Connecting the Dots of Nonprofit Engagement Data: A Closer Look at Practices, Challenges and Opportunities

Nonprofit Technology Network by Annaliese
Nonprofit organizations are looking beyond traditional data toward information about constituent participation and engagement. Such data might include volunteer activity, e-newsletter activity, Facebook or Twitter mentions, online petitions or pledge activities, event attendance and interaction among constituents, to name only a few.NTEN and Avectra sought input from 10 nonprofits and associations that vary in size and work across many programmatic areas for specific examples of how they are collecting, managing and sharing engagement data -- and how it impacts their work.

We’ve compiled their responses around seven key questions, and are sharing the findings, and their stories, below.

I. What types of engagement data are nonprofits collecting and, more importantly, why?

The organizations that provided input collect a broad range of engagement data, such as but not limited to:

• Website analytics and e-newsletter subscriptions, open rates and click-throughs
• Social media mentions, "likes" and sharing
• Press release responses
• Grantee operations and demographics
• Event registrations, including webinars and other virtual events
• Membership - joins, renewals, membership type/category
• Community activity - discussion forum participation
• Relationships between and among constituent groups
• Customer requests (via phone and email) and customer survey results
• Product sales
• Volunteer participation

Participants agreed that engagement data collection relates directly to their organizational goals and objectives, including the capability to:

• identify trends and leverage them to shape existing programs and create new ones that best meet member needs
• gauge and report effectiveness and outcomes in order to meet funding and revenue goals and
• better focus and allocate resources

One respondent, whose organization's mission is to lower the high school drop-out rate in Canada, has been doing "pretty extensive" tracking since it was founded in 2001. "Additional funding is not possible without metrics."

The League of American Orchestras' (The League) Rebecca Vierhaus told us her organization is "trying to find trends to tie participation to revenue, as well as participation to likelihood of renewing membership or donating….We have always imagined a 'learning journey' for our members -- becoming more and more engaged over time and eventually becoming donors or supporters in other ways. Is this how our members actually engage with us and, if not, what should our strategy be to try and keep them on a 'conveyor belt' towards loyalty and engagement?"

Shoes That Fit's Thomas Pellegrino said his organization uses the data to "communicate our mission and message and develop our communication strategies." Read more