Back Market Research: It Doesn't Need to Be Expensive or Complex
Market research is an essential part of success for not-for-profit organizations as much as for corporate ones. However, too many not-for-profits give up on the idea because they assume that such research is beyond the capacity of the organization. It needn't be.

Not-for-profits talk with their target markets all the time. Marketing simply requires that they use some of that contact to learn specific information that will help them more precisely define their target audiences and better understand their wants and needs, and to test the assumptions that the organization has relative to each.

Here are some inexpensive but useful ways of collecting information. They are from Gary Stern, author of Marketing Workbook, a useful and understandable how-to book on not-for-profit marketing.

Ask Around

Obviously, this isn't a rocket-science suggestion. However, a few well-placed calls can turn up important information that can then be tested through subsequent and more extensive calling or asking.

Look Close to Home

If an organization's questions have to do with customer satisfaction - whether the customer is a service client, a member, a donor, or a volunteer - the answers may be quite close to home. These ideas can be employed fairly simply - using a phone call or short written survey - or more formally:
  • Regularly invite customers or participants to recommend improvements. Follow up with people who show initial interest in programs or services but don't sign on. Look for patterns in the responses.
  • Conduct exit interviews with people who sever their relationship, whether by quitting a program, failing to renew a membership, or refusing volunteer requests. Look for patterns in the responses.
  • Ask front-line staff for their observations.
Check with Known Data Collectors

Many organizations collect data that might answer questions regarding the size of an organization's potential clientele or how it behaves. They may include:
  • The local United Way;
  • Research centers and institutes, local universities and colleges;
  • Public libraries;
  • Government agencies, including the Census Bureau; and
  • Research departments of advertising agencies
More technical market research can be conducted using written surveys and/or focus groups. The first is better for collecting data on a large number of items from large numbers of people. The latter is better for collecting information on the subtleties of values, needs, and desires that really move your target audience. While better at identifying this important qualitative information, focus groups are small - 10 to 12 people usually - and therefore give limited data. Focus group research usually should be followed up by survey research to test the small-group information against the large-group numbers.

For these more technical research ventures, you may need skilled assistance. Organizations unable to afford a commercial research firm should explore whether pro bono help may be available from some of these places:
  • Advertising and public relations agencies;
  • Business administration graduate students;
  • Corporate marketing departments; and
  • Government agencies.

©Rebecca K. Leet. Adapted from an article in Strategic Governance for Nonprofit Executives and Boards, July 1996.
 
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