email marketing report 2012 - 2 sage nonprofit solutions email marketing report 2012 in december...

Sage Nonprofit Solutions Email Marketing Report 2012

2


In December 2011, an email was sent to nonprofit development leaders inviting them to take an online survey designed to discover how nonprofits are using email to improve their fundraising and outreach activities. The topics covered include:

• Topemailmarketingobjectivesandmeasurablegoals.

• Mostsignificantchallengesandmainbarrierstoovercomingthem.

• Tracking,analyzing,andreportingofemailmetrics.

• Tacticsforimprovinglistgrowth,deliverability,andengagement.

• Testingandoptimizationmethodologyforcampaignelements.

• Typesofcampaignspromotedbyemail.

Key Findings • Nearlyhalfofthesurveyedrespondents(45%)indicatedthattheirorganizationdidnot

conductanyemailmarketing.

• Topemailmarketingobjectiveswere:keepingsupportersinformed(80%),attracting andretainingdonors(64%),anddrivingonlinedonations(61%).

• Alargepercentageofrespondents(91%)indicatedthattheyhavemeasurablegoals inplace.

• Respondentsreportedthattheirmostsignificantemailmarketingchallengesweregrowing andretainingcontactsaswellasintegratingemailwithothersystemsandtactics.

• Byfar,themainbarrierstoovercomingemailmarketingchallengeswereinadequate resourcesandexpertise(71%).

• Theunsubscriberatewassurprisinglyhigh,averaging4%againstanindustrystandard of<1%.

• Althoughmostorganizations(83%)respondedthattheyactivelyworktogrowand retainemailcontacts,74%indicatedthattheirlistwasgrowingataslowpaceoverthe past12months.

• Overthree-quartersoftheorganizations(76%)trackclick-throughrates;otheremailperformancemetricstrackedwereopenrates(73%)andtotalcontacts(69%).

• Thetoptacticsforgrowingtheemaillistwerewebsiteregistration(62%),newsletterregistration(60%),andemailtoafriend(55%).

• Events(galas,auctions)andyear-endcampaignswereselectedasthetopcampaigns/appealsthatrespondentspromotebyemail.

• Alargenumberoforganizationsaretakingmeasurestoimproveemaildeliverabilitybyremovinghardbounces(49%),followedbyregulardatacleansing(44%)andremoving inactivecontacts(38%).

• Overhalftherespondentsselectedsubjectlineasoneofthetopcampaignelements theytestandoptimize.

• 43%ofrespondentsindicatedthattheyevaluateemailperformanceonceamonth.

3


1. Does your organization conduct email marketing?

2. What are your organization’s top three email marketing objectives?

Other:

• Attendfundraisingevents

• Advertiseeventsandprograms

• Onlinesales

• Reachclientswhohavebeensuccessfulto keepthemcomingbackformoreprograms

• Increaseprogramparticipation

• Selltickets

• Introducenewphilanthropicprograms

• Selltrainingsandeducationalmaterials

• Increaseenrollment

• Sales

• Expandinternshipsites

• Enrollment

• In-kinddonations

• Selleventtickets

• DrivetheGate

No

Yes

55%

45%

No

Yes

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

80%

64%

61%

31%

26%

12%

12%

1%

Keep supporters informed

Attract and retain donors

Drive online donations

Engage advocates

Increase membership

Enlist volunteers

Other (specify)

Have not defined our objectives

4


3. What are your organization’s top three measureable goals for email marketing?

Other:

• Increaseopenpercentage •Openrateandlinkclick-throughs

4. What are your organization’s three most significant challenges with regard to email marketing?

Other:

• Gettingthemtoconverttodonors

• Timeandpeopletomaintainconsistencyofcontentanddeliverability

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Growing and retaining contacts

Delivering relevant content

Increasing percentage of active contacts

Integrating email with donor database, online fundraising, and other systems

Integrating email with other on- and offline tactics (such as social media, blogs, events)

Increasing campaign ROI

Segmentation of email database

Improving email deliverability

Have not established measured goals

Increase contact profile completeness

Improve database hygiene

Other (specify)

53%

48%

37%

32%

30%

29%

12%

10%

9%

9%

4%

2%

Increasing percentage of active contacts

Integrating email with other on- and offline tactics (such as social media, blogs, events)

Integrating email with donor database, online fundraising, and other systems

0 10 20 30 40

Growing and retaining contacts

Delivering relevant content

Increasing campaign ROI

Segmentation of email database

Improving email deliverability

Increase contact profile completeness

Improve database hygiene

Other (specify)

None

38%

38%

38%

30%

29%

26%

28%

21%

17%

13%

2%

2%

5


5. What are the main barriers to overcoming your organization’s most significant email marketing challenges?

Other:

• Bandwidth,inotherwordsnotenoughtimeinstaff’sworkprograms

• Lackoftotalcontrolofemailappeals

• Nonprofitsareunwillingtolookatemployingmethodologieswheredonorcanattainphilanthropicgoalswithnoout-of-pocketcostsandstillgetataxdeductionfortheamountdonated

• Otherpriorities

• Ourwebsiteneedstoberevampedsowedon’talwayswanttosendthemtherebutinordertoconverttoonlinedonorstheyhavetogothere

• SmallROI

• Understandinghowe-marketingcanworkforbringingindonations

6. Are you involved with tracking, analyzing, and reporting of email metrics?

7. Does your organization benchmark email performance?

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Inadequate resources/expertise

Difficulty integrating email data with other data systems

Lack of clearly defined objectives

Unclear or constantly changing objectives

Difficulty integrating email marketing with other tactics

Goals are not measurable

Lack of buy-in from senior management

Other (specify)

None

71%

42%

26%

25%

24%

17%

16%

8%

5%

55%

45%

No

No

Yes

Yes

54%

46%

6


8. What email performance metrics does your organization track?

Other:

• Actionrate

9. What is your unsubscribe rate?

10. Does your organization actively work to grow and retain email contacts?

Click-through rate

Open rate

Total contacts

Unsubscribe rate

Bounceback rate

Total new contacts

Total emails sent

Conversion rate

Percentage active emailable contacts

Campaign ROI

Contact profile completeness

Don’t know

Sender score

Other (specify)

76%

73%

69%

61%

54%

52%

49%

35%

28%

20%

7%

7%

3%

1%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

83%

17%

Average: 4%

No

Yes

7


11. Which statement best describes your organization’s email list growth trend for the past 12 months?

12. What tactics do you use to grow your email list?

Other:

• Eventandprogramattendance

• Eventregistrationandaskforemailaddress onalldonationenvelopes

• Events,raffles

• Eventsign-ups

• Listrental

• Partnerships(bannersonpartnerwebsites)

• Periodiccontact

• Petitions

• Phonathon

• Telemarketing

• Volunteerregistration

Increasing slowly

Remaining flat

Increasing rapidly

Don’t know

Decreasing slowly

74%

15%

6%

3%

2%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Website registration

Newsletter registration

Email to a friend

Social media sharing icons

Facebook registration page

Direct mail

Other (specify)

Blog registration

62%

60%

55%

54%

52%

48%

17%

11%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

8


13. What tactics do you use to improve email deliverability?

Other:

• Testing

14. What tactics do you use to improve the relevance of emails to drive engagement?

Other:

• Contestsandsurveys

Remove hard bounces

Regular data cleansing

Remove inactive contacts

Evaluate soft balances

Reactivation campaigns

None

Monitor inbox placement

Other (specify)

49%

44%

38%

33%

20%

10%

10%

2%

0 10 20 30 40 50

51% Integration with offline tactics

41% Personalization

33% Video

33% Segment campaigns based on

attributes and behavior

24% Allow subscribers to select communications they

want to receive through a preference center

21% None

19% Automated, trigger-based emails

3% Other (specify)

9


15. What email marketing campaign elements does your organization test and optimize on a regular basis?

Other:

• Salesclick-through

16. About how frequently does your organization evaluate email performance?

Subject line

Day/time sent

Content

Layout, images

Donation form

Call to action

Personalization

Target audience

None

From line

Other (specify)

49%

46%

44%

41%

39%

31%

30%

23%

23%

18%

2%

0 10 20 30 40 50

Daily

Weekly

Monthly

Quarterly

Semiannually

Annually

4%

7%

43%

21%

16%

9%

0 10 20 30 40 50

10


17. What types of campaigns/appeals do you promote by email?

Other:

• Activities/programs

• Annualcampaign

• Annualfund

• Annualfundappeals

• Coursestartdates

• Education,elections

• Generalnews

• Holidays

• Marketingforourattractions

• Membershipactivities

• Newsletters

• Promotions

• Singleticketsales

• Storiesofimpact

• Thankyousupporter

• Ticketsales

• Trainingannouncements,curriculasales

• Updatereports

18. What systems are integrated with your organization’s email marketing system?

Other:

• Membership/salesdatabase

Events (galas, auctions)

Year-end campaigns

Special project appeals

Giving challenges

Advocacy

Volunteer

Capital campaigns

Membership drives

Emergency appeals

Pledge drives

Other (specify)

Races

None

Money bombs

81%

72%

42%

37%

36%

34%

25%

24%

21%

14%

12%

8%

1%

1%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Donor database

Online fundraising

Social media

Web analytics

59%

51%

43%

39%

Other (specify) 3%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

None 20%

11


19. How satisfied are you with your email service provider?

20. What is the size of your email database?

21% Very satisfied

42% Satisfied

28% Neutral

8% Dissatisfied 1% Very dissatisfied

Less than 1,000

1,000 – 4,999

5,000 – 9,999

10,000 – 24,999

25,000 – 49,999

50,000 – 99,999

100,000 plus

13%

26%

18%

14%

6%

13%

9%

0 10 20 30

12


21. Which one of the following categories best describes your organization?

Other:

• Childandfamilytreatment

• Donorprogramdevelopment

• Goodgovernment

• Housing

• Jewishfederation

• Microcredit

• Multifacetedhealth,human,andsocialservicebase

• Publicinterestlaw

• Seminary

• Veteranservice

• YMCA

23% Human and Social Services

10% Health and Hospitals

10% Education (Higher)

9% Arts, Culture and Humanities

8% Other (specify)

6% Education (K–12)

5% Environmental and Conservation

5% Museum/Zoo

3% International

3% Science

3% Faith-Based

3% Membership

3% Advocacy

2% Education (Other)

2% Community Development/Organizer

1% United Way1% Foundation

1% Animal Welfare

1% Library

22. What is your job function/title?

Development Director/Manager

Executive Management (C-Level)

Other (specify)

Finance Director/Manager

Development

Program Director/Manager

Accounting/Finance

IT

Volunteer

34%

21%

13%

11%

11%

5%

3%

1%

1%

0 10 20 30 40

Other:

• AssociateDirector,Research

• Board/edequivalent/communications,developmentandprogrammanager

• BoardChair

• BoardMember

• CommunicationsManager

• Consultant

• EmailMarketingOfficer

• GrantsManager

• InternetMarketingManager

• Marketing

• Marketingand CommunicationsDirector

• MarketingCoordinator

• MarketingDirector

• Membership

• ProspectResearcher

• PublicRelations

• VP,ExternalAffairs

• VP,FinanceandAdmin

©2012SageSoftware,Inc.Allrightsreserved.Sage,theSagelogos,andtheSageproductandservice names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software,Inc., or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 12-01956SPK02/12

Sage Nonprofit SolutionsI800-811-0961

12301ResearchBlvd.IBuildingIV,Suite350IAustin,TX78759

Sage has been serving nonprofit and governmental organizationsthroughout North America for more than 30 years. The companycurrently helpsmore than32,000uniquenot-for-profit organizationsincreaseefficiencyandmoreeasilymanagetheiroperationsthroughtheuseoftechnology.Fromfundaccounting,donorandfundraisingmanagement, and fixed asset management, to online donationprocessing, human resources (HR), payroll, and health care, Sageoffersasoftwareproductorservicetomeettheorganization’sneed.Formoreinformation,call800–811-0961orvisitwww.SageNonprofit.com.FollowSageNonprofitSolutionsonTwitterandFacebook.

About Sage Nonprofit Solutions

email marketing report 2012 - 2 sage nonprofit solutions email marketing report 2012 in december...

Documents