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eNonprofit Benchmarks Study (USA)

The eNonprofit Benchmarks Study is the first of its kind look at the effectiveness of major American nonprofit organizations using the Internet to raise money and influence public policy.

The eNonprofit Benchmarks Study provides a snapshot of key metrics and benchmarks for nonprofit e-mail communications, online fundraising and online advocacy, primarily taken from an in-depth review of statistics from 15 nonprofit organizations – six environmental organizations, six civil/legal rights organizations, and three international aid organizations.

The study is a tool that nonprofits can use to measure and compare their online performance to other organizations' online programs.

The study concludes that "While the size of an organization is not necessarily the prime measure for success on the Internet, a robust and strategic use of funds and other resources to sell a nonprofit's message to legislators, business leaders, potential donors and the general public, using all the online tools at one's disposal-even in conjunction with other communications media, like direct mail-is mandatory.

As demonstrated by the case studies illustrating many of the key points of this report, nonprofit organizations of even modest size can meet the challenges of advocacy, public education and fundraising by using innovative and aggressive tactics to spread their word, expand their subscriber base, and market themselves online.

What is especially key is being able to measure the successes (and failures) of online initiatives through proper tracking of key metrics, such as e-mail message open and response rates, in order to maximize the benefits of the Internet as a key tool to a nonprofit's communications success."