+Sustainable Impact Study of Nonprofit Innovation

Presented by:

Luis Pablo Martinez

Principal and Founder

Sustainable Impact - Findings and Insights

You’ll learn   How you compare to other nonprofits

  Ways to enhance your innovation

+Executive Summary

  81% launched a new service in the last two years

  Adopt marketing tools to:   Build new products   Refine existing product lines   Increase social impact

  Strategy development and value proposition will protect funding, volunteers and talent

Nonprofit Innovation Survey

+Methodology

+Methodology

  National surveys of nonprofit senior executives and board members study:   Nonprofit innovation practices and   Experience using custom marketing

research services

67% Midwest

9% West Coast

11% East Coast

13% Southwest

National Responses

Nonprofit Types Nonprofit by number of employees

Nonprofit by annual revenue

Sustainable Impact is a unique study that examines service development in the nonprofit sector.

This initial survey polled 110 nonprofit executives and board members from a wide range of organizations.

+Findings

+Findings

Yes 33%

No 67%

Did your organization evaluate the viability of its new service prior to launch?

Launching untested products risks

diluting your social impact.

+Findings

81%

19%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Yes

No

Has your organization launched a new service in the last two years?

+Findings

Top 3 sources for new service ideas

67%

45%

35%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Survey constituents/clients.

Employees submit ideas.

From market trends reported in the

media.

+Enhancing your innovation

Ways to enhance your social innovation

  Conduct market testing prior to launch

  Integrate your constituents experiences and motivations into your new product development and marketing strategies.

  Use segmenting techniques to build viable products

  Select an innovation strategy

Conduct Market Testing Prior to Launch

Two-thirds (67%)

of nonprofits surveyed do not test the viability of new products prior to

market launch.

Market testing benefits in the following ways:

  Product Positioning  Capitalize on constituents’ hot buttons  Identify unmet needs

Integrate constituents’ experiences and motivations

 Successful companies build products centered on users’ experience

 Involving users mitigates market risks

 Market testing can be any of the following:  Constituent’ perceptions, preferences,

prioritized needs

 Market testing empowers nonprofits to build winning products

+Use segmenting techniques

Can be separated by :

 Age

 Gender

 Family lifecycle

 Occupation

 Generation

This category is Outcome-driven, therefore nonprofits need to categorize according to:

  Brand loyalty

  Experience with the nonprofit

  Occasions that stimulate participation

Nonprofits can enhance their social impact by building products around any of the following categories:

  Activities

  Interests

 Opinions

 Values

Segmenting allows nonprofits to build viable products for specific groups. Every group will have different needs and segmenting allows nonprofits to enhance their respective social missions and avoid mission creep. Below are a handful of segmenting techniques.

Demographic Behavioral Values, Attitudes, Lifestyles

Select an innovation strategy

These products create a whole new market.  Some  examples are social venture funds and social enterprises.  This category accounts for  about 10% of new products. 

Current products are improved or modernized.  Some examples are new and improved programs.  This category accounts for 26% of new products. 

The products take the firm into a new category.  The products are not new to the world, just new to the firm.  Examples are conferences and social media. They account for about 20% of new  products. 

Cost-savings

Product Repositioning

Product Line Extension

Product Improvement

New to the organization

New-to-the-world

These are line extensions designed to flesh out the product line offered to the firm’s current market.  Examples include a career conference to compliment a job-training program.  They account for about  26% of new products. 

Products that are targeted for new use or applications.  This can be used when participation is waning.  They account for 7% of new products. 

These products replace existing lines but provide the same performance at a lower cost. These comprise about 11% of new products.

Each type of innovation strategy requires a different tool

+About Virtuin A marketing research and strategy firm servicing nonprofits and social enterprises

About Virtuin

 Vision: Build sustainable enterprises

 Mission: Advance its clients’ social impact via strategic product management and business development.

 In operation since: 2008

 Client focus: Nonprofits, educational institutions, social enterprises, and foundations

+Contact Information

Luis Pablo Martinez Principal & Founder

Austin   Chicago

Email: luis@virtuinstrategy.com Cell: (312) 730-3613

www.virtuinstrategy.com

+Appendix Survey Questions

+Survey Questions 1.  Are you an executive (manager, director, CEO, COO, etc.) or board member at a nonprofit or social enterprise?

2.  Is your organization based in the United States?

3.  Has your organization launched new services in the last two years?

4.  Approximately how many new services has your organization launched in the last two years?

5.  Did your organization conduct custom marketing research to evaluate the viability of your new services?

6.  Please tell us who leads new service development at your organization.

7.  Please tell us how your organization identifies a new service opportunity. Feel free to select more than one answer.

8.  In which state is your organization located?

9.  Which category best describes your organization? Please feel free to choose as many as apply.

10.  How many employees work at your company ?

11.  What is your function?

12.  Does your organization have earned income initiatives?

13.  Does your organization have experience hiring a marketing firm to conduct custom research?

14.  What were the primary reasons your organization hired that particular marketing firm?

15.  What is your organization's annual revenue?

16.  Seven features of a marketing research and strategy firm were tested for preference among diverse nonprofits.

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