Charities might have been slow to embrace digital channels but they are now outpacing the private sector when it comes to engagement, with personalisation being seen as a key priority for the year ahead.
That is according to The State of Nonprofit Digital Engagement Report from Twilio which surveyed 800 employees of nonprofit organisations and 1,500 charity donors in the UK and US.
It found nearly 9 out of 10 (89%) nonprofits report digital communications are critical to achieving their organisation’s mission, with 65% of nonprofits’ engagement with supporters being digital, compared to 55% among B2C companies.
While older generations prefer well established channels like email, text, and phone calls, younger generations are more likely to prefer emerging channels like messaging apps, video conferencing, and webchat.
Among education organisations, 74% of engagement with students and families is expected to be digital by 2025. Health-related nonprofits are most likely to use digital communications to increase their responsiveness to patients and to innovate service delivery.
The largest opportunity nonprofits have to better meet supporters’ needs is personalisation, the report argues, with donors ranking it the number one area they would like organisations to prioritise to improve customer experience. Nonprofits agree, with 77% of organisations stating that personalisation is a high or critical priority for 2022.
Even so, the talent crisis is having a major impact on the sector, with two-fifths (41%) of nonprofits saying a lack of technical support is the number one barrier to adopting digital communications, and just one in four nonprofits at the beginning stages of digital maturity report having the talent they need.
Encouragingly, 65% of organisations plan to hire developers in 2022, and that number jumps to 89% among organisations further along in their adoption of digital.
Twilio chief social impact officer Erin Reilly commented: “As the frequency and severity of crises continue around the world, digital engagement remains vital to help people access the resources they need to thrive.
“Nonprofits are some of the most technically innovative organisations and this research highlights the digital strategies they’re embracing to deepen impact and improve outcomes.”
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