Not surprisingly, our association and non-profit clients tend to be smaller in size than our global, for-profit customers, but their marketing and research issues are often the same.
At times, their objectives may focus on understanding facets of “membership” or optimizing “donations,” rather than “customers” and “payments.” That said, by and large, we help our association and non-profit clients with targeting and profiling, product and service development, advertising and promotions, website development, and customer or member satisfaction and retention. They benefit from our solid research fundamentals that apply to all types of organizations as well as our understanding for the nuances of association and non-profit management.
Website Redesign
Industry: Association Management
Area of Focus: Digital Assessment
Target: B2B
Method: Qual in-depths with stimulus sharing via the web
Background: Member association client wished to improve the content, features, and navigation of its website. A better site experience would lead to increased revenue as more engaged users pay for web-based content, utilize web-based seminars, and attend the association’s annual conventions and conferences.
Business Questions: How could the association’s website be improved to increase member usage? What content areas, functionalities, and navigation elements should be changed to ensure members are getting the most out of each website visit?
Approach: Interactive qualitative interviews (telephone interview with real-time web browser sharing) with association members.
Outcome: Strategic and tactical to-do lists for the association’s website team were developed, including tasks such as refocusing content areas to provide articles, changing the point sizes and colors of text on the site, revising the language used in navigation bars and menus, and simplifying the log-in process required to access customized content.
Association Member Value Enhancement
Industry: Associations and non-profits
Area of Focus: Product & Service Development and Refinement
Target: B2B
Method: Qual telephone in-depths and quant online survey
Background: Professional membership organization for equine veterinarians seeking to increase value to members in a challenging economy.
Business Question: How can the association help its members grow and retain business in a declining marketplace?
Approach: Qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys with horse owners, trainers, and breeders to identify what they value in a veterinarian and what would increase their usage of veterinary services.
Outcome: Using study findings, the organization developed a website to communicate the top ten actions member veterinarians can incorporate into their practices to increase their business. By providing actionable content, the association ensures its members get real value from memberships.
Donor Profile Study
Industry: Associations and non-profits
Area of Focus: Target Profiling & Message Optimization
Target: Consumers
Method: Quant Online Survey
Background: A non-profit that works in the U.S. and internationally by using soccer as a vehicle to assist under-served youth was interested in better understanding the profile of their recent donors and what would encourage those people to donate again in the future.
Business Question: What is the demographic and soccer-related profile of people who recently donated to the organization? How satisfied have they been with the organization in terms of communications and how their monies were utilized, and what would encourage more frequent donations?
Approach: Quantitative online survey with people who had donated to the organization within the past two years.
Outcome: Study findings helped the organization’s management change the frequency, mode, and content of messages to better engage recent donors.
