Nonprofit Marketers Focus on Data and Innovation

A primary focus on internal data and tools will help nonprofits solve their larger challenges of making decisions and collaborating to provide a better constituent experience. Nonprofit Marketers Focus on Data and Innovation to accomplish this. Nonprofits are prioritizing unifying data sources so that information can be shared across the organization. This makes sense, as without access to data, innovation is difficult. Innovation was their #3 priority and the #1 challenge. Coming in #4 on the priorities list was improving the use of technology, which was #2 for large organizations, and is foundational to every other priority. Aside from the two top internal challenges around innovating and collaboration, the majority focused on a cohesive journey and real-time engagement to keep ahead of rapidly shifting supporter expectations.

You can combine these top challenge and priority areas into a plan that helps you make data-driven decisions and drive innovation to improve every part of your cause marketing experience. Although these areas aren’t always linear, each relates, beginning with tools, data, and collaboration internally, so that you can engage with and measure the stakeholder experience externally.

Improve your use of tools and technology
Unify and share customer data across your nonprofit
Collaborate and innovate
Create a real time journey across channels and devices
Improve marketing ROI and attribution
Evolve with the digital customer experiences

Nonprofit Marketers Focus on Data and Innovation with Video

Marketers have widely adopted video as the top currently used tactic, however are shifting with trending formats. For example, 42% of nonprofits are planning to adopt Social GIFs and Memes, which was the least currently used response, but particularly popular with the younger generations. Highly personal user-generated content is the second highest increase, with 39% planning to use, followed by influencer marketing, leveraging highly networked individuals to be advocates for their mission. Given that, it makes sense that the top 5 increases in use of channels is video, social, and ads, followed by digital content and nonprofit’s website. Events too are gradually making a return, however, with the rapid shift to virtualized events marketers made in 2020, virtual events are only expected to increase by 6% in 2022.

Supporter Communications are Core to their Experience

6 in 10 respondents in the Nonprofit Experience Index survey had supported or benefited from charitable services in the first half of 2021, with 9 in 10 all saying the organization met or even exceeded their expectations. Email was by far the #1 communication channel preferred, however responding to the statement that “The communications I received from the nonprofit were personalized for me”, only 33.6% agree, and 6.4% strongly agree.

Additionally, certain people think that nonprofits ask too much of them — 19% say that the organization asks too often for money and 16% say they are asked too often to volunteer. However, similar proportion (18%) would like to be asked to give more often and one quarter to volunteer more (25%).

This provides an opportunity for nonprofits to meet people on the channels they prefer, and use data to time and personalize content. Although email still remains a top preferred channel for constituents, this preference shifts per demographic and individual, with increasing numbers each year preferring other channels.

Contact Tectonic today for assistance obtaining your free Public Sector/Nonprofit Salesforce org.

Content updated November 2023.