Nonprofit organizations rely on technology to stay connected to constituents and supporters of the mission. The tools that make up their websites and wider ecosystem of digital engagement and reporting tools should work seamlessly to deliver relevant content, inspire participation, and raise revenue. In practice, however, the platform is typically complex, uneven, and fragile.

Prioritizing which current tools to maintain and optimize versus where to make new investments is challenging. What capabilities does our community expect from us? What will the ROI be? What are the unmet needs and opportunities? Where is the industry headed? How does site content and functionality need to evolve to meet the needs of the business while continuing frictionless UX?

In Q1 2023, we surveyed 300 nonprofits running Drupal and WordPress to learn how they make technology plans. In this session, we’ll present key findings, including:
- Satisfaction, pain points and unmet needs
- Upcoming priorities for staffing and investment
- Decision making process
- What triggers replatforming and migrations?

Learning Objectives

1. Understand how functional needs and business requirements for websites and digital channels are evolving from the perspective of business owners as well as end users and how technology roadmaps and investment strategies in the non-profit sector are evolving to meet these new needs
2. Non-profits will be able to use this information for best practice and benchmarking their own roadmaps and strategies.
3. Agencies and partners will be able to use this information to ensure their services are well-positioned to solve customer problems.

Prerequisites

Familiarity with common website team roles and project structure, whether from hands-on experience in web projects or a high-level understanding of the competing priorities and goals for an organization’s website.

Synopsis

Blue State shares findings from a Q1 2023 survey of 300 nonprofits running Drupal and WordPress to learn how they make technology plans.