The Open Data Project [español, français] seeks to gain a better understanding of how nonprofits, NGOs, and charities worldwide use technology for digital marketing and fundraising. At the core of the project is the Global NGO Technology Survey and the data below is based on the survey responses of 1,160 nonprofits worldwide that use social media.

1) 87% of nonprofits worldwide use social media. Of those that use social media:

• 97% use Facebook Pages – up from 84% in 2019
• 73% use Instagram – up from 42% in 2019)
• 60% use Twitter – up from 46% in 2019
• 48% use LinkedIn Page – up from 28% in 2019
• 45% use YouTube – up from 26% in 2019
• 16% use WhatsApp – down from 28% in 2019
• 5% use TikTok
• 1% use Snapchat
• 1% use Twitch

2) 53% of nonprofits spend money on social media advertising. Of those, their 2021 budget for social media ads:

• 46%: Increased
• 38%: Stayed the same as their 2020 budget
• 16%: Decreased

3) Of those nonprofits that spend on social media advertising, these are the social media where they regularly post ads:

• 98%: Facebook Pages
• 47%: Instagram
• 17%: Twitter
• 16%: LinkedIn Page
• 8%: YouTube
• 6%: WhatsApp
• 1%: Snapchat
• 0%: TikTok and Twitch

4) Only 22% of nonprofits worldwide use UTM codes to monitor website traffic from social media. A UTM code is a portion of text added to the end of a URL that enables you to track visits to that URL.

5) 60% use a social media publishing and scheduling tool, such as Buffer, to update your organization’s accounts on social media. Of those that use a publishing and scheduling tool:

• 56%: To share most of our posts on social media accounts.
• 44%: To share some of our posts on social media accounts.

6) 52% of the nonprofit staff responsible for managing their nonprofit’s social media accounts have experienced social media burnout within the last 12 months.

Customized for small nonprofits on a limited budget, the Social Media Best Practices for Nonprofits webinar highlights current trends in using social media for fundraising, advocacy, and storytelling.

Facebook

7) Of the nonprofits worldwide who use Facebook, 37% also use Facebook Charitable Giving Tools – 63% do not. When asked why their nonprofit does not use Facebook Charitable Giving Tools, the 63% responded:

• 18%: Facebook Charitable Giving tools are not available in my country.
• 32%: Facebook Charitable Giving tools are available in my country, but we choose not to use them.
• 43%: They had never heard of Facebook Charitable Giving tools.
• 7%: Our organization does not need to fundraise.

8) When asked why their nonprofit chooses not to use Facebook Charitable Giving Tools, the 32% responded:

• 10%: Our organization has ethical concerns about using Facebook Charitable Giving Tools.
• 37%: Our organization has concerns about the contact information of Facebook donors not being provided.
• 18%: Executive staff do not want to provide the necessary information required for the Facebook Giving Tools application.
• 35%: Our organization does not believe we could raise much money on Facebook.

9) When asked about their fundraising experience with Facebook Charitable Giving Tools, the 37% of nonprofits who use Facebook Charitable Giving Tools responded:

• 22%: Our organization has raised slightly more money than we expected.
• 31%: Our organization has raised the amount of money we expected.
• 21%: Our organization has raised slightly less money than we expected.
• 12%: Our organization has raised significantly less money than we expected.

10) Of those nonprofits that use Facebook Charitable Giving Tools, respondents said the following tools raised the most money:

• 55%: Facebook Page Fundraisers created by supporters
• 41%: “Donate” button featured on their Facebook Page
• 27%: “Donate” button featured in a post
• 15%: Facebook Page Fundraisers created by their organization
• 8%: “Donate” button featured in a post with paid advertising
• 1%: Fundraiser stickers in Facebook Stories
• 1%: “Donate” button in Facebook Live video stream

Instagram

11) Of the nonprofits worldwide who use Instagram, 13% also use Instagram Charitable Giving Tools – 87% do not. When asked why their nonprofit does not use Instagram Charitable Giving Tools, the 87% responded:

• 18%: Instagram Charitable Giving tools are not available in my country.
• 23%: Instagram Charitable Giving tools are available in my country, but we choose not to use them.
• 52%: They had never heard of Instagram Charitable Giving tools.
• 7%: Our organization does not need to fundraise.

12) When asked about their fundraising experience with Facebook Charitable Giving Tools, the 87% of nonprofits who use Facebook Charitable Giving Tools responded:

• 7%: Our organization has raised significantly more money than we expected.
• 2%: Our organization has raised slightly more money than we expected.
• 34%: Our organization has raised the amount of money we expected.
• 32%: Our organization has raised slightly less money than we expected.
• 25%: Our organization has raised significantly less money than we expected.

13) Of those nonprofits that use Instagram Charitable Giving Tools, respondents said the following tools raised the most money:

• 57%: “Donate” button featured on their Instagram Profile
• 41%: Donation stickers in Instagram Stories
• 2%: “Donate” button in Instagram Live video stream

Please Note: Instagram Feed Fundraisers had not yet launched when the Global NGO Technology Survey was released, therefore are not factored into the data.

YouTube

14) Of the nonprofits worldwide who use YouTube, only 4% also use YouTube Giving Tools – 96% do not. When asked why their nonprofit does not use YouTube Giving Tools, the 96% responded:

• 51%: They had never heard of YouTube Giving Tools.
• 26%: YouTube Giving Tools are available in my country, but we do not meet the 10,000 subscriber minimum requirement.
• 14%: YouTube Giving Tools are not available in my country.
• 7%: Our organization does not need to fundraise.
• 2%: YouTube Giving Tools are available in my country and we meet the 10,000 subscriber requirement, but we choose not to use them.

Why the Open Data Project?

Most research about digital marketing and fundraising in the nonprofit sector is based on data from wealthy nations and thus often not applicable to charitable organizations worldwide. The Open Data Project [español, français] was created to address that lack of diversity in data.

Open Data Project Sponsors

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