2016 sees uptick in nonprofit digital communications, surge in paid ads

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30333
• Published date: 01 July 2017
• Date: 01 July 2017

JULY 2017

5

NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

Communications

2016 sees uptick in nonprot digital

communications, surge in paid ads

The latest research from M+R Strategic Services

shows that nonprots are increasing their communica-

tions with donors and prospective supporters through

all sorts of digital channels—including email, social

media and their websites—and these efforts are paying

off with higher revenues. That’s despite the fact that

open rates, click-through rates and other metrics actu-

ally decreased in 2016 from the year before, according

to the group’s 2017 Benchmarks Study.

The study, which is based on surveys of 133 non-

prots of every size and issue area, provides a bevy of

data to give a clear view of nonprots’ use of digital

communications and fundraising. Some key ndings

from the report include:

• Trafc to nonprot websites grew by about 4

percent over 2015 totals.

• Nonprot email lists grew by 10 percent in 2016,

building on 16 percent growth the previous year.

• Email volume grew as well, with nonprots send-

ing 10 percent more messages per subscriber in 2016

than in 2015. That means that, on average, a subscriber

could expect to receive 69 separate email messages from

a single nonprot in 2016.

• Nonprot social media audiences also increased,

with Facebook audiences seeing 23 percent growth,

Twitter audiences rising by 50 percent and Instagram

audiences growing by 101 percent.

• Overall online revenue grew by 14 percent over

2015 totals, with monthly giving growing at a rate of

23 percent.

• Web conversion rates—the percentage of website

visitors who completed a gift—were up by about 8

percent.

• Email accounted for 26 percent of all online rev-

enue in 2016, but most individual email metrics went

down. Open rates declined by 7 percent overall, for an

average just under 15 percent.

• Response rates for advocacy messages declined

by 17 percent, to 1.6 percent.

• For fundraising messages, the response rate was

just 0.05 percent—a drop of 8 percent from 2015. That

means that a nonprot had to land 2,000 fundraising

emails in inboxes in order to generate a single dona-

tion, M+R said.

• For every 1,000 fundraising email messages deliv-

ered, nonprots raised $36.

According to the report, the biggest eye-opener was

the growth seen in digital ad spending. The surveyed

nonprots increased their spending on digital ads by

69 percent, on average, although that varied quite a

bit depending on program area and organization size.

For example, cultural-focused nonprots more than

doubled the amount they spent on digital ads from the

previous year, while international-focused nonprots

increased ad spending by a more modest 53 percent,

the study showed.

The reasons behind the big jump could be numer-

ous, according to Will Valverde of M+R, chief author

of the report.

“There are several potential drivers here. First, ads

are more effective now. When you start seeing good

results, you tend to invest more in them,” Valverde said.

“Next, a lot of nonprots feel like they’ve got to do

something to counter the fall in open rates,” he said.

“With email going down, they have to nd another

way to reach out to potential donors.”

And, for many groups, digital ads are the only thing

they haven’t gone “all in” on, he said.

“They’ve invested in their websites, and mobile tech,

and email campaigns, and this is all that’s left for some

of them,” Valverde said.

While the drivers behind the new ad spending are

difcult to know for sure, where the money is going is

clear-cut. Per the report:

• Nearly half—46 percent—of all digital advertis-

ing was spent trying to acquire new donors, with an

additional 14 percent seeking to convert existing sup-

porters. That means that 60 percent of ad spending

was intended to drive trafc to online donation pages,

M+R said.

• Another 18 percent of dollars spent was for lead

generation—activities such as promoting petitions,

interactive engagements like quizzes or surveys, and

(See COMMUNICATIONS on page 8)