Archive for the ‘Research Studies’ Category

Nov

2011

22

Category:

Research Studies

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National Study Reveals: Digital and Social Media Are Delivering Results for Arts Organizations

Note from Beth: I had pleasure of facilitating a panel discussion in October at the recent Grantmakers in the Arts pre-conference on technology and media with Rory MacPherson  and Jai Sen from Sen Associates where I learned about some of the preliminary findings from the study below they undertook.   The full report was published this week and Rory and Mary Trudel agreed to do a guest post summarizing what they learned.   I thought the points about measurement were right on and applies to other types of nonprofits.

National Study Reveals: Digital and Social Media Are Delivering for Arts Organizations, Guest Post by Mary Trudel and Rory MacPherson

The question

Just over a year ago, we asked ourselves a question: How are arts organizations using digital and social media, and what sorts of results are they getting?

Many of our clients and fellow consultants working in nonprofits and in the arts were approaching the same question from different angles. But, try as we might, we couldn’t find any research that looked at arts groups’ adoption and attitudes toward digital and social media nationally that also asked all-important questions about how groups are measuring what they’re doing.

We were seeing examples of amazing results and also groups who were struggling to catch up on all the latest developments. A few things were common to both: no one (even those who were successful) had a clear picture of why they were succeeding, how to sustain the good results, or how their efforts and results compared with others’. Questions of measurement, ROI, and how to set goals and define success were plaguing everyone.

How to analyze a moving target?

As readers of this blog well know, digital and social media can be difficult to keep up with. Society at large is still trying to figure them out and understand the implications of this level and type of connectedness.

We could tell that some of the confusion and resistance we were seeing around adoption was due to organizations’ inability to look past the technological nature of these new channels. Arts organizations are not alone in this. But what sorts of hurdles are arts groups facing in terms of human resources and management attitudes, and which channels are working for them? What are they learning from their experiments?

From these questions, our national study, How Strong is Your Social Net? was created.

Who responded?

We were surprised, overwhelmed, and delighted at the level of response to our project. We started with 47 conveners we selected around the country–regional, state, and local arts agencies and membership associations, whom we asked to invite their member organizations to take our survey. The purpose of this invitation-only phase of the research was to make sure we were getting representation from around the country, and not just the coasts and major urban areas. We opened up the survey to all arts organizations in August.

By the time we closed the survey in September, we were up to 1,601 respondents nationally. Almost 80% of respondents completed the entire 26-qestion survey (all questions were optional) and more than 1/3 provided their contact information, expressing interest in having us follow up with them.

The key question we asked is whether digital and social media are delivering on their promise and the hype. Just over 70% of our respondents, a majority, said “yes.”

What we learned: a snapshot

  • The panic is over! Arts organizations have turned the corner of being daunted by (or resistant to adopting) digital and social media, and have entered a phase of experimenting and optimizing. More than 2/3 of our respondents report that their management is “excited” about digital communications. The majority of respondents feel their digital and social efforts are effective (80%) and up to date (79%).
  • Arts organizations are realizing that using digital media is not ultimately about getting into technology: it’s about using new channels to communicate and share what they already know best. As Robert Stein, Deputy Director for Research, Technology, and Engagement at the Indianapolis Museum of Art told us, “Museums have tended to use [websites] as extensions of marketing.” But as digital media matures as a tool for cultural organizations, groups are using it as a gateway to connect people with art. Stein has found “the highest levels of engagement tend to revolve around content. Content drives engagement for online audiences in social media.”
  • Budgets and geography are not a constraint to innovation. More than half of our respondents are associated with organizations with operating budgets under $500,000, and we are seeing interesting activity all over the country. For example, Alberta Bair Theater in Billings, Montana told us they have found ways to use digital tools to cultivate their neighborly spirit and are having success promoting events online. The theater’s Marketing and Box Office Director, Jody Olson, observes: “ticket sales spike immediately when a digital message is sent out.”
  • Respondents report that they are achieving meaningful results with digital media in building live participation in events; developing fan networks; fundraising; and ticket sales. We discovered that fundraising is the biggest hurdle, but our respondents nevertheless cited many successes in their efforts to raise money online, and we found more than a few stellar examples. A case in point is Georgia Shakespeare. This theater organization faced closure due to shortfalls in public and private funding. Its managing director issued an appeal on Facebook to save the company and raised $150,000 in two weeks from over 1,000 people all over the U.S. who had been connected to the theater at some point in the past. The donations ranged from $3.77 (users donating the price of a beer at a performer’s request) to $50,000 (a foundation grant).
  • There is still a ways to go in some areas, particularly in integrating digital media into holistic communications policy; clarity of ownership of responsibility for digital communications within the organization; techniques of measurement; and acceptance of digital and social platforms as two-way communications tools. Still, in all these areas, we’re seeing positive trends, growth, and emerging best practices that organizations are eager to share with the field. Arts organizations are adopting formal social media policies and most of our respondents’ organizations (70.7%) encourage their staff to use digital media to promote the organization.
  • Arts organizations are measuring…sort of. Most respondents are at least using Google Analytics or similar tools to look at web traffic, and they’re counting fans and followers, but there is no clear path to measuring influence, engagement, and interaction.

There’s more, of course. We’d love for you to have a look at our results and join the discussion. We’ve posted our summary report on our website, where all are welcome to ask questions, start discussions, and comment on our findings. Over the course of the coming year, we’ll be profiling organizations that are doing exceptional things as part of the content we’re developing around what we learned with this study.

In fact, we collected so much data that we’ll continue to analyze it over the next several months, doing deep dives into particularly interesting numbers and doing cross-tab analyses of responses by arts discipline, geography, and other factors, and hope to build a community of interest around this topic.

What’s your take on the use of digital and social media in the arts? Do you know of any stellar examples, or groups who have struggled to get results? Let us know what you think.

Mary Trudel and Rory MacPherson are co-principals of Trudel | MacPherson Arts Consulting. Trudel | MacPherson developed and fielded the How Strong is Your Social Net? study in partnership with digital media consultancy Sen Associates.

Jun

2011

14

Category:

Measurement, Research Studies, Strategy

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3 Comments

What is your nonprofit supporter’s decision journey in age of information overload?

 

Source: HBR = Branding in a Digital Age

Yesterday,  I blogged about the  ”Valid Metrics Framework” from the AMEC that provides a suggested guide post for selecting the right metrics to measure social media in the context of an integrated communications campaign.   The framework uses actions and results across a continuum that based on the marketing funnel or AIDA framework.   The stages include:  awareness, understanding, interest/consideration, support/preferences, and action.   In the discussion in the blog comments,  there was a question about whether a linear framework is the best choice and a reference to “The Consumer Decision Journey”

The traditional marketing metaphor for many years has been a Funnel.  It assumes that consumers start with a large number of products or brands in mind and methodically limit their choices until they’ve decided which one to purchase.    After purchase, their relationship is focused on using the product.

Scaffolding by depth of relationship is a familiar framework for many nonprofits – whether it is donors or activists using  the ”Ladder of Engagement.”   It has been applied to specific social media channels – for example Twitter Ladder or  Facebook Ladder or to describes different levels of engagement across channels.   Colleagues Sean Power and Alistair Croll have a funnel and analytics to measure online community engagement called “Communilytics. ”   These frameworks show the process for becoming an activist or donor as linear one – going from name recognition to advocate.

But we know the media landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade and now we’re faced with so many choices and too much information as Steve Rubel points out in this presentation.  What he is talking about is “transmedia storytelling” a term coined by Henry Jenkins.    There are others that have looked at this:  Gary Hayes Transmedia Storytelling model or Lini Srivastava’s Transmedia Activism model.  Rubel describes the new  the media landscape with four distinct areas:  traditional media,  “Tradigital” media (blogs),  Owned Media (brand website), and Social Media/Networks (Facebooks, Twitter which are increasing being consumed on the go), although consumers do not make a distinction.  

Is the marketing funnel the right metaphor in age of information overload and a cluttered media landscape?

Source: Branding in a Digital Age - HBR

I was intrigued to see this visual – showing the different loops.  In the Networked Nonprofit, we have a chapter called “Learning Loops” that attempted to illustrate a less linear process.   New research shows that rather than systematically narrowing their choices, consumers add and subtract brands from a group under consideration during an extended evaluation phase. After purchase, they often enter into an open-ended relationship with the brand, sharing their experience with it online.  

This may not change what you measure or using a grid - but it certainly has implications for your strategy and tactics – especially around engagement and content – but how nonprofits build and maintain relationships with donors.

Is your strategy and measurement for integrated communications campaigns based on the right metaphor?

Jun

2011

02

Category:

Engagement, Research Studies

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11 Comments

What the Research Says About Increasing Facebook Engagement

This post summarizes some findings from a  recent research report about increasing engagement on Facebook and a couple of conversations about applying the research over on my blog Facebook page.   I also tested some of the tips suggested by the research.    Here’s what I learned:

After Hours Posting

I have been looking at different research studies, like this one “Posting Strategies That Encourage Engagement on Facebook” to see if there were more tactics to try.     The screen grab above suggests that short posts, posts outside of business hours, posts at the end of the week,  and posts that end with a question work best to increase Facebook engagement.

For giggles, I posted after business hours  and noticed an uptick in comments.    In the comments, Debra Askanase pointed to her post that detailed the study’s findings in the research study.   Laura Lee Dooley posted the link to full study.   So, I not only got more comments, but they added a lot of value.

Don’t Automate All Your Facebook Posts

If you’re thinking about using one of those helper apps that lets you pre-schedule posts to Facebook, don’t do it.   Mari Smith explains why in this thread about scheduling apps:

I very occasionally use HootSuite to schedule posts on Facebook. I do 99% of all posts manually as it gets the best EdgeRank score (News Feed visibility).   Facebook gives less weight to posts made via third party apps. They also can get collapsed in the News Feed (e.g. “see xx more posts by Twitter”) and I’m certain people don’t really click that link. :)

PostPlanner seem like really good peeps and a great app; they are in my hopper to take for a test drive. They assure me posts from their app don’t get collapsed in the News Feed… but that could be just because not that many people are using it yet.

Zane Mccolloch-Lussier suggested this post if you want to read more about EdgeRank score.  Mari Smith also has a post here.

Ask Questions

Click for Larger Image

The research also suggests that asking questions works best for increasing engagement.  John Haydon did a pattern analysis of different Facebook Wall posts that were questions  “16 Ways To Get More Comments on Facebook“  that illustrate different examples of questions.   I riffed on the post to brainstorm questions for a fictional Mozart Festival since I was listening to Mozart while writing this post.   Here’s the checklist.

Always Be Commenting

A few weeks ago, I came across a wonderful post by Guy Kawasaki, “How To Use Facebook To Enchant Your Customers” and having testing out some of the tips.     The I love is  “ABC: Always Be Commenting” – that you need to comment quickly, often, and respond to everyone.  Jo Johnson over at the London Symphony is a master of this technique.

Repeat the Proven Stuff

Another tip is to repeat the proven stuff.   I’ve been approaching this as reviewing your metrics, analyzing what scored well and posting similar types of content or at similar times.     The article also suggests that you re-post the same winning Facebook content – that not everyone reads everything that is posted.   I tested this here (June 1) and here (May 12).

What tactics have you tested to increase Facebook engagement?

May

2011

24

Category:

Fundraising, Networks, Organizational Culture, Research Studies

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8 Comments

Nonprofit Disruption: Evolving Models of Engagement and Support

DISRUPTION: Evolving Models of Engagement and Support

View more documents from Working Wikily

My colleagues at The Monitor Institute  just published a study called “Disruption: Evolving Models of Engagement and Support,” a national study of member-based advocacy organizations. The study was funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.   As they mention on the Working Wikily Blog,  they are releasing the findings of the study in a more dynamic form because they want the organizations and funders to be part of telling this dynamic story.

The traditional form for these type of findings would be a whitepaper. Instead, we are sharing them as slides (original and annotated) that not only conveys what we’ve found but also serves as a tool for sharing and discussing the conclusions with others. We do this not only to stay in the spirit of the participatory engagement styles that are now emerging, but also because the findings represent only the present moment in a story that is far from concluding. Nothing is settled about how even the most relevant and impactful advocacy organizations engage constituencies or attracts resources. We want the organizations themselves and their funders to be a part of its telling.

The research sought to answer a question about member-based advocacy organizations, historically supported by large numbers of loyal, annual donors.  The question:  How are these large organizations making the transition to a connected world?  What are the new models for sustainable advocacy efforts?      The traditional donor profile includes those individuals who write a check for $25 or more – in response to a direct mail solicitation and receive their calendar.     But younger donors, who connect to causes through social networks and their mobile phones are different and perhaps not quite as loyal or even interested in joining established member-based organizations.

In short, the younger generation doesn’t want to be identified as a member and doesn’t see the value.    Younger donors have different demands and the benefits of traditional membership are not enough to attract and enagement them.    Ironically,  the finding is echoed in this comment for the  blog post over at WorkingWikily.

As a 33yr old digital pr gent, I personally don’t see a reason to become a member of any organization, when there’s an opportunity to interact with multiple ones.  Providing super transparency into action on the ground through viscerally engaging media (email/video/photography) while providing opportunities for me to act and also socialize with other like-minded folks, are the attraction and loyalty factors.  I’m keen to believe that’s been the case for a very long time, and not just some emerging generational divide in expectations and behavior.

The study reports that many of these organizations recognize the need to innovate and experiment with  social media, but still rely on direct mail, email, and web sites for fundraising.     Most do not have a replacement strategy for these tried and true methods.  This is troubling given the changing media landscape.

The study shows a maturity of practice in integrating social media into membership and fundraising that is startling.    Half of survey respondents have only just started experimenting with social media in the last two years.    Few nonprofits have really mastered an effective social media practice that is integrated with communications and fundraising.   The study suggests that this is a time of disruption and experimentation and the best way to get through it is to accelerate the experimentation and diffuse the learning from experiments.


The study also revealed that respondents recognized the need for innovation in fundraising and membership but continue to rely on foundation funding.

The study highlights two brief case studies of nonprofits often cited in the interviews for their innovative approaches to integrating social media,  this included Momsrising and Environmental Defense Fund – both have contributed guest posts sharing their practices.

When there is disruption, there is a lot of confusion.     There is a continued need to share best practices about social fundraising that highlight learning and insights with the field.

How are you experimenting and learning about how to integrate social media into your fundraising and membership strategy?   What is keeping your organization back?

Apr

2011

11

Category:

Research Studies

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5 Comments

Sneak Peak of New Facebook Nonprofit Use Research from Idealware

Note from Beth: For those of you who have been following my blog for a long time,  you know of my obsession with research reports, particularly social media research snippets.   The good folks at Idealware offered me a sneak peak of their new Facebook research – how could I resist?   Charts, graphics, analytics, metrics, and data are like crack to me …

A guest post by Kyle Andrei, Idealware

Who’s seeing success with their Facebook page? In February, Idealware distributed a survey (thorough an informal email outreach) to over 500 nonprofit professionals who were using Facebook at their organizations. Well, the data is back, and we thought we’d share some of our most important findingsósuccess!

Well, specifically, how successful people were in attracting new constituents. We asked survey respondents whether or not they felt they had attracted new constituents (donors, members, volunteers, clients, or event attendees) through their Facebook page. And people did indeed see successful results.

The percentage of respondents who said they they’d seen “a few” or “substantial” new constituents of that type, who also said that attracting that type of constituent was important to them.

Nonprofits felt that Facebook was working best for them in attracting event attendees. Given Facebook’s Events app, this information isn’t terribly surprising. It’s a simple matter to create your event on Facebook, distribute it to your fans, and let them distribute the invitation to their friends.

People didn’t see as much success with new donors and volunteers, though. Why is that? Are Facebook relationships too casual to warrant giving time or money to an organization? Or are potential donors or volunteers not on Facebook in the same numbers?

In addition to constituent impact, we also asked respondents about what we call “measured results,” those goals that don’t directly involve constituents, and can be easily quantified. These included website traffic, donations, email list size, and moving people to action (advocacy actions).

The percentage of respondents who said they they’d seen “some” or “substantial” effect that they would attribute to Facebook. The percentage of “Moved People to Take Action” and “Increased Donations” are out of those organization who said those actions were important to them, while “Increased Website Traffic” and “Increased Donation” are based on all respondents.

Respondents reported the most success with using Facebook to direct new people to their websites, with more than 75% saying they’ve seen an increase in web traffic. With free web analytics tools like Google Analytics, tracking who followed your link from your Facebook page is one of the most measurable goals included in this survey.

And more than 65% said that they’d had some success with moving people to take some form of action for a cause, like signing petitions or other advocacy actions. Online petitions and other political or advocacy actions are easy to do, demand little time, and are easily spread through Facebook and other social media.

Following in suit from the constituent impact, donations saw little success; less than 30% saw success. Surprisingly, respondents didn’t have a huge amount of success with increasing their email lists via Facebook either ñ only 42% saw results. Maybe people aren’t including links or widgets to allow their fans to sign up, or like one person mentioned, fans may prefer to be contacted through Facebook messages and updates, instead of through email.

We’re continuing to analyze the data, and are conducting a series of interviews to round them out. Stay tune for more information and a (free!) research report from Idealware in May.

Kyle is the research intern at Idealware, and a senior at Indiana State University, where he studies Communication. Idealware, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, provides thoroughly researched, impartial and accessible resources about software to help nonprofits make smart software decisions.

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