Constant Contact Nonprofit Pulse
The Health and Wellness of Small Nonprofits
Based on Research Conducted in Spring 2012
Copyright © 2012 Constant Contact Inc.
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In This Report

What’s Keeping Small Nonprofits Up at Night?

Nonprofit
p
Marketing
g Activities

The Health of Nonprofits

About This Report
Copyright © 2012 Constant Contact Inc.
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1. What’s Keeping Nonprofits
Up At Night?
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3
Attracting new supporters, engaging existing supporters and getting
funding are the top marketing concerns for nonprofits surveyed
When you think about how to run your organization most
effectively, which of the following “keeps you up at night”?
57%
59%
64%
34%
How to identify and
a select
the best marketting tools
How to get referrrals from
current suppo
orters
How to stay on top
t of the
latest in online marketing
m
trends
How to measure the
arketing
impact of my ma
campaigns
How to attract ne
ew
supporters
How to connect and better
engage with existing
e
supporte
ers
Getting funding
Having a more in
ntegrated
communication strategy
How to make my
m
marketing dollarrs go
further
18%
4
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20%
15%
20%
22%
Getting funding is the #1 concern for nonprofits
Of the items that keep you up at night, which do you rank #1?
57%
41%
37%
22%
15%
5%
7%
How to measu
ure the
impact of my
m
marketing cam
mpaigns
How to get refe
errals
from curren
nt
supporterss
n top of
How to stay on
the latest in online
o
marketing tre
ends
e my
How to make
marketing dolla
ars go
further
How to identifyy and
select the be
est
marketing tools
Having a more
e
integrated
communication
n
strategy
How to connecct and
better engage
e with
existing suppo
orters
How to attract new
supporterss
Getting funding
g
5
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11%
12%
2. Nonprofit Marketing
Activities
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6
Email marketing, websites, in-person interactions, events
and social media are effective for the majority of nonprofits
Which marketing activities do you find to be effective for
your organization today?
86%
80%
73%
70%
58%
30%
23%
Copyright © 2012 Constant Contact Inc.
Online ssurveys and polls
advertising (print,
Traditional a
radio
o, TV, etc.)
Public relations
Direct mail
Phone calls
Social media marketing
Events
In-pe
erson interactions
Website
Email marketing
12%
5%
3%
Othe
er, please specify
32%
Online advertising (paid
se
earch, etc.)
36%
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Of those finding social media effective, Facebook is far and
away the most effective network
If social media is effective for your organization, which
network do you find the most effective?
88%
Facebook
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5%
3%
1%
1%
Twitter
LinkedIn
Google+
YouTube
8
In-person interactions are the most effective marketing
activity
Of the items you find to be effective, which
do you rank as the #1 most effective?
60%
50%
50%
40%
27%
30%
20%
20%
18%
13% 12%
10%
10%
7%
7%
3%
0%
0%
Online adverrtising (paid search
h,
etc.)
Online surveyys and polls
Social media
a marketing
Phone calls
Public relatio
ons
Events
Website
Direct mail
Traditional ad
dvertising (print,
radio, TV, etc.)
Email marketting
In-person inte
eractions
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Social media marketing is the topic nonprofits want help
with most
Marketing activities do you need help
with?
ith?
70%
57%
60%
50%
35%
36%
40%
In-person intera
actions
Traditional adve
ertising (print,
radio, tv)
Social media marketing
Email marketing
g
Website
Public relations
Online surveys and polls
Online advertising (paid
search, ettc.)
Events
Phone calls
9%
10%
10
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11%
Direct mail
0%
11%
14%
19%
19%
20%
19%
21%
30%
Nonprofits believe nearly three quarters of their supporters are
likely
y to recommend their organization
g
to a friend or colleague
g
What percentage of your supporters
are likely to recommend your
organization to a friend or a
colleague?
73%
The likelihood of supporter referrals could be greatly amplified with the
use of social media marketing
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Nonprofits spend 36% of their time and 18% of their budget on
marketing
Hours nonprofits work
per week
Budget spent on marketing
activities
43.5
18%
15.8
Total hours
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Marketing hours
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3. The Health of Nonprofits
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The majority of nonprofits surveyed are stable or growing
compared to 2011
How has your organization done so far this year?
49%
39%
12%
p
g
Membership/funding
increased
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Membership/funding
p
g
remained flat
Membership/funding
p
g
decreased
14
Many nonprofits are expecting significant growth this year,
few are expecting a major decrease
 67% of nonprofits expect 2012 membership/funding to increase over their
2011 revenues with 31% expecting an increase of more than 10%.
Membership/Funding expectations this year
compared
p
to last
40%
35%
36%
31%
30%
24%
25%
20%
15%
10%
4%
5%
3%
0%
Increase more Increase less
than 10%
than 10%
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Remain flat
Decrease less Decrease more
than 10%
than 10%
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While funding is rising, cash flow is affecting growth for
over 40% of nonprofits
 Struggle with cash flow is evident with both rising costs and service offerings

46% of nonprofits are experiencing increased operating costs

51% have increased the number of services they offer
Is your cash flow sufficient to run your
organization effectively?
60%
55%
50%
40%
29%
30%
14%
20%
10%
0%
Yes, I have adequate cash
No, my cash flow is
No, my cash flow is
flow
inadequate and is preventing inadequate and is barely
me from growing
enough to maintain current
operations
Copyright © 2012 Constant Contact Inc.
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Over one third of nonprofits need to hire additional staff
but can’t
 So far this year 67% of nonprofits have kept their number of employees
the same, 14% have decreased their number of employees.
p y
Will y
you be hiring
g additional full-time equivalent
(FTE) employees in the next 6 months?
39%
35%
16%
10%
Yes
No, I’m doing fine
as is
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No, I need to but
can’t
Unsure
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About this study
 This is the first wave of an
ongoing study about the
state of nonprofits and
the ways they connect with
and grow their audience.
 We surveyed over 1000 participants in the Constant Contact Small Biz Council – a
research panel of US small businesses and nonprofits recruited from the Constant
Contact customer base – between April 24 and May 8, 2012.
 This report includes responses from 307 nonprofit participants.
 Media Contact
Erika Dornaus
Constant Contact
(781) 482-7039
pr@constantcontact.com
Annual budget size for nonprofits
included in this study
Under $100,000
3%
18%
25%
$100,000 –
$250,000
13%
20%
20%
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$250,001 –
$500,000
$
,
$500,001 – $1
million
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