92% of global NGOs have a website and 68% use a .org domain name

The 2017 Global NGO Online Technology Report was published and it has some very interesting findings on how NGOs worldwide use domain names, web and email communications, online and mobile fundraising tools, and social and mobile media.

The 2017 Global NGO Online Technology Report (techreport.ngo) is a research project that seeks to gain a better understanding of how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide use online technology to engage their supporters and donors. The report is sponsored by the Public Interest Registry (pir.org and the .org registry) and researched by Nonprofit Tech for Good (nptechforgood.com).

Summary of Findings:

• 92% of global NGOs have a website. Of those, 78% are mobile-compatible.
• 68% of NGOs use a .org domain name.
• 38% regularly publish a blog.
• 71% regularly send email updates to donors and supporters. Small NGOs have an average of 6,203 subscribers. Medium NGOs have 44,768. Large NGOs have 169,339.
• 67% accept online donations. Payment methods accepted include credit cards (78%), PayPal (50%), direct debit (42%), and digital wallets (6%).
• 15% regularly send text messages to donors and supporters. Of those, 40% also accept text donations. Small NGOs have an average of 2,451 text subscribers. Medium NGOs have 19,415. Large NGOs have 160,433.
• 92% of global NGOs have a Facebook Page. Small NGOs have an average of 4,246 likes. Medium NGOs have 30,133. Large NGOs have 172,132.
• 72% have a Twitter Profile. Small NGOs have an average of 3,755 followers. Medium NGOs have 12,815. Large NGOs have 80,371. 17% have participated in or hosted a Tweet Chat.
• 39% have an Instagram Profile. Small NGOs have an average of 1,465 followers. Medium NGOs have 2,999. Large NGOs have 28,392.
• Other social networks used by global NGOs are YouTube (55%), LinkedIn (51%), Google+ (28%), and WhatsApp (16%).
• 52% have used social media to report live. Of those, the top three live reporting tools are Facebook (79%), Twitter (56%), and YouTube (23%).
• 30% of global NGOs assign the responsibility of social media management to a communications staff person. 6% to a fundraising staff person. 15% to an executive staff person. 18% depend solely upon volunteers and 11% have a full-time or part-time social media manager. The remaining 20% assign the responsibility to program, administrative, and other staff.
• 28% have been using social media for two years or less. 37% for 3-4 years. 30% for 5-9 years. Only 5% have been using social more for 10 years or more.
• 32% of global NGOs have a written social media strategy.
• 34% have paid for advertising on social media.
• 95% agree that social media is effective for online brand awareness.
• 71% agree that social media is effective for online fundraising.
• 80% agree that social media is effective for recruiting volunteers.
• 78% agree that social media is effective for recruiting event attendees.
• 88% agree that social media is effective for creating social change.
• 66% say that executive staff support prioritizing social media in their online communications and fundraising strategy. Of those who say that executive staff do not prioritize social media, the reasons cited are (1) that executive staff have insufficient knowledge about social media (49%); (2) that executive staff do not want to invest financial and staff resources in social media (26%); (3) that executive staff do not think social media is useful to the organization (16%); and (4) that executive staff are fearful of legal problems resulting from using social media (9%).

The 2017 Global NGO Online Technology Report is based upon the survey results of 4,908 NGOs from Africa, Asia, Australia & Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America. The survey was conducted and promoted entirely online from August 1, 2016 through October 31, 2016. To reach a diverse global audience, the survey was published in English, French, and Spanish.