data of your key constituents and donors, you’re not alone. Here are resources we think will help you take the right next steps to becoming more data-savvy:
Book: Measuring the Networked Nonprofit, by Beth Kanter and Katie Delahaye Paine. With an emphasis on social networking data, this book provides concrete lessons for measuring what matters for your mission.http://www.amazon.com/Measuring-Networked-Nonprofit-Using-Change/dp/1118137604
Free Workbook: Getting Started With Data-Driven Decision-Making, from NTEN and produced by Idealware. Step-by-step worksheets to help you define your goals, determine what data you need, what data you can use, and how to put it together into a data-measurement plan for your organization.http://www.nten.org/research/2013-data-workbook-download
Free Whitepaper: Donor Attrition: Stopping the Downward Spiral to build long-term meaningful relationships. http://success.avectra.com/donorretentionGAinfographic.html
Coming soon! Stay tuned for a deeper look at how nonprofits are working with engagement data within their organizations in our Case Study companion report, which includes examples and insights from nonprofits tackling the evolving role of engagement data in their day-to-day work.
Methodology:We distributed an online survey in March, 2013, to nonprofit and association professionals via email to NTEN and Avectra contacts, as well as through the social media channels of NTEN and Avectra. We received 244 responses.
Which of the following is your organization's primary focus area -- as determined by your NTEE category on your IRS Form 990?Answer Options I. Arts, Culture, and HumanitiesII. Education III. Environment and Animals IV. Health V. Human Services VI. International, Foreign A�airs VII. Public, Societal Benefit VIII. Religion Related IX. Mutual/Membership Benefit X. Unknown/UnclassifiedXI. Other
Response Percent 6.4% 14.8% 8.5% 13.6% 19.5% 3.4%12.3%3.0% 8.1%3.4%7.2%
35.1%
29.8%
9.6%
9.2%
25%
Plan to implement a data evaluation project
Plan to add related job task(s) to current sta� responsibilities
Plan to hire a consultant/contract
person for a data analysis project
Plan to hire new sta� with data analysis
responsibilities
Plan to invest in new systems to help
collect/analyze this kind of data
Less than 1 FTE sta� person responsible for these tasks
0 Sta� / no defined job responsibilities to this
More than 3 FTE
1.5 - 3 FTE
ENGAGEMENT/PARTICIPATION
HAVE LESS THAN
APPROXIMATELY
80%
Do you have dedicated sta� positions or defined job responsibilities related to collecting and analyzing this kind of
data? Please consider in Full Time Equivalency (FTE).
29%
49%
12%
8%
2%
ENG
AG
EMEN
T PA
RTI
CIP
ATI
ON
DA
TA
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