Not too shabby, North America.
A new research project by the Public Interest Registry and Nonprofit Tech for Good surveyed over 2,700 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide to gain a better understanding of how NGOs used technology to communicate and engage supporters and donors.
According to the report, North American NGOs are ahead, albeit sometimes just slightly, of global benchmarks in almost every measure, from having a website (97% vs 92%), to sending regular email updates to donors and supporters (76% vs 75%) to accepting online donations (86% vs 75%), to having a presence on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (biggest difference was Instagram at 46% vs 40%).
Where do North American NGO’s lag a little? Within the digital donation category, global NGOs have a slight edge in direct debit (47% vs 43%), mobile text (6% vs 4%) and digital wallets (3% vs 1%).
The research also delved into generational online giving preferences for Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers. While the results show that growing percentages of donors are “inspired to give by” social media, the reality for most nonprofits is that most of their online donors don’t give on social media, they donate directly on a website or respond to an email appeal.
Feel free to prove me wrong in comments, but I haven’t met a nonprofit yet, particularly a small one, that gets most of its online donations through social media. Rather, social media helps nonprofits raise awareness of causes.
BOTTOM LINE: Email isn’t dead, and keep making progress!
