Three hundred and ninety-eight “Environmental & Conservation” organizations from 72 countries participated in the 2018 Global NGO Technology Report. Their responses are summarized below and contrasted with 518 “Environmental & Conservation” donors that participated in the 2017 Global Trends in Giving Report. The data is meant to provide benchmarks for environmental & conservation organizations so that they can gauge whether they are ahead or behind in their use online technology.

  • 89% of environmental and conservation organizations have a website. Of those, 88% are mobile compatible.
  • 75% use the .ORG domain. 10% use country codes. 7% use .COM. 1% use .NET. 1% use .NGO. 6% use other domains.
  • 45% use WordPress as their Content Management System for their website. 7% use Drupal. 2% use Joomla.  27% use another CMS and 19% don’t know.
  • 74% of environmental and conservation organizations accept online donations on their website. Of those, 76% accept credit card payments. 56% accept PayPal. 41% accept direct debit payments. 4% accept digital wallet payments. 1% accept Bitcoin.
  • 30% utilize an online peer-to-peer fundraising service.
  • 46% participate in #GivingTuesday.
  • 69% of environmental and conservation organizations regularly send email updates and fundraising appeals to supporters and donors. Of those, 59% use an email marketing service. 18% send email via their CRM. 7% send email via BCC. 10% send email through another method and 6% don’t know.
  • 11% regularly send text messages to supporters and donors. Of those, 41% also utilize a text-to-give service for SMS fundraising.
  • 92% of environmental and conservation organizations have a Facebook Page and 32% have a Facebook Group. 77% have a Twitter Profile.  57% have an Instagram Profile. 53% have a LinkedIn Page and 16% have a LinkedIn Group. Other social media used are: 62% YouTube, 26% Google+, 14% Flickr, 14% Pinterest, 9% Vimeo, 3% Tumblr, and 2% Reddit.
  • 22% use messaging apps to communicate with supporters and donors. Of those, 59% use WhatsApp. 55% use Facebook Messenger. 4% use Snapchat. 3% use LINE and WeChat. 4% use Signal.
  • 76% of environmental and conservation organizations use Microsoft Windows as their operating system on desktop and laptop computers. 12% use Apple macOS. 6% use Google Chrome OS. 2% use another operating system and 4% don’t know.
  • 41% use Google Android as their operating system on smartphones and tablets. 34% use Apple iOS. 6% use Windows Phone. 4% use another operating system and 15% don’t know.
  • 44% use a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) software to track donations and manage communications with supporters and donors. Of those, 74% use a cloud-based CRM.
  • 36% use encryption technology to protect data and communications. Of those, 31% to protect organization information. 27% to protect donor information. 23% to protect the privacy of email communications. 14% to protect the privacy of mobile communications.

Environmental and Conservation Donors

  • 41% of environmental and conservation donors are baby boomers. 31% are Gen Xers. 22% are millennials. 5% are from the Silent Generation. 1% are Gen Zers.
  • 73% are female. 26% are male. 1% are non-binary.
  • 78% are politically and socially liberal. 20% are moderate. 2% are conservative.
  • The top three domains trusted by environmental and conservation donors are: .org (76%), .edu (7%), and .ngo (5%). The least trusted domains are: .com (35%), .net (28%), and country code domains (11%).
  • 64% prefer to give online. 15% through direct mail. 12% at fundraising events. 5% through a mobile app or texting. 4% through workplace giving.
  • 27% are most inspired to give by email. 23% by social media. 13% by an organization’s website. 12% by a print newsletter or appeal. 3% by a TV ad. 2% by a radio ad. 1% by a text message. 1% by a phone call.
  • Of those environmental and conservation donors who say social media most often inspires them to give, 63% say Facebook is the most inspiring. 16% say Twitter. 9% say Instagram. 7% say YouTube. 2% say LinkedIn. 1% say other social media.
  • 46% are sustaining monthly donors.
  • 57% donate more during religious holidays.
  • 52% of environmental and conservation donors worldwide give to NPOs and NGOs outside of their country of residence.
  • 53% have attended a fundraising event within the past 12 months. Of those, 40% found out about the event via email. 26% via social media. 8% via a print publication.
  • 15% have created a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign to benefit their favorite environmental and conservation organization within the last 12 months. 37% have donated to a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign.
  • 64% of environmental and conservation donors have volunteered within the last 12 months. 25% found out about the volunteer opportunity email. 14% via social media. 14% from the organization’s website. 98% felt their volunteer work made an impact. 82% donated money to the organization that they volunteered for.
  • 83% are most inspired by communications of hope and empathy. 17% by anger and sadness.
  • 95% believe that environmental and conservation organizations must invest financial resources in digital communications in order to stay relevant.
  • 93% say that the organizations they donate to effectively keep them updated on their programs.
  • 93% say the organizations effectively express gratitude for their donations.
  • 73% say that social media Social media is a primary news source for staying current on the work of their favorite organizations.