A few weeks ago we launched a Wild Apricot Blog Reader Survey to find out what type of information would help small membership, association and non-profit organizations thrive in 2011. A big thank you to those of you who took the time to respond to the survey - which will help guide our blog content this year. Here is an overview of the Blog Reader Survey results:
Who is following the Wild Apricot Blog?
The first few questions on our survey were designed to help us better understand our key audience. Here's what we found out:
- Type of Organization: It looks like the majority of our blog readers work in membership organizations, charities, alumni groups, professional associations and social activism organizations.
- Size of Organization: Most of our blog followers work for organizations with fewer than 2000 members/donors/supporters, with the majority working for organizations with fewer than 250 members/donors/supporters.
- Role/function: Our key blog readers include Board members, Communications/Marketing staff members, Webmasters, Executive Directors, Volunteer and Membership Coordinators.
Main Reason for Following the Wild Apricot Blog:
The top three reasons were: information on social media; non-profit technology and membership engagement and communications.
Key Issues Facing Member-based Organizations in 2011:
The survey respondents ranked membership engagement & communications; membership acquisition/growth; and budget as the top three issues they are facing this year, but here is a chart listing all responses:
Other Topics/Information You Want the Wild Apricot Blog to Cover:
There was overwhelming support (88% + 95%) for more guest posts from membership/non-profit staff members as well as case examples of how organizations had optimized their websites, renewal and event management. Suggestions for other blog topics fell into the following general categories:
- Website management: e.g., case studies, review of tools and tips
- Communications/Engagement: e.g., ideas for low-cost ways to publicize events; ideas for volunteer recruitment
- Social media: content, blog and SEO strategies; Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn strategies
Our final question: What is the # 1 thing that would make your life easier this year?
While the answer to this question was often "more funding" and/or "more staff," there were some other interesting answers too, including:
- Volunteer management: volunteer accountability; project tracking & management ; increasing volunteer pools
- Resource management: a working technology plan; training staff to use existing tools
- Member / Volunteer engagement: younger membership involvement; finding ways to elicit response from members
- Communications: developing a Communications Plan
- Fundraising: a winning donor acquisition plan
Do these survey results and information topics resonate with you?
What types of information would help you in your role this year?