Nonprofit Marketing Statistics: Preparing Your Strategy Through 2017

1,571,056 nonprofit organizations are registered in the United States.

And for most of these nonprofit organizations, top communication goals include:

• Acquiring new donors
• Engaging community
• General brand awareness
• Donor retention

But how can nonprofit marketers meet these goals in 2017 and beyond?

Inbound marketing is a practice that focuses on creating quality content that pulls audiences toward an organization with value. Therefore, nonprofit content marketing is the perfect approach to achieving the four top goals.

In this post, we’ll highlight a few inbound marketing stats to help nonprofits thrive in the changing digital landscape.

Nonprofit Marketing Statistics: Marketing Effectiveness

26% of nonprofit marketers say their organizations are effective at content marketing. Moreover, research shows us that several factors improve a nonprofit's effectiveness. For example:

• Having a documented content marketing strategy
• Holding frequent content marketing team meetings
• Fostering organizational clarity on what content marketing success looks like

However, the biggest influencer is a nonprofit's content marketing maturity: 55% of sophisticated/mature nonprofits say they are effective with content.

Nonprofit Marketing Statistics: Content Tactics

Nonprofits use an average of 12 different content marketing tactics.

Yet the biggest challenge in nonprofit marketing today is also the biggest opportunity: Organizations must access countless digital channels to reach key audiences.

Unfortunately, most nonprofits lack time and money. So these organizations must focus on a few marketing initiatives that generate the most value for their stakeholders.

Furthermore, traditional marketing methods like print ads and direct mail can quickly deplete the already tight budgets of nonprofits. Yet the nonprofit has little to show for these efforts.

Conversely, nonprofits have affordable digital tools at their disposal. And digital tools help marketing teams grow and thrive online such as social media, eNewsletters, and blogs. Moreover, digital tools can effectively attract, engage, and convert target audiences via inbound marketing.

Nonprofit Marketing Statistics: Email Marketing

69% of nonprofit professionals believe eNewsletters are an effective content marketing tactic.

And an eNewsletter focused on useful, relevant content can build trust with prospective, current, and past donors.

• 24.98% is the average open rate for email marketing campaigns for the nonprofit industry.
• 2.76% is the average click-through rate for email marketing campaigns for the nonprofit industry.
• 0.49% is the average soft bounce rate for email marketing campaigns for the nonprofit industry.

Yet while opens and clicks can give you a good indication of your newsletter's performance, they shouldn't be the only numbers you care about. Instead of opens or reads, a newsletter must generate high quality leads. Additionally, email — like all sources — must send targeted traffic to your website.

Nonprofit Marketing Statistics: Budget + Resources

53% of nonprofit content marketers feel challenged to produce engaging content, while 42% struggle to produce content consistently.

Yet for an inbound marketing program to be effective, content must be both engaging and consistent.

Resource-strapped nonprofits can achieve this by outsourcing their content marketing strategy and execution to a trusted nonprofit marketing agency. But an agency must go beyond branding and awareness. Instead, the ideal agency will specialize in attracting and converting qualified leads.

Moreover, by investing in the right areas, nonprofit marketing dollars will go further:

The most effective nonprofit content marketers allocate 32% of their marketing budget to content marketing, are clear on how they measure success and meet frequently to discuss their content marketing program.

The more energy put into a strategic inbound marketing program, the more value your nonprofit organization will reap from it.

Furthermore, nonprofits who take the time on the front end to define their goals, measure success, and use a variety of tactics and platforms. Additionally, marketers who meet regularly for status updates and necessary shifts in trajectory will thrive.

Sources:

National Center for Charitable Statistics

Content Marketing Institute’s Nonprofit Content Marketing: 2016 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America

MailChimp’s Email Marketing Benchmarks