Report Reveals How NGOs Around the World Use Online Technology and Social Media

RESTON, Virginia, Jan. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Public Interest Registry, the not-for-profit operator of the .org, .ngo and .ong domains and Nonprofit Tech for Good today revealed the results of the "2017 Global NGO Online Technology Report." The second annual report uncovers how non-governmental organisations (NGOs) worldwide use web, email and mobile communications, online fundraising tools, and social media.

The report details the key findings from a survey of 4,908 NGO respondents from 153 countries across Africa, Asia, Australia & Oceania, Europe, North America and South America. Compared to the 2016 survey, the report nearly doubled in the number of participants. Findings in the report include regional comparisons of how NGOs use the internet to build awareness and raise funds, as well as whether NGOs find specific online and mobile communication tools to be effective for their communications and fundraising strategies.

Key findings globally include:

• 92 percent of respondents have a website. Of those, 78 percent are mobile-compatible.
• Only 38 percent regularly publish a blog
• More than 68 percent of survey respondents noted that their organisation uses the .org domain, compared to 9.2 percent that use the .com domain
• Email dominates as the preferred form of communication to donors, with 71 percent of respondents regularly sending email updates, whereas 15 percent regularly send text messages to supporters
• 67 percent of respondents accept online donations
• While 95 percent agree that social media is effective for online brand awareness, only 66 percent of respondents say that executive leadership supports prioritizing social media in their online communications and fundraising strategy
• Facebook leads as the preferred social media platform with 92 percent of respondents having a dedicated page, followed by Twitter (72 percent) and YouTube (55 percent)

"The NGO Online Tech Report is groundbreaking in that it is the only annual research project dedicated to studying how NGOs use online technology on a global scale and reveals the technological gaps across regions," said Heather Mansfield, founder of Nonprofit Tech for Good. "As internet infrastructure continues to improve worldwide, we expect that future results of this survey will demonstrate that NGOs around the world are becoming more equally empowered to use the internet to inspire philanthropy and create social change."

Key findings from Asia include:

• Compared to the global average, fewer respondents in Asia have a website (84 percent) and regularly publish a blog (35 percent)
• Compared to the global average, more respondents in Asia regularly send mobile text messages (31 percent)
• Only 47 percent of respondents accept online donations
• 86 percent of respondents in Asia have a Facebook page and 53 percent have a Twitter profile
• 51 percent of respondents in Asia have used social media to report live

"We understand the global NGO community uses the internet to advance their causes, however the status of a region's internet infrastructure may impact their ability to communicate and spread their mission worldwide," said Brian Cute, CEO of Public Interest Registry. "The report allows us to see the challenges, pain points and ultimately opportunities to support organisations online and give them a foundation to stay connected."

For more information on the survey's findings and methodology, and to download the full report and graphics, please visit: http://www.techreport.ngo.

About Nonprofit Tech for Good
With 100,000 monthly visitors and more than one million followers on social networks, Nonprofit Tech for Good is a leading social and mobile media resource for nonprofit professionals. Created and managed by Heather Mansfield, Nonprofit Tech for Good focuses on providing valuable, easy-to-understand information, news, and resources related to nonprofit technology, online communications, and mobile and social fundraising.

About Public Interest Registry
Public Interest Registry is a nonprofit organisation that operates the .org top-level domain — the world's third largest "generic" top-level domain with more than 10.7 million domain names registered worldwide – and the newly launched .ngo and .ong domains and OnGood community website. Public Interest Registry also operates four Internationalized Domain Names (.орг, .संगठन, .机构 и .组织机构) to support and encourage local language use of the Internet.  As an advocate for collaboration, safety and security on the internet, Public Interest Registry's mission is to educate and enable the global noncommercial community to use the internet more effectively, and to take a leadership position among internet stakeholders on policy and other issues relating to the domain naming system. Public Interest Registry was founded by the Internet Society (internetsociety.org) in 2002 and is based in Reston, Virginia, USA.

Media Contact:
Jessica Dunten, Allison+Partners for Public Interest Registry
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