https://bloomerang.co/bloomcon/

1. Digital Marketing Trends
(and Nonprofit Communications Trends in General)
Kivi Leroux Miller

2. Nonprofit
Communications
Trends Report
2015
http://npmg.us/2015
#npcomm2015

3. Find this on Pinterest,
Flickr, and Facebook.
http://www.pinterest.com/npmktgd/2015-
nonprofit-communications-trends-report/

4. 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

6. WHY
nonprofits are
communicating

7. 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

8. 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?

9. 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 Director
Executive Director

10. Is Engaging Our Community a Top 3 Goal?
Communications Director Development Director
Executive Director

11. 65%
51%
39%
Is Engaging Our Community a Top 3 Goal?
Communications Director Development Director
Executive Director

12. Is General Brand Awareness a Top 3 Goal?
Communications Director Development Director
Executive Director

13. 68%
42%
25%
Is General Brand Awareness a Top 3 Goal?
Communications Director Development Director
Executive Director

14. Is Retaining Current Donors a Top 3 Goal?
Communications Director Development Director
Executive Director

15. 36%
60%
94%
Is Retaining Current Donors a Top 3 Goal?
Communications Director Development Director
Executive Director

16. Is Acquiring New Donors a Top 3 Goal?
Communications Director Development Director
Executive Director

17. 33%
54%
89%
Is Acquiring New Donors a Top 3 Goal?
Communications Director Development Director
Executive Director

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

19. Are you directly responsible for meeting
annual 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.

20. 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.

21. HOW
nonprofits are
communicating

22. The Six Most Important
Communications 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%

23. Most Important
Communications 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)

25. WHEN
& HOW
nonprofits are
communicating

26. 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.

29. E-Newsletter: Same as Usual
62% 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.

33. More in 2015: Direct Mail Appeals
36% 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%).

34. Print Newsletters: Same as Usual
26% 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.

35. WHERE
nonprofits are
communicating
via social media

36. Top Social Media Sites
for Nonprofits in 2015
Facebook – 96%
Twitter – 76%
YouTube – 46%
LinkedIn – 32%
Instagram – 20%
% Putting Site in Their Top 3

37. 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

38. 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 One
for Facebook:
One photo
One sentence
One link
One request from readers

39. How Much Time is Spent per Week
Producing Various Communications?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Facebook
Updates
Email
Newsletters
PR or Media
Relations
Email Event
Marketing
Blog or
Website
Articles
Presentations
to be
Delivered in
Person
Email
Fundraising or
Advocacy
Appeals
Print
Fundraising
Appeals
Print
Newsletters
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)

40. Kivi Leroux Miller
@kivilm
Facebook.com/
nonprofitmarketingguide
kivi@ecoscribe.com
Trends Report:
npmg.us/2015