social impact nonprofit social media survey
DESCRIPTION
The vast majority of nonprofit organizations (88%) are experimenting with social media to engage key audiences, but a significant majority (79%) are uncertain of how to demonstrate social media’s value for their organizations. Only half (51%) report active use of social media. The results are contained in a new survey by Weber Shandwick’s Social Impact team conducted with KRC Research. The research was conducted among 200 nonprofit and foundation executive directors and senior communications officials in July - August 2009.TRANSCRIPT
www.krcresearch.com
www.krcresearch.com 2impact.webershandwick.com
Table of Contents
Research Methodology 3
Executive Summary 4
Detailed Findings 5
Moving Forward 16
Respondent Profile 17
www.krcresearch.com 3impact.webershandwick.com
Research MethodologyDates of interviews: July 29th – August 17th, 2009
Survey mode: Telephone
Sample: 200 Nonprofit and Foundation Executive Directors and Senior Communications Officials
Margin of error: +/- 6.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level
Notes: Numbers may not total 100% due to rounding.
www.krcresearch.com 4impact.webershandwick.com
Executive Summary• There is extensive experimentation with social media in the nonprofit
sector, but only half (51%) surveyed are active users
• Most nonprofits (67%) say social media is changing how they communicate with broad external audiences, but not narrower categories of stakeholders
• Most nonprofits (52%) do not currently have the infrastructure, staff and expertise necessary to take full advantage of social media’s potential
• Nonprofit executives (83%) understand that social media makes it easier for supporters to organize independently – underscoring how critical it is for nonprofits to demonstrate their value and relevance to advocates
• Ultimately, for most nonprofit executives (79%), the true value of social media has yet to be determined for their organizations
www.krcresearch.com 5impact.webershandwick.com
Strategic Implications• The findings of this research offer insights into how nonprofits and foundations can
optimize their use of social media in the future. Successful nonprofit organizations will:
– Move from experimentation to implementation of strategic programs that drive digital engagement
– Focus on two-way conversations that build meaningful and sustainable connections with a range of priority audiences
– Invest in social media capacity as a means of achieving brand building, advocacy and fundraising goals
– Demonstrate their unique impact to underscore relevance to advocates
– Measure social media with key metrics for visibility, engagement and advocacy
www.krcresearch.com 6impact.webershandwick.com
Nonprofits are experimenting with social mediaAlmost all nonprofits – especially larger ones – are at least experimenting
with social media, but only 51% are active users
51% are
active users
of social media
Organizations with an operating budget of $25
million or more are even more likely to be experimenting
heavily – 51%
www.krcresearch.com 7impact.webershandwick.com
Social media is worth the investment
Strongly Disagree Somewhat DisagreeStrongly Agree Somewhat Agree
Total Agree 77% 24%
AGREE OR DISAGREE?
Less than one-quarter of nonprofit executives believe social media isn’t yet worth the investment, while three-quarters say it is more cost effective
www.krcresearch.com 8impact.webershandwick.com
Social media is a priority for the future
In the next two years does your organization plan to use social media more, less or the same amount you do now?
Nonprofit executives overwhelmingly assert that they plan to use social media more moving forward
Social media will be demanding a bigger piece of nonprofit’s spending dollars in 2010 – 69% believe their communications budget next year will stay the same or decrease
www.krcresearch.com 9impact.webershandwick.com
In general, is social media changing the way your organization communicates with…
External audiences are the current targetSocial media is primarily changing the way nonprofits communicate with
broad external audiences, but not narrower categories of stakeholders
www.krcresearch.com 10impact.webershandwick.com
And would you say that social media has had a positive impact, a negative impact or no impact at all on the quality of your communications with…
Total Positive Impact
67% 45% 39% 31%
External impact is positiveTwo-thirds of nonprofit executives believe social media has had a positive
impact on their external audiences, but are less certain about other stakeholders
www.krcresearch.com 11impact.webershandwick.com
My organization's website and participation in social media builds awareness
of our organization
My organization believes our current social media
strategy gives us a competitive advantage in comparison to our
peers
55%
40%
22%
19%
38%
46%
33%
42%
-10%
-11%
-28%
-21%
Strongly DisagreeSomewhat Disagree Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree
Social media seen as less effective for fundraising
AGREE OR DISAGREE?
For now, focus is on building awarenessNonprofit executives view social media as effective in raising visibility
and building awareness of their organizations – more so than for fundraising
Orgs with an operating
budget of $10 million or more are more likely to say social
media engages external
audiences – 93%
www.krcresearch.com 12impact.webershandwick.com
Many have an uncertain relationship with social media
Which best describes your organizations’ relationship with social media?
We love it and are good at it
We like it but are struggling with how to implement it
We are intrigued but haven't really used it yet
We reluctantly use social media as it becomes necessary
We are not sure how to do it or why we should
Organizations with an operating budget of $25 million or more are even more likely to love it and
be good at it – 44%
More than six in ten (61%) say they like or are intrigued by social media, but struggle with implementation
Nonprofit's policies are still catching up – 64% say their organization
does not have policies in place for how employees and board members
can post information on social media sites
www.krcresearch.com 13impact.webershandwick.com
Building awareness of your
organization
Supporting fundraising
efforts
Mobilizing people as advocates on your
organization’s behalf
Traditional Media Social Media
Somewhat more effective
Much more effective
Social media seen as more effective for
organizing, but not other types of
outreach
Which is more effective…
Social media…
Somewhat more effective
Much more effective
Traditional media…
For:
Social media reigns in organizingNonprofit executives see social media as more effective than traditional media to
mobilize advocates; more so than for awareness building or fundraising
www.krcresearch.com 14impact.webershandwick.com
Strongly DisagreeSomewhat Disagree Strongly Agree
AGREE OR DISAGREE?
Somewhat Agree
Total Agree 83% 84%
Yet it’s a double-edged sword in organizingMost believe social media makes it easier to organize advocates on behalf of their
organization – but also for people to organize independently – underscoring how critical it is for groups to demonstrate their value to advocates
www.krcresearch.com 15impact.webershandwick.com
Strongly DisagreeSomewhat Disagree Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree
Total Agree 78% 47%
AGREE OR DISAGREE?
65% say they do not have enough overall communications staff
Depth and expertise create barriersMany nonprofit organizations of all sizes acknowledge they do not have
the necessary staff and expertise to execute their social media programs
www.krcresearch.com 16impact.webershandwick.com
Strongly DisagreeSomewhat Disagree Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree
Total Agree 78% 61%
AGREE OR DISAGREE?
Ultimately the jury is still out on valueWhile a majority of nonprofit executives believe the rewards outweigh the risks,
most also acknowledge they haven’t yet determined the value of social media for their organizations
www.krcresearch.com 17impact.webershandwick.com
Appendix: Respondent Profile
www.krcresearch.com 18impact.webershandwick.com
Respondent ProfileJob Title
CEO/President 7%
Executive or Managing Director 16%
EVP/SVP/VP/Director of Communications 53%
EVP/SVP/VP/Director of Development 19%
Other 6%
Role in Organization’s Communications Efforts
Directly manage or oversee all communications 38%
Part of a senior team that directly manages or oversees all communications 40%
Directly manage or oversee certain kinds of communications 22%
Type of Organization
Nonprofit organization 96%
Grant-making foundation 1%
Both 4%
Organization’s Communications Department Size
1-2 people 32%
3-4 people 32%
5 or more people 34%
Don’t know 3%
Primary Focus of Organization
Multiple issue-focused 36%
Healthcare 20%
Children and family issues 13%
Education 10%
Humanitarian relief 8%
Human rights 5%
Economic development 3%
Environment 3%
Global development 3%
Arts and culture 1%
Other 2%
Annual Operating Budget
$25 million or more 20%
$10 million to less than $25 million 23%
$5 million to less than $10 million 17%
$1 million to less than $5 million 42%
Gender
Male 40%
Female 60%
www.krcresearch.com 19impact.webershandwick.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
PAUL MASSEY, [email protected]
STEPHANIE BLUMA, [email protected]
JULIE HURBANIS, [email protected]
COLIN MOFFETT, [email protected]
VICTORIA SNEED, [email protected]
TANYA FEINSTEIN, [email protected]
KRC Research700 13th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005