Leverus Annual Internet Survey for Associations and Non-profit Organizations:

The state of the Internet 2004

2

Goals of Session

• Trends in Internet Usage

• Focus on Communications where Appropriate

• Compare your Internet Usage with Others

3

Communications and the Web

• Web is pervasive to Association Sector

• Communications goals vary from organization to organization - Audience varies - Members, General Public, Government Relations, etc.

• Communications managers often have responsibility for the entire website

4

What the survey covers

1. Demographic Profile of Respondents

2. Website Planning

3. Website Maintenance

4. Website Budgeting

5. Web Design and Site Architecture

6. Website Usage (Organization Objectives & Services)

7. Website Communications

8. Source of Revenue

9. Website Hosting

10. NPO Internal Technology Usage

5

Who was Surveyed?

• More than 2000 Not-for-Profit Organizations directly invited to participate by e-mail

• Notification Placed in Newsletters of Related Groups – e.g. Canadian Fundraiser eNews, Charity Village, ePhilanthropy, CSAE

6

Respondent Profile

• 163 Respondents

• Majority from Ontario (About 50%)

• 22% of Respondents from U.S.

• 3% from other countries

7

Respondents: Type of Organization

0

10

20

30

40

Professional Industry PublicInterest

SocialAwareness

Charitable Others

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

8

Respondents: Staff Size

0

5

10

15

20

25

<1 1 2 3 to 5 6 to 10 11 to20

21 to30

>30

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

9

Number of Years Had a Website

0

10

20

30

40N

ow

ebsi

te

<1 y

ear 1 2 3 4 5 6

>6

Years

%ag

e R

esp

on

den

ts

10

% of Members with Internet Access

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Don't know <25% 26% to 50% 51% to 75% >75%

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

11

Website/Strategic Planning

• NPO’s are strategically planning their websites

• Plans are often prepared in-house

• Follow-up evaluation of websites is limited but improving

• Web traffic could be higher

12

Internet Strategy as part of overall strategic planning?

Yes65%

No35%

13

If strategy, who develops?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

In House External Combination

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

14

Integration of Web Strategy and Communications Strategy

• Inextricably linked

• Web is a tool to be used with Communications Strategy

• Communications Strategy is only one part of a broader Web Strategy

15

How often review web traffic?

0

10

20

30

40

50

Never Ocassionally Daily Weekly Monthly Annually

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

2003 2002

16

Visitors per month

0

10

20

30

40

50

<1 1 to 2.5 2.5 to 5 5 to 10 10 to 20 20 to 30 30 to 50

Thousands

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

17

Website Maintenance

• Content upload policies are limited

• Organizations are taking ownership of posting their content

• Many organizations have some in-house html capacity

• Self-admin capabilities are growing

18

How decide whether info is posted to the web?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Ad-hoc Informal Guidelines Formal Guidelines

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

2003 2002

19

Who posts new content?

0

20

40

60

80

External In House Combination

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

2003 2002

20

How is content posted?*

0

20

40

60

Not sure Externalcompany

In House (htmleditor)

In House (selfmanaged

interfaces)

Other

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

2003 2002

*Note: More than one method may be used.

21

Self-Administration Tools

• Empower associations to control their own content

• Allow for quick updating and editing

• Negate web programming knowledge

22

Newsletter: User Side

23

Newsletter: Administrator

24

Has your organization’s staff received any web-related training?

Yes60%

No40%

25

If yes, what type of training?

0

10

20

30

40

50

Basic InternetUsage

Html Other

% r

esp

on

den

ts

26

How many hours per month are devoted to supporting and maintaining your organization’s website?

0

10

20

30

<1 1 to 2 3 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 30 >30

% o

f Res

pond

ents

2003 2002

27

Website Budgeting

• Majority of organizations have a specific budget allocation for Web

• Web budget remains relatively low for many organizations

28

Do you allocate, on an annual basis, a specific budget amount for the Internet?

Yes67%

No33%

29

What percentage of your total budget is spent on Internet related costs?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

<1% 1 to 3 % 4 to 5 % 6 to 10% >10%

% o

f R

es

po

nd

en

ts

2003 2002

30

In total, what amount per year does your organization collectively spend on web hosting, external web support, Internal web staff and related Internet costs?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 to 5 K 5 to 10K

10 to 20K

20 to 30K

30 to 40K

40 to 50K

50 to 75K

Morethan 75

K

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

31

Web Design and Site Architecture

• Almost as many respondents unsatisfied with current web design as satisfied

• Many organizations feel their websites are easy to navigate

• Most organizations plan on re-designing their websites

32

How satisfied are you with your website’s current design?

0

10

20

30

40

50

Veryunsatisfied

Somewhatunsatisfied

Satisfied Very satisfied

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

33

In your opinion, is your website easy to navigate

0

10

20

30

40

50

Not easy Some whateasy

Easy Very easy

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

34

In the past two years has your organization re-designed its website?

0

20

40

60

80

Yes No Current site is lessthan 2 years

% o

f R

es

po

nd

en

ts

35

Has your organization ever re-designed its website?

Yes81%

No19%

36

In the next year do you expect your organization will re-design the website?

Yes60%

No40%

37

In the next three years do you expect your organization will re-design the website?

Yes80%

No20%

38

The Home Page

• Most valuable “Real Estate”

• Projects a feel and image to a visitor

• Navigation

• Dynamic Features

• First Introduction to Organization

39

Sample Home Page 1

40

Sample Home Page 2

41

Website Usage (Organization Objectives and Services)

• Consensus that websites are important for achieving organization objectives

• Mixed view of effectiveness in contributing to achieving overall objectives

• Websites are primarily used to deliver services• Most organizations plan on adding new interactive

services to their website

42

Please rate how important you feel your website is for contributing to the success of achieving overall organizational objectives.

0

10

20

30

40

50

Not Important SomewhatImportant

Important Very Important

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

2003 2002

43

Please rate how effectively you feel your website contributes to the success of your organization in meeting its overall objectives.

0

10

20

30

40

50

Not effective Somewhateffective

Effective Very effective

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

44

Please indicate how important (if applicable) the use of the web is for achieving the objectives that relate to your organization.

0 1 2 3 4

Generating Non-Dues Revenue

Increasing Membership

More effective use of staff time

Enhancing international presence of organization

Increasing profile for members

Cost Reductions - printing, mail, fax, etc.

Increasing profile for NPO issues

Reducing traditional communication costs

Increasing NPO credibility

Providing value added member services

Timely communication

Establishing organization presence as a key source forrelated information

3.4 24.2 37.2 35.3

3.4 24.2 37.2 35.3

45

Which of the following “typical” Association or Not-for-profit services are conducted on-line?

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Industry/Sector Directory

Surveying

Member Registration

Publication sales

Conference/tradeshow registration

Member directory

Educational opportunities/training

% of Respondents

46

Website is Used For?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Create non-dues revenues Perform operationalactivities/administration

Deliver member services

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

47

Which of the following interactive features does your organization use on its website?

0 20 40 60 80

Polls

Customized products

Collaborative environment

List servers

E-commerce

Discussion boards

Surveys

Job board

Members only section

Online directories

Web forms

Event calendar

% of Respondents

48

Does your organization plan to add any interactive web services to your website in the next year?

Yes66%

No34%

49

Does your organization plan to add any interactive web services to your website in the next three years?

Yes82%

No18%

50

Are your organization’s website and database capabilities integrated?

Yes31%

No69%

51

Website Communications

• NPO’s are migrating more communications to the web

• Most communications produced by Associations are available on the web

• Lack of resources remains largest barrier to communications on the web

52

How is information disseminated by your organization?

Print9%

Web3%

Combination88%

Print10%

Web1%

Combination89%

2003 2002

53

Print Media vs. Web Media

• Portable• Tactile• Appeals to a particular

Audience• Printing can be

expensive• Mailing and labelling

costs• Involves substantive

preparation time

• Must be viewed on a computer or PDA

• May not print well• Some prefer to not

have to read paper• Relatively inexpensive• Interactive• Multi-media• Can disseminate

quickly

54

What communication tools does the association produce and distribute to the general public? Please indicate which communications your organization produces and which are on the web.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Newsletters Advocacy Issue Briefs InformationBrochures

AnnualReports

Facts andFigures

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Produce

On Web

55

Sample: HTML Newsletter

56

Perceived barriers to communication on the Internet

0 10 20 30 40

Others

Members not on the Net

Perception of impact

Apathy

Lack of Resources

% of Respondents

2003 2002

57

Web as Source of Revenue

• Most feel that web advertising will remain steady or grow

58

Web Advertising?

Yes25%

No75%

59

Type of Web Advertising

0 5 10 15 20

Job Boards

Directory Listings

Website Sponsors

TradeshowSponsors

Banner Ads

% of Respondents

60

Future of Online Advertising (next two years)

0

20

40

60

Grow Quickly Grow Slowly RemainSteady

Decrease

61

Website Hosting

• Microsoft products are most popular platforms for hosting

• Most NPO websites reside with an Internet Service Provider (ISP)

• Hosting costs are highly variable

62

On what platform is your website hosted?

0

10

20

30

Linux Novell Unix Win 98 Win2000

Win NT WindowsServer2003

Other

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

63

Who hosts your website?

0

20

40

60

80

ISP (virtualhosting)

Co-located atISP

In HouseManaged

Server

Others

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

64

Monthly Hosting Fees

• 25% of respondents pay $15 or less

• 50% pay $50 or less

• 25% pay $200 or more

• 10% pay $500 or more

65

Internal Technology Usage

• MS Access is most popular database used

• High speed connection to Internet is common

• Internet Explorer is most often used web browser

66

Current connection to the Internet

0

10

20

30

40

28.8Modem

56.6Modem

ISDN xDSL Cable T1 T3 Others

67

Web Browsers

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Internet Explorer

Other

% of Respondents

68

Databases

0 10 20 30 40 50

No Database

Dbase

FileMaker Pro

MS Access

MSSQL

MySQL

Oracle

Paradox

Other

% of Respondents

69

Overall Emerging Trends

• In-house management of websites• Website are becoming a primary tool for

communications• Interactive technologies that create a more

dynamic feel to website are being adopted• Recognition of need for good design and

navigation

70

Concluding Comments

• NPO’s identify their websites as important• If you build it - will people come… and keep coming – (low

traffic, lack of constant evaluation)• Technology is being adopted by many organizations…but

slowly (budget and staff constraints, limited in-house knowledge of how technology can aid organization effectiveness)

• Resource restrictions limit the capability of NPO’s to fully exploit the opportunities of the Internet

• Web is identified as a critical tool by most organizations, yet few have a strategic process for managing content on the website

71

Questions for Consideration?

• Have I identified my web audience?• When was the last time you evaluated your web traffic…and acted on

the results?• Who prepared the strategic plan? Do you need some outside help?• What are your policies regarding content on the web? Does everyone

know what to upload? When? Who has approval rights?• Do you have an established budget for the web?• How does your budget for the web compare with the budget for other

communication and services vehicles?• Why do people visit your site – Content? Services?• Are your hosting fees market competitive?• How effectively do you think your website contributes to your

organization’s success?• What services are you running on the web? Off the web? Can they be

migrated to the web (in some capacity?)

72

Leverus Inc.

• Questions regarding session, electronic documents, suggestion for next year’s survey?

• Steve@leverus.com

• www.leverus.com