the marketing communications needs of charities

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							                                                                                   www.mediatrust.org



the marketing & communications
needs of charities
Summary report of an in-depth research programme
September 2009




Funded by:                                                       Commissioned by Media Trust, research conducted by:


        www.improvingsupport.org.uk/marketingandcommunications
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           01



Foreword from Media Trust                                                                                                         Contents
There are over 160,000 registered           Media Trust is leading the ‘Marketing     This research provides a unique insight     Welcome                                     This Summary Report outlines the main
charities in England and Wales, and         and Communications’ work-stream of        into the capacity and capability for                                                    themes and conclusions from our in-depth
                                                                                                                                                                              research project. If you would like to study
countless other community groups            Capacitybuilders’ Improving Support       marketing and communications                Executive summary                      2    the full research findings, please contact the
and good causes vying for our               Services. The express aim of this work-   amongst front line and support                                                          Marketing & Communications Services Team
attention on a daily basis. With            stream is to improve marketing and        providers of all sizes and sectors across   Insufficient core investment in             at Media Trust.
a myriad of public campaigns, we are        communications support to the third       England. We hope that it will empower       Marketing & Communications             8
under a barrage of messages aimed           sector via support organisations.         them, like us, to push these                                                            contactus@mediatrust.org
                                                                                                                                                                              (Subject: Media Trust Research)
at trying to change our views and                                                     fundamental skills to the top of the        Online presence, but digital                +44 (0)207 217 3717
behaviour every single day, and this        This significant piece of new             third sector agenda and improve             benefits are unrealised                12
is coupled with millions of messages        research, commissioned by Media           support given on the ground to
that bombard us as consumers.               Trust as part of Improving Support,       charities in finding their voice and        Non-strategic marketing planning,
So, it is essential that delivery           suggests that there is much to do.        making it heard.                            urgent need for support                16
of outstanding marketing and                It reveals a sector that is hugely
communications activity should              aspirational, but often unsure of how                                                 Support from within the sector is
be at the very top of any charity’s         to secure commitment to marketing                                                     preferred, but difficult to access     20
priority list, if it is to make its voice   and communications activities, or
heard amongst this ever increasing          apply principles strategically.                                                       Aspiration within charities to raise
                                                                                      Gavin Sheppard
congestion of communication.                                                          Development Director                        the bar                                24
                                                                                      Media Trust

                                                                                                                                  Conclusions                            27

                                                                                                                                  Media Trust                            28
Executive summary                                                                                                            02   Executive summary                                                                                                                03




With funding available          The research was specially designed to
                                identify:
                                                                               The research focussed on three aspects of
                                                                               marketing and communication namely,
                                                                                                                                  Overall, across all size        • Insufficient core investment – the research
                                                                                                                                                                    suggests that at a fundamental level there
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     • Support from within the sector – this was
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       repeatedly identified, as a preferred option
from the ‘Marketing and                                                        marketing planning, online and digital             and type of organisations         is a lack of management and stakeholder            as it was felt like-minded groups fully
Communications’ work-           • The strengths and weaknesses of the existing activity, plus marketing support and
                                  marketing and communications of frontline operations. In each instance organisations
                                                                                                                                  questioned, a number of           support for training and strengthening
                                                                                                                                                                    marketing spend
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       understood the role, value and ethics of the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Third Sector from experience. However, there
stream for Capacitybuilders’      and support charities                        were asked to assess their current                 general themes emerged                                                               was no clear route to access these groups.
Improving Support Services,                                                    performance and identify their priority for
                                • The marketing and communications needs improvement.
                                                                                                                                  from the research, indicating   • Unrealised digital benefits – despite most
                                                                                                                                                                    organisations questioned having an online        • Desire to raise the bar – despite the various
Media Trust commissioned          of front line charities                                                                         key areas of concern and          presence nearly all expressed concern that         challenges and issues identified by the
research to identify the        • The services currently available from support
                                                                                                                                  priorities for improvement.       their full potential for digital marketing and
                                                                                                                                                                    communications was not realised
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       research, there is an underlying aspiration
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       for all groups to improve marketing and
capability and capacity           organisations to meet those needs                                                                                                                                                    communications within their sector.
for marketing and               • The potential gaps in the services available
                                                                                                                                                                  • Lack of strategic planning – with a variety
                                                                                                                                                                    of diverse, short-term activities most groups
communications support                                                                                                                                              identified a significant gulf between
in the Third Sector; and        • The priorities for developed or new services
                                  to fill the gaps and, by implication, where
                                                                                                                                                                    recognizing the urgent need to plan
                                                                                                                                                                    marketing and communication strategies for
to explore how support            funding should be targeted                                                                                                        the long term and the ability to do so
organisations can best
help to enhance these
capabilities within frontline
organisations.
Research background                                                              04   Research background                                                                                  05




Our methodology,                                    Small
                                                   <£0.5m
                                                             Medium
                                                            £0.5-£2.5m
                                                                         Large
                                                                         >£2m
                                                                                      The quantitative research which followed
                                                                                      and forms the basis of this report was
                                                                                                                                         Analysis of the different types and sizes of
                                                                                                                                         organisations confirmed the initial qualitative
respondent profile and                                                                designed to measure the needs and level            insight - that marketing behaviour was more
segmentation                                        273         83        48
                                                                                      of support available in the third sector
                                                                                      in England in more detail. 404 organisations
                                                                                                                                         similar between like-sized organisations than
                                                                                                                                         between organisations from the same tier.
Prior to conducting this study, our research                                          were contacted (from a sample provided             Thus, size by annual turnover was the most
partners BPRI conducted an initial stage of                                           by Guidestar) and representatives from             reliable and comprehensive way of
qualitative research: an exploratory study of                                         each participated in a 25-minute                   segmenting common behaviour within a
16 face-to-face in-depth interviews with                                              telephone interview, conducted by BPRI             sector that is notoriously wide-ranging and
organisatons of mixed size and status (frontline                                      between 13th and 23rd January, 2009.               difficult to segment. Our results are therefore
and support organisation status). Key insights                                        This survey investigated:                          segmented across small, medium and large
from this initial research were that many third                                                                                          sized organisations.
sector organisations had no formal, structured,                                       • The size, structure and function or specialism
marketing and communications process, thus                                              of the organisation
precluding the use of process mapping for
streamlining work. Also size, rather than status                                      • Their planning and marketing activity
seemed to determine the organisation’s
approach to their marketing and                                                       • The existence and use of their
communications. Finally, the level of                                                   web presence
marketing activity carried out and the need
for support differed greatly from organisation                                        • Their operational effectiveness
to organisation.
                                                                                      • Their success at accessing support
Research background                                                                                                                                 06   Research background                                                                                                                                 07




In order to achieve             Annual income                                             Organisation type                                              The Priority and Aspiration                                                                                                   Service requirement
representative results,             Small                                      48             Frontline                    51                            Matrix                                                      Maintain                          Raise the bar                   Quality
the sample profile                  Medium
                                                                          83
                                                                                              2nd tier
                                                                                                                     61
                                                                                                                                           210           For an overview of how organisations felt    Strong         results in this sector indicate
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     that marketing and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       results in this sector
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       indicate that even where
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       enhancement

encompassed an even
                                    Large                                                     Frontline & 2nd tier
                                                                                                                                                         about their current performance in a given                  communication activity is         an effective marketing
                                                                                    273                                                                                                                              at a satisfactory level.          and communications
                                                                                              Other                       82                             area, and how they prioritise areas for
spread of organisations                                                                                                                                  improvement, the research results were
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     However, vigilance is
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     required to maintain it,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       operation was in place,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       there was still an aspiration

by specialism, geographical                                                                                                                              charted in a matrix format.                                 keep abreast of market
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     advances and ensure there
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       for further improvement to
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       set new standards.




                                                                                                                                                                                                       Performance
location, rural vs. urban
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     is no drop in standards
                                Organisation specialism                                   Office location by area                                                                                                    caused by complacency.

location, size by staff, size       Disability/special needs 278/404                          London                       30
                                                                                                                                18
                                                                                                                                          88                                                                         Let it slide                      Urgent action                   Basic toolkits
by turnover, and frontline          Education/training 232/404                                South east             38                                                                                              marketing and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     communications are
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       results in this sector
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       indicate that marketing
as well as support                  Children/young people 209/404                             South west             34
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     under-performing and the          and communications are
                                                                                                                                               78
                                                                                                                      44                                                                                             organisation lacks the will,      underperforming and
organisation status.
                                    General public 206/404                                    West midlands
                                                                                                                               33    41                                                                              the resources or the time         require immediate action
                                    The elderly 134/404                                       East England                                                                                                           to improve.                       to ensure that various
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       processes are effective and
                                    General charitable purposes 130/404                       Yorks and Humber                                                                                        Weak                                             supported.

                                    Other charities/voluntary bodies 126/404                  North west

                                    Medical/health/sickness 119/404                           East midlands

                                    Economic/community/                                       North east
                                    development/employment 84/404                                                                                                                                                    Low                Improvement priority                  High

                                    Relief of poverty 66/404
                                           Insufficient core investment in Marketing & Communications                                                                                                 09



Insufficient core investment in
Marketing & Communications                 Research revealed that smaller charities lack
                                           marketing resource and management.
                                                                                             Charities with a specific
                                                                                                                          Large                                                             81%
                                                                                             Marketing team/dept
                                           Despite the advantages that come with
                                           increased size, fewer than half of large                                      Medium                                  47%
                                           charities have a Marketing Director on the
                                                                                                                           Small            20%
                                           Board. In fact, all interviews highlighted
Greater funding, allocation of             challenges around the budget available for
                                                                                             Charities with a
                                           marketing and communications.                                                  Large                              42%
resources and proactive management                                                           Marketing Director on
are key to improving marketing and                                                           the Board of Trustees
                                           This lack of senior management and trustee                                    Medium              22%
communications of charities. However,      support for marketing makes it difficult to
                                                                                                                           Small      13%
the lack of financial and human            secure the necessary funding for such
resources at every level severely limits   activities. This is compounded by the fact that
                                           most organisations lack resource to prove a       Charities with an Annual     Large
the effectiveness of these sectors.                                                                                                                                                            85%
                                           direct link between marketing spend and the       Marketing Budget
                                           effective delivery of tangible results –                                      Medium                                      52%
                                           although the opportunity to measure the
                                           outcome of projects did emerge as a priority                                    Small                   29%
                                           for most groups.




                                                                                                                                   Respondents were asked whether their organisation had
                                                                                                                                   a specific marketing, PR or communication team, whether
                                                                                                                                   someone from these disciplines was represented at director level
                                                                                                                                   and if they had an annual marketing budget.
Insufficient core investment in Marketing & Communications                                                                                             10   Insufficient core investment in Marketing & Communications                                                                            11


                                                                                                                                                                                                              Measure outcomes of projects
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     55%                       28%     12% 5%

                                                                                                                                                                                                              Setting up and maintaining a contact database
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    54%               22%                  22%
The priorities for investing                         Where there is communications budget to
                                                     allocate, most organisations are still opting
                                                                                                          Once again, respondents expressed a
                                                                                                          tendency to rely on tactical activities around
                                                                                                                                                            With such limited resources available
                                                                                                                                                            to them, third sector organisations in general
funds, where available, was                          to invest in traditional marketing activities; for   specific projects, instead of adopting a          and small organisations in particular struggle
                                                                                                                                                                                                              Ensuring brand identity is consistent
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               48%               22%                       26%
also revealing.                                      example printed newsletters, mailouts, leaflets
                                                     and event-related activities for networking
                                                                                                          strategic perspective on planning marketing
                                                                                                          and communications activities. Additionally,
                                                                                                                                                            to identify the best way to allocate their
                                                                                                                                                            budgets in order to show a return on their
                                                                                                                                                                                                              Securing funding for core marketing
Smaller organisations often have no budget           purposes.                                            emphasis on marketing activities is placed        investment. This needs to be addressed
at all allocated for marketing activities whilst                                                          on those which tactically may contribute to       so that organisations can devise an effective                                    46%                     30%             16%     9%
in many larger organisations, what budget            Only 15% of smaller organisations use digital        networking opportunities (for example both        marketing and communications plan that can
                                                                                                                                                                                                              Demonstrating innovation to secure funding
there is, is often linked to specific projects       marketing and social media as opposed                attending external events and organising          be easily implemented with results that can
or fundraising rather than to marketing and          to 44% of large organisations, and overall           proprietary events), and publicity (for           be measured.                                                                     45%                         35%          13% 7%
communication in general. This is reinforced         our research revealed that all organisations         example, press releases).
by a perception that funders prefer to               regardless of size still focus their marketing                                                         In summary, securing funding specifically         Calculating the return of marketing investments
allocate financial support to innovative             and communication efforts on traditional,            In summary, due to tactical allocation            for marketing and communications is a                                          43%                     29%               18%    10%
projects rather than building durable in-house       mainstream activities. There is a perceived          of marketing budget, organisations are            fundamental concern across the third sector.
marketing infrastructure. However it is the latter   hesitance in employing emerging marketing            channelled into performing equally tactical       Many are aware that this requires innovation      Engaging internal staff with marketing plan
that would help to raise the overall profile         tools, such as online social networking,             activities, at which point they lean on           and planning but so often they lack the ability
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    35%                         34%                   23%    8%
of the organisation, enabling it to be better        mobile, eMarketing despite the lower                 traditional means of communicating to             or access to support to take this next step
seen and heard and subsequently establish            cost opportunities and more accurately               audiences. This has the potential to widen the    and take the action they know is necessary.       Identifying how to get training for marketing needs
relationships with the public and potential          measurable benefits of these channels.               gap between how they communicate, and             Subsequently, this is an area where support
                                                                                                          how their audiences increasingly prefer to        providers have an opportunity to help make                          29%                              40%                  23% 7%
funders alike.
                                                                                                          receive information.                              a marked improvement.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  8 - 10                        1-3
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  4-7                           Don’t know

                                                                                                                                                                                                              All groups were asked how important they think it is for their
                                                                                                                                                                                                              organisation to improve its performance on each activity by
                                                                                                                                                                                                              assigning a score out of 10.
                                         Online presence, but digital benefits are unrealised                                                                                                                                             13



Online presence, but digital benefits
are unrealised                           Of all the organisations questioned almost all,
                                         regardless of size, have a website. However,
                                                                                                                 8

                                         the quality of their online offer varies. The
                                                                                                  Strong
                                         research shows that larger organisations                                                                                  Ensuring consistent visual identity
                                         understand the need to exploit their web                                                                                                   Ensuring content is compliant
                                                                                                                 7
                                         presence via investment, innovation and
                                                                                                                                                                                     Keeping content up-to date
The Internet offers huge potential       keeping abreast of changes in technology;
                                         whereas smaller organisations often lack
resources for the third sector. Almost
                                         the funding, skills and will to fully exploit
all of organisations consulted have




                                                                                                   Performance
                                                                                                                 6
                                         the potential of their web presence. The                                                                     Working out cost of the website
websites but only larger organisations   differences between these different groups
seem able to begin to realise the        are reflected in their priorities for change.                                                                                                               Monitoring internet

full potential offered by their online                                                                           5
                                         Small charities were primarily concerned                                                                                                                         Driving traffic via relevant links
presence. Small and medium
                                         with ensuring their websites complied with                                                              Securing funding maintenance
organisations can find the complexity    regulations, that the content was kept up to
and nature of the technology             date and that they could somehow maximise
                                                                                                                 4
particularly daunting.                   online fundraising opportunities.
                                                                                                                                                                                                              Maximising online funding
                                                                                                  Weak                                                      Understanding new media
                                         Medium charities identified different priorities
                                         including monitoring and understanding
                                                                                                                 3                              Developing interactive experience
                                         Internet traffic, driving traffic efficiently to their
                                         site via links and again, unsurprisingly like                               3         3.5         4        4.5       5         5.5         6          6.5        7           7.5         8
                                         their smaller counterparts, maximising their                                                Low                       Improvement priority                                High
                                         fundraising opportunities.
                                                                                                                     All groups were asked about their current performance in various
                                                                                                                     aspects of setting-up and maintaining a web presence and how
                                                                                                                     they prioritised their need to improve in each one.
Online presence, but digital benefits are unrealised                                                                                                                14   Online presence, but digital benefits are unrealised                                                                                                            15


                                                 All groups were asked how           Keeping content updated                                                                                                                All groups were asked to          Keeping content updated
                                                 important they think it is for                                                                                                                                             rate their performance on a
                                                 their organisation to improve its                                             64%           19%          15%                                                               number of activities that other                        35%                           36%          13%
                                                 performance on each activity                                                                                                                                               organisations say they do when
                                                 by assigning a score out of 10.                                                                                                                                            setting up and maintaining a
                                                                                     Ensuring content is compliant                                                                                                          web presence by providing a       Ensuring content is compliant
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            rating out of 10.
                                                                                                                               62%           19%         14%                                                                                                                   26%                           34%         9%         5%
Large charities expressed a desire to explore                                                                                                                            Finally, they are also anxious about the
and exploit the numerous benefits new media                                          Ensuring consistent visual identity
                                                                                                                                                                         perceived costs of investing in an area (of                                          Ensuring consistent visual identity
and social networking may provide while              8 - 10
                                                                                                                                                                         which they have little or no understanding)            8 - 10
developing an interactive user-experience                                                                                55%               22%           18%             and the risk of not achieving maximum                                                                              47%                          35% 5%
and again, using this channel as a tool to           4-7                                                                                                                 return. So, similar to securing core investment,       4-7
                                                                                     Maximising online fundraising                                                                                                                                            Maximising online fundraising
secure ongoing funding.                              1-3                                                                                                                 they recognise the various relevant factors            1-3
                                                     Don’t know                                                       52%                  25%       15% 7%              but lack the access to support to make the             Doesn’t do                                      49%                 38%            28%          21%
However all size groups seem unsure about                                                                                                                                necessary changes. So, although smaller
                                                                                     Driving traffic via relevant web links                                                                                                     Don’t know                    Driving traffic via relevant web links
how to implement these priorities, improve                                                                                                                               groups acknowledge they are missing out on
their online capabilities and generally seem                                                                       48%                       36%         13%             the full and growing potential of this channel                                                               56%                   46%           23% 6% 5%
to feel out of their depth.                                                                                                                                              they feel the need to cover the basics and
                                                                                     Monitoring internet traffic                                                         understand their options first.                                                      Monitoring internet traffic
Looking more closely at these problems, the                                                                     46%                         34%      13% 6%                                                                                                                  29%                           42%           17% 5% 6%
following factors emerged as key challenges                                                                                                                              Larger charities, on the other hand, are able
for the smaller organisations. They frequently                                       Developing interactive experience                                                   to take advantage of the Internet to a much                                          Developing interactive experience
lack in-house capabilities to maintain and                                                                                                                               greater degree often with dedicated human
                                                                                                          39%                          36%               20% 5%                                                                                                       20%                31%                 34%                25%
update their website. This lack of specialist                                                                                                                            resources. They use their larger budgets to
expertise means they are unable to take                                              Understanding new media
                                                                                                                                                                         maintain and extend their online presence                                            Understanding new media
advantage of the opportunities of Web 2.0,                                                                                                                               and optimise the channel including tracking
and have a lack of confidence with new tools                                                              38%                              40%           17% 5%          traffic, introducing interactive features and                                         10%                       35%                 29%                22%
such as social networking sites.                                                                                                                                         developing relevant links to boost traffic.
                                                                                     Securing funding for maintenance                                                                                                                                         Securing funding for maintenance
                                                                                                          38%                        32%            22%        8%                                                                                                9%                      31%               21%                19% 4%

                                                                                     Working out cost of website                                                                                                                                              Working out cost of website
                                                                                              22%                  27%                             39%     11%                                                                                                                     38%                    31% 7%          14%       9%
                                          Non-strategic marketing planning, urgent need for support                                                                                                          17



Non-strategic marketing planning,
urgent need for support                   In the course of our research, the ability of
                                          all charities to organise and implement their
                                                                                           Satisfaction with ability
                                                                                                                         Small             21%                                                  64%    12%
                                                                                           to organise marketing
                                          marketing and communications activity, into      and communication
                                          a cohesive, well structured and productive                                   Medium                    29%                                            55%    14%
                                                                                           activity
                                          system scored the lowest satisfaction rating
                                                                                                                        Large                  27%                                                    67% 6%
                                          of all the themes we explored. Less than a
All charities recognise the urgent need   quarter of charities questioned were satisfied
                                          with their current performance.                                                              8 - 10 out of 10             1 - 3 out of 10
for them to improve their approach to
                                                                                                                                       4 - 7 out of 10              Don’t know
marketing planning, looking at a more
productive strategic approach rather
than relying on their more typical
tactical methods and decisions.
Amongst all organisations there was
a consistently large gap between
current performance and priority to
improve.




                                                                                                                                 All groups were asked how they would rate their satisfaction
                                                                                                                                 with their organisations ability to organise marketing and
                                                                                                                                 communications activity by assigning a score out of 10.
Non-strategic marketing planning, urgent need for support                                                                                                                              18   Non-strategic marketing planning, urgent need for support                                                                                                                         19




Our research would seem to indicate that                                                                                                                                                    Of course, as previously identified, part of                       8
                                                 Satisfaction with       Organise marketing and
some of the reasons for this dissatisfaction     ability to...           communication activity                  23%                                                 62%    12%             this problem lies in the fact that marketing
are endemic in the third sector as a whole,                              Set up and maintain a                                                                                              budgets are often dominated by funding
                                                                                                                                 43%                                40%    10%    7%                                                            Strong
particularly as most organisations seem to                               web presence                                                                                                       for specific projects at the expense of
lack clearly defined marketing goals. As these                           Develop the effectiveness                                                                                          organisational requirements. This is further
                                                                                                                         33%                                               60%   4%                                                                            7
elements are key to establishing a distinctive                           of its operations                                                                                                  characterised by charities struggling to
profile and conveying succinct messages                                                                                                                                                     commit precious limited funds to areas where
to larger audiences there’s a negative                                                                   8 - 10 out of 10              1 - 3 out of 10                                      the best return on their investment is not clear.
impact on funding as a consequence. This                                                                 4 - 7 out of 10               Don’t know                                           One noteworthy side effect of this project-by-




                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Performance
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               6
is compounded by an inability to identify                                                                                                                                                   project approach to marketing investment is
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Communicating internally
marketing priorities so that they fall back                                                                                                                                                 that can also limit internal communication. So,                                                                                                   Effective networking
on tried and tested approaches. However,                                                                                                                                                    to solve this flawed short-term approach will
these tactical approaches concentrate on         Ease of             Organising your marketing                                                                                              bring with it the innate benefit of improving                                                    Achieving internal agreement                Allocating budget
                                                                                                      8%                           38%                   27%        9%           27%                                                                           5
traditional marketing activities over and        accessing           and communications activity                                                                                            the group’s in-house unity.                                                                                                                          Identifying priorities
                                                 help...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Productive media Links
above more progressive (and often cheaper)                           Setting up and maintaining
                                                                     a web presence                          19%                           37%           18%        7%      14%    4%                                                                                                                                                               Strategic goals
solutions such as digital marketing.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Calender of activities
                                                                     Developing the effectiveness
                                                                     of operations                     9%                               43%                     30% 6% 10%                                                                                     4


                                                                                                         Very easy                     Quite difficult               Never tried                                                                Weak

                                                                                                         Quite easy                    Very difficult                Don’t know
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Managing budget cuts
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               3

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   3         3.5      4           4.5        5          5.5      6            6.5      7          7.5     8

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Low                           Improvement priority                           High

                                                                                                     All groups were asked how they would rate their satisfaction                                                                                                  All groups were asked about their current performance in
                                                                                                     with their organisations ability to organise marketing and                                                                                                    various aspects of marketing and communication and how they
                                                                                                     communications activity by assigning a score out of 10.                                                                                                       prioritised their need to improve in each one.
                                           Support from within the sector is preferred, but difficult to access                                                                                   21



Support from within the sector is
preferred, but difficult to access         68% of organisations believed that support
                                           providers should share their ethical viewpoints
                                                                                             Support provider should share our ethical viewpoints

                                           while 59% specifically demanded third sector                                 42%                  26%        14%     9%    4% 4%

                                           experience from their support providers.
                                           However, the reality of how this level of         Support providers should have third sector experience
                                           support can be achieved was called into                               33%                 26%                23%     10%    6%
All organisations recognised the           question: 74% of charities were not confident
                                           about the ease of accessing support from          Easy to access support from third sector support organisations
need to seek support for marketing
                                           third sector support organisations.                 11%         15%                       32%           18%        13%     11%
and communications initiatives.
However, it was universally asserted                                                         Easy to access support from private sector
that the most invaluable support                                                              10%        14%               22%             20%                21%     12%
would come from inside the third
sector. It is perceived that these like-                                                     I need to access support out of office hours

minded organisations share the same                                                            11%     10%       13%              21%                               42%
core values and deep understanding
                                                                                             Private sector more innovative than third sector
of the experience, capabilities and
                                                                                              8%      12%                23%                 25%              20%     11%
needs of charities.


                                                                                                 Agree strongly                 Neither agree nor disagree                    Disagree strongly
                                                                                                 Agree slightly                 Disagree slightly                             Don’t know

                                                                                             All groups were asked to rate their agreement with certain
                                                                                             statements relating to working with like-minded organisations.
Support from within the sector is preferred, but difficult to access                                                                                            22   Support from within the sector is preferred, but difficult to access                                                              23


                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Volunteers
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                17%                                     52%

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Professional Contacts / Mentors

The third sector differs intrinsically from                                                                                                                          As a whole, the research indicated lower than                  22%                           40%
                                                   Ease of accessing
the private sector, as it is heavily reliant       help from external
                                                                             Small 6%                      31%                    30%       11%           22%        expected use of support organisations. Some,
on individuals, peer groups and goodwill                                                                                                                             particularly smaller, organisations, appeared       Other Charities
                                                   bodies with marketing
rather than external marketing support. The                                Medium    10%                                   48%               22%    8%   11%         unaware that such support organisations even               17%                              43%
                                                   and communications
most common sources of support used by             activity                                                                                                          existed. Overall, it would appear that charities
                                                                            Large      13%                                            58%          17%    8%
those interviewed were listed as: volunteers,                                                                                                                        rely heavily on word of mouth referrals for         Personal Friends
professional resources, contacts and mentors,                                                                                                                        marketing and communications support and            7%                                    51%
other charities and personal friends. It is the                                         Very easy                   Quite difficult              Never tried         while this is partly due to a desire to work with
often diverse and frequently disparate nature                                           Quite easy                  Very difficult               Don’t know          peers, it is also an indication that access to      Support Organisations
of these groups that may have a bearing on                                                                                                                           formal support is confused.                                      24%             22%
the lack of confidence of organising and
accessing support.                                                                                                                                                   To this end, charities of all sizes universally     Private Sector (paid for)
                                                                                                                                                                     prioritised an online directory of support
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                18%              21%
Although some organisations did use support                                                                                                                          organisations in the third sector indicating
from the private sector, whether paid-for or                                                                                                                         that, at present they don’t know where to
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Private Sector (pro bono)
pro bono, this was a relatively small number                                                                                                                         look for support. This would give them an
and often only the result of the organisation                                                                                                                        invaluable resource they could access                    14%              23%
being unaware of third sector support. There                                                                                                                         independently to meet their diverse and
was certainly no evident belief that the private                                                                                                                     changing needs.                                     Head Office/Sister Organisation
sector could provide more innovative support                                                                                                                                                                             4%           20%
than like-minded groups.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         None                                                            Spontaneous
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  20%        15%                                         Prompted

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         All groups were asked what sources of help have they used for
                                                                                    All groups were asked how easy they find it to access help from                                                                      support with their marketing and communications.
                                                                                    external bodies and organisations with organising their marketing
                                                                                    and communications activity.
                                          Aspiration within charities to raise the bar                                                                                                         25



Aspiration within charities to
raise the bar                             The majority of organisations recognised
                                          the crucial importance of optimising their
                                                                                               Of all the groups studied, larger charities
                                                                                               seem to be best served by their current
                                                                                                                                                 In turn, support agencies should directly
                                                                                                                                                 address some of the most basic gaps
                                          marketing and communications activity.               activities, funding and support. While smaller    identified in the research by encouraging
                                          While all size charities aspire to improve in this   charities share many of the same challenges       marketing spend by demonstrating a clear
                                          area, small and medium organisations tend            and needs, they frequently lack the               link between investment and both long and
                                          to have a different set of priorities from the       resources and manpower to implement               short-term benefits. They should advance
If the general conclusions of this        larger charities, which highlights how vital         certain initiatives.                              the understanding and promote the wider
                                          it is for the appropriate support to be tailored                                                       benefits of digital marketing, as well
research indicate widespread
                                          to each size to best meet their needs.               Consequently, medium size organisations           as increase the awareness of and access
challenges facing marketing and                                                                emerged as the most receptive to and in           to relevant support organisations.
communications provision in third                                                              need of the greatest support. By concentrating
sector organisations, it also indicates                                                        resources here and targeting these groups,     Finally, as this richly diverse sector demonstrates,
a desire to improve. Charities                                                                 support agencies will also provide relevant    one size definitely does not fit all. Consequently,
                                                                                               solutions for smaller charities.               successful support organisations should aim
aspire to increase their marketing
                                                                                                                                              to gather more information to better understand
and communications capabilities                                                                                                               this complex and fragmented sector and
and activities and to raise the bar,                                                                                                          tailor their services accordingly.
set new benchmarks and achieve
best practice. Furthermore, there
is a feeling that the best and most
applicable innovation will come from
within the third sector, rather than
looking to the private sector.
Aspiration within charities to raise the bar                                                                                                                                 26   Conclusion                                                                           27




Ultimately, the details of this research should
                                                    Satisfaction with
                                                                                                                                                                                  All the research findings point to         So, the future is one of real optimism,
act as a springboard for support groups to                                     Small                      32%                                                 60% 5%
                                                    ability to develop                                                                                                            enormous appetite and potential            where this research can act as a
match their offer to appropriate areas within
charities, prioritising those areas identified as
                                                    the effectiveness of
                                                                             Medium                              40%
                                                                                                                  25%                                              58%            to Improve (Marketing &                    powerful tool, a catalyst for real
                                                    your oganisation’s
urgent.                                             operations                                                                                                                    Communications) Support throughout         change, and a prompt for further
                                                                              Large                     29%                                                   63%   4% 4%
                                                                                                                                                                                  our sector. Whilst the need for support    detailed insight into the sector.
Small groups need help building their                                                                                                                                             and development are quite clearly
capacity, which is best done through basic                                                 8 - 10 out of 10              1 - 3 out of 10
                                                                                                                                                                                  identified (even if their solutions in
toolkits for quick win/low investment marketing                                            4 - 7 out of 10               Don’t know
activity, with access to an online advice
                                                                                                                                                                                  every case are not), the genuine
portal and a training offer for volunteers to                                                                                                                                     ambition for third sector organisations
create a more consistent and cohesive                                                                                                                                             to improve their marketing and
resource.                                           Ease of accessing          Small
                                                                                                                                                                                  communication activities so that they
                                                                                        8%                              40%                      31% 7%            11%
                                                    help from external                                                                                                            deliver tangible benefits can be fully
Medium groups emerge as the most receptive          bodies with developing
to outreach programmes, where mentoring,            the effectiveness of
                                                                             Medium       12%                                        52%                     25%   4%   6%        realised if effective solutions are made
toolkits, expertise and access to an enhanced       your oganistations
                                                                              Large
                                                                                                                                                                                  easily accessible, and if the necessary
                                                    operations                          8%                                 44%                          35%         8%
online community will be the most profitable                                                                                                                                      investment in marketing and
action.
                                                                                           Very easy                     Quite difficult               Never tried
                                                                                                                                                                                  communications is led at a strategic
                                                                                           Quite easy                    Very difficult                Don’t know
                                                                                                                                                                                  level.
Large groups need help enhancing and
maintaining their marketing capability, which
is best served by offering training in innovative
and emerging areas in addition to best
practice guidance.
                                                                                       All groups were asked to rate how satisfied they are with their
                                                                                       current ability to develop the effectiveness of their operations as
                                                                                       well as their ease of accessing external help
Media Trust                                                                                                                                                                                              28




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