N O N PR R

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Benchmarks, Budgets,
and Trends—North America

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 Welcome................................................................................................................................................. 3

 Usage & Overall Effectiveness.............................................................................................................. 4

 Strategy & Organization........................................................................................................................ 6

 Goals & Metrics..................................................................................................................................... 10

 Content Creation & Distribution........................................................................................................ 13

 Budgets & Spending............................................................................................................................ 22

 Challenges & Initiatives...................................................................................................................... 24

 Comparison Chart: Comparison of Most Effective Nonprofit Content Marketers

with Least Effective Nonprofit Content Marketers.......................................................................... 30
 Comparison Chart: Documented vs. Verbal vs. No Strategy – Nonprofit..................................... 31
 Comparison Chart: Differences Between Nonprofit, B2C, and B2B Marketers........................... 32

 Demographics...................................................................................................................................... 33

 About..................................................................................................................................................... 34

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WELCOME

Hello Content Marketers,

Welcome to Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North

America.

This is the second year that Content Marketing Institute and Blackbaud have partnered to study
the content marketing practices of nonprofit professionals.
Joe Pulizzi
Generally speaking, nonprofit professionals continue to embrace content marketing. The Founder
amount of budget they spend on content marketing hasn’t increased that much over the last Content Marketing Institute
year, but they are certainly getting savvier, trying more tactics, and distributing content across
more social platforms. While they may be searching for better ways to measure success, they
are growing in overall confidence with their efforts.

While some nonprofit marketers are less challenged this year with budget, and are making
strides with internal knowledge and skills, they are more challenged than last year in many
areas. Our best recommendation is to document your content marketing strategy. Those who
do are more effective in every area of content marketing, including the tracking of return-on-
investment, often an important key for garnering internal support.

Wishing you all the best as you grow your content marketing program…
Frank Barry
Yours in content, Director of
New Growth Ventures
Joe & Frank Blackbaud

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USAGE & OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS
Does your organization use
content marketing?
61% say yes
Last year, 92% of nonprofit respondents said
Percentage of Nonprofit Respondents they use content marketing. Back then, we

Using Content Marketing defined content marketing as the “creation and

distribution of educational and/or compelling
content in multiple media formats to attract and/
or retain clients/constituents.”

This year, we defined content marketing as

39% “a strategic marketing approach focused on
No creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and
consistent content to attract and retain a clearly
61% defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive
Yes action.”

The new definition—crafted by Content

Marketing Institute in early 2014—better reflects
how content marketing has grown from the mere
“creation and distribution” of content to a formal
Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:
Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud business discipline.

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USAGE & OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS
Overall, how effective is
your organization at
content marketing?
How Nonprofit Marketers Rate the
Effectiveness of Their Organization’s 35% say they are effective
Use of Content Marketing
Nonprofit marketers continue to grow steadily
in their confidence with content marketing. Last
5 Very Effective 5% year, 26% said they were effective.

4 30% Note: For purposes of our annual survey,

we define effectiveness as “accomplishing
3 45% your overall objectives.” Those who rate their
organizations a 4 or 5 (on a scale of 1 to 5, with
2 5 being “Very Effective” and 1 being “Not at all
15%
Effective”) are the “most effective” or
1 Not At All Effective 2% “best-in-class.” The 1s and 2s are the “least
effective,” while the 3s are neutral.

0 10 20 30 40 50

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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 STRATEGY & ORGANIZATION
Does your organization
have a content marketing
strategy?

Percentage of Nonprofit Marketers 23% say they have a

Who Have a Content Marketing Strategy documented strategy

Last year, we asked marketers for the first time

Yes, and it is documented 23% whether or not they had a documented content
marketing strategy. The high percentage of
Yes, but it is not documented 43% nonprofit marketers who said no (54%) left us
wondering whether some had a strategy but
No 21% had simply not taken the time to document
it. So this year we asked the question a bit
Unsure 13% differently; indeed, we found that many more
do have a strategy, but for 43% it is verbal only.
The 23% who have documented their strategy
0 10 20 30 40 50
are more effective in all aspects of content
Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:
Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud marketing than those who have not.

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STRATEGY & ORGANIZATION
How closely does your
content marketing strategy
guide your organization’s
content marketing efforts?
Percentage of Nonprofit Marketers 38% say very closely
Who Say Strategy Guides Efforts
Having a strategy is one thing—following it
is another. The more effective a nonprofit
Very closely 38% marketer is, the more likely it is that his or
her organization follows the strategy very
Somewhat 56% closely (61% of the most effective follow their
strategy very closely).
We rarely use it 3%

Unsure 4%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

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STRATEGY & ORGANIZATION
Does your organization
have a dedicated content
marketing group?
41% say yes
Percentage of Nonprofit Marketers Who Nonprofit marketers who have a documented
Have a Dedicated Content Marketing Group content marketing strategy are more likely to
have a dedicated group (72%) when compared
with the total sample. The same is true for the
Yes, and it functions independently as its own unit 12% most effective nonprofit marketers (62%).
Yes, and it works horizontally across the organization silos 29%

No, but planning to have one 14%

No, and no plans to have one that I know of 44%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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STRATEGY & ORGANIZATION
Which area in your
organization is accountable
for content marketing?
It often depends on
Areas Accountable for organization size
Nonprofit Content Marketing The larger the nonprofit organization, the
Marketing more likely it is that content marketing is
7% situated under the marketing umbrella. In
9% Development/Fundraising
smaller nonprofits (up to 100 employees),
2% PR/Corporate Communications
2% content marketing is more likely to fall under
3% Owner/C-level development/fundraising.
40% Programs
17% Social Team
Other
20% No One, Unsure, or No Answer

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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GOALS & METRICS
How important is each
of the following content
marketing goals to your
Organizational Goals for organization?
Nonprofit Content Marketing
87% say brand awareness
is important
Brand Awareness 87%
Engagement 84% Note: Percentages shown represent marketers who
rated each goal a 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale where
Client/Constituent Retention/Loyalty 82% 5 = “Very Important” and 1 = “Not at all Important.”

Client/Constituent Acquisition 79% The most effective nonprofit marketers place

higher importance on all the goals shown here
Fundraising 68% when compared with the total sample.
Advocacy 61%
Program Delivery 56%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

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GOALS & METRICS
Which metrics does your
organization use to assess
Metrics for Nonprofit content marketing success?
Content Marketing Success 55% say increased event
attendance/participation
Increased Event Attendance/Participation55%
Website Traffic 54% Note: Fewer than 30% of nonprofit marketers said
they use the following metrics: Subscriber Growth
Increased Fundraising 49% (28%), Increased Advocacy (23%), SEO Ranking (19%),
Benchmark Lift of Product/Service Awareness (19%),
Increased Number of People Served/Helped 40% Inbound Links (18%), Sales (18%), Cost Savings (14%), Sales
Lead Quantity (8%), and Sales Lead Quality (8%).
Increased Supporter Loyalty 38%
Increased event attendance/participation
Qualitative Feedback from Supporters 38%
was a new choice on the survey this year. Last
Time Spent on Website 33% year, increased fundraising was the most often
cited metric (66%).
Benchmark Lift of Organization Awareness 30%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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GOALS & METRICS
How successful is your
organization at tracking
the ROI of its content
How Nonprofit Marketers Rate Their marketing program?
Organization’s Success at
Tracking ROI Only 15% say they
are successful
5 Very Successful 2%
4 13% As these percentages show, many nonprofit
marketers have a difficult time tracking ROI.
3 33% Having a documented content marketing strategy
helps, though, as 34% of those who possess one
2 22% are successful in this area, compared with the
15% average for the total sample.
1 Not At All Successful 9%
We Do Not Track 20%
0 10 20 30 40 50

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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CONTENT CREATION & DISTRIBUTION
Compared with one year
ago, how much content is
your organization creating?

Change in Nonprofit Content Creation 69% are creating more

(Over Last 12 Months)
Last year, 65% of nonprofit marketers said they
4% were creating more content, compared with
3% Significantly More
69% this year.
19% More

Same Amount Nonprofit marketers from organizations of all

24% sizes are creating more content—even the least
Less
effective (61%) and those who have no strategy
Unsure
(52%).
50%
The most effective nonprofit marketers
and those who have a documented content
marketing strategy are creating the most
Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America: content (81% of both segments say they are
Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud
creating more).

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CONTENT CREATION & DISTRIBUTION
How many different
audiences does your
organization target
Number of Audiences with separate content
that Nonprofit Marketers Target marketing strategies?
The average number is 4
10+ 5%
7-10 7% The larger the nonprofit organization, the more
audiences it targets. The largest organizations
4-6 30% (1,000+ employees) target an average of 5.

2-3 41%
1 4%

Unsure 12%
0 10 20 30 40 50

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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CONTENT CREATION & DISTRIBUTION
Which content marketing
tactics does your
organization use?
Nonprofit Content Marketing Tactic Usage
Most tactics are used more often
Social Media Content – other than blogs 93% than last year, especially infographics
and microsites
In-person Events 89%
Average Number Used: 12
eNewsletters 88%
Note: Fewer than 40% of nonprofit marketers said they use the
Articles on Your Website 86% following tactics: Branded Content Tools (37%), Digital Magazines (37%),
Illustrations/Photos 86% Online Presentations (36%), Mobile Apps (34%), Webinars/Webcasts
(32%), Books (28%), White Papers (26%), Podcasts (21%), Virtual
Videos 82% Conferences (18%), eBooks (15%), and Games/Gamification (9%).

Blogs 58% Nonprofit marketers are using more content marketing tactics
(an average of 12 this year vs. 11 last year).
Infographics 53%
Like last year, the four most often cited tactics were social media
Print Newsletters 53% content (other than blogs), in-person events, eNewsletters, and
articles on your website. Regarding these four tactics, the biggest
Print Magazines 44% increase was with social media content (86% last year vs. 93% this
year). The others rose slightly.
Case Studies 41%
The biggest increases in usage over the last year have been with
Microsites 41% infographics and microsites, both up 22 percentage points this year.
Research Reports 40% The following tactics that appear on the chart have all risen 11
percentage points: videos, blogs, print magazines, and case studies.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Print newsletters dropped slightly (56% last year vs. 53% this year).
Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:
Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud Illustrations/photos was a new choice on the survey this year.

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CONTENT CREATION & DISTRIBUTION
How effective are the
following tactics that
Effectiveness Ratings you use?
for Nonprofit Tactics
In-person events are rated
In-person Events 74% the most effective
Illustrations/Photos 65% Note: Percentages shown represent marketers who
rated each tactic a 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale where
eNewsletters 64% 5 = “Very Effective” and 1 = “Not at all Effective.”
Social Media Content – other than blogs 63%
Of all the tactics nonprofit marketers use, these are
Print Magazines 60% the ones that more than 50% say are effective.

Print Newsletters 57% When compared with last year, confidence in

Videos 54% microsites and print magazines grew the most. Last
year, 40% of nonprofit marketers said microsites
Microsites 53% were effective (compared with 53% this year) and
52% said print magazines were effective (compared
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 with 60% this year).
Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:
Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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CONTENT CREATION & DISTRIBUTION
Which social media
platforms does your
organization use to
distribute content?
Nonprofit Content Marketing
Social Media Platform Usage Facebook is used most often
Average Number Used: 5
Facebook 94%
Twitter 84% Note: Fewer than 30% of nonprofit marketers said
YouTube 78% they use the following social media platforms: Flickr
(24%), Vimeo (19%), Foursquare (13%), Tumblr (12%),
LinkedIn 67%
SlideShare (11%), Vine (9%), SnapChat (5%), and
Google+ 40% StumbleUpon (5%).
Instagram 38%
Nonprofit marketers are using more social media
Pinterest 35% platforms to distribute content (an average of 5
this year vs. 4 last year).
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud The percentage of nonprofit marketers who use
each of the platforms shown here has risen over
the last year. The biggest increase has been with
Instagram (17% last year vs. 38% this year).

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CONTENT CREATION & DISTRIBUTION
How effective are the
social media platforms
that you use?
Effectiveness Ratings for
Nonprofit Social Media Platforms Facebook is rated the
most effective
Facebook 63%
Twitter 54% Note: Percentages shown represent marketers
who rated each platform a 4 or 5 on a 5-point
YouTube 47% scale where 5 = “Very Effective” and 1 = “Not at
SlideShare 38% all Effective.”

Vimeo 37% Nonprofit marketers once again rated Facebook

the most effective platform (58% last year vs.
Instagram 36%
63% this year).
LinkedIn 34%
Pinterest 29% Confidence in all other platforms shown here
also has increased over the last year, except for
Google+ 22% Vimeo, which decreased 2 percentage points.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 The biggest increase was with SlideShare (24%
Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:
last year vs. 38% this year). Twitter and LinkedIn
Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud
had the next biggest increases, with Twitter
rising 11 percentage points and LinkedIn rising 9.

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CONTENT CREATION & DISTRIBUTION
How often does your
organization publish new
content that supports
its content marketing
How Often Nonprofit Marketers program?
Publish New Content
48% say daily or multiple
5%
Daily
times per week
6%
20% Multiple Times per Week 60% of the most effective nonprofit
10% Weekly marketers and 58% of those who have a
Multiple Times per Month documented content marketing strategy
publish new content daily or multiple times
14% 28% Monthly
per week, compared with 48% of the total
Less than Once per Month
15% sample.
Unsure

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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CONTENT CREATION & DISTRIBUTION
Which paid advertising
methods do you use to
promote/distribute
content?
Nonprofit Paid Advertising Usage
83% use at least one
Print or Other Offline Promotion 73%
Average Number Used: 3
Promoted Posts (e.g., promoted Tweets) 48%
48%
Social Ads (e.g., LinkedIn ads) This was a new question on the survey. The most
effective nonprofit marketers, as well as those
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) 41% who have a documented content marketing
Traditional Online Banner Ads 41% strategy, use all of these paid methods more
frequently than the overall sample.
Native Advertising 32%

Content Discovery Tools 6% In addition, the larger the nonprofit organization,

the more methods it uses. For example, micro
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
organizations (1-9 employees) use an average of
2 methods, whereas large organizations (1,000+
Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:
Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud employees) use an average of 4.

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CONTENT CREATION & DISTRIBUTION
How effective are the
paid advertising methods
that you use to distribute
Effectiveness Ratings for content?
Nonprofit Paid Advertising Methods
Nonprofit marketers have the
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) 56% most confidence in search
Promoted Posts (e.g., promoted Tweets) 53%
engine marketing (SEM)
Print or Other Offline Promotion 51% Note: Percentages shown represent marketers who
rated each method a 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale where
Social Ads (e.g., LinkedIn ads) 45% 5 = “Very Effective” and 1 = “Not at all Effective.”

Content Discovery Tools 43% Even though print or other offline promotion is
the paid method that nonprofit marketers use the
Native Advertising 37% most, they are more likely to say that search engine
Traditional Online Banner Ads 37% marketing (SEM) is more effective.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
The most effective nonprofit marketers and those
who have a documented content marketing strategy
Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America: view each of these methods as more effective when
Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud
compared with the total sample.

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BUDGETS & SPENDING
Approximately what
percentage of your
Percentage of Total Marketing Budget organization’s total
Spent on Nonprofit Content Marketing marketing budget (not
including staff) is spent on
content marketing?
100% 1%
75-99% 3% The average is 23%
50-74% 6% Last year, nonprofit marketers said they allocated
an average of 20% of their total marketing budget to
25-49% 9% content marketing, compared with 23% this year.

When we look at different segments of respondents,

10-24% 12% this is how their spending averages compare:

1-9% 28%  Those with a documented content marketing

strategy spend more (33%) than those with a
0% 4% verbal strategy only (22%) or no strategy (11%).

 The most effective nonprofit marketers spend

Unsure 35% more (30%) than the least effective (13%).

 Marketers at large organizations with 1,000+
0 10 20 30 40 50 employees spend more (32%) than marketers at
small organizations with 10-99 employees (20%).
Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:
Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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BUDGETS & SPENDING
How do you expect your
organization’s content
marketing budget to
change in the next 12
Nonprofit Content Marketing Spending months?
(Over Next 12 Months)
37% say they will increase
Significantly Increase 5% spending
Increase 32% Last year, 38% of nonprofit marketers said they
would increase spending, compared with 37%
Remain the Same 39% this year.

Decrease 3%
Their lack of success thus far isn’t going to stop
Unsure 20% the least effective nonprofit marketers from
increasing their content marketing budget:
42% plan to do so, compared with 32% of the
0 10 20 30 40 50
most effective.
Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:
Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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CHALLENGES & INITIATIVES
With regard to content
marketing, how challenged
Challenges that Nonprofit Marketers Face are you with each of the
following?
Lack of Budget 56% 56% say lack of budget
Measuring Content Effectiveness 52% is a challenge
Producing Engaging Content 49% Note: Percentages shown represent marketers who
rated each challenge a 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale where
Producing Content Consistently 43% 5 = “Very Challenged” and 1 = “Not at all Challenged.”

Lack of Integration Across Marketing 40% It’s still a pressing challenge, but the percentage
of nonprofit marketers who say lack of budget is a
Gaps in Knowledge and Skills of Internal Team 38% challenge has decreased 11 percentage points this year
(67% last year vs. 56% this year). Nonprofit marketers
Producing a Variety of Content 37% also have made strides with internal knowledge and
skills (the percentage who cited gaps last year was 45%,
Technology-related Challenges 35% compared with 38% this year).

In every other area shown here, however, nonprofit

Lack of Buy-in/Vision from Higher-Ups 34% marketers are more challenged than last year. The two
biggest increases have been with measuring content
Finding Trained Content Marketing Professionals 28% effectiveness (52% this year vs. 36% last year) and finding
trained content marketing professionals (28% this year
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
vs. 8% last year).

The least effective nonprofit marketers are more apt

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:
Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud to say their greatest challenge is producing engaging
content (75%), which is a bigger challenge for them than
lack of budget (60%). In addition, 49% say lack of buy-in/
vision from higher-ups is a problem.

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CHALLENGES & INITIATIVES

Which content marketing initiatives are you working on?

66% are focused on becoming better storytellers

New this year, we presented marketers with a list of 28 initiatives. We asked them to select one of three options for each:
working on now, plan to begin working on within 12 months, and not a priority.

Nonprofit marketers are working on an average of 12 initiatives, and plan to begin working on an average of 8 over the next
12 months.

The highest percentages of nonprofit marketers are working on:

 Becoming better storytellers: 66%
 Creating visual content: 63%
 Creating more engaging/higher-quality content: 62%
 Better understanding of audience: 59%
 Organizing content on website: 59%

As for which they are planning to begin working on within 12 months, the highest percentages selected:
 Measuring content marketing ROI: 39%
 Developing a documented content marketing strategy: 37%
 Creating a better mobile strategy: 33%
 Content personalization: 33%
 Better understanding of what content is effective—and what isn’t: 32%
 Optimizing content: 32%

The initiatives appearing on the following pages are the 12 that received the highest combined percentages of “working on
now” and “plan to begin working on within 12 months.”

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CHALLENGES & INITIATIVES

Creating More Organizing Content

Creating Visual Content Engaging/Higher-Quality Content on Website

6% 7% 7%
8% 9% 8%

23% 63% 22% 62% 26% 59%

Now Within 12 Months Not a Priority No Answer

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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CHALLENGES & INITIATIVES

Better Understanding of Becoming Better Better Converting Visitors

What Content is Effective—and What isn’t Storytellers on Website

6% 6% 7%
10% 13% 11%

52% 66% 52%

15%
32% 30%

Now Within 12 Months Not a Priority No Answer

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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CHALLENGES & INITIATIVES

Better Internal Communications/

Collaboration/Operationalizing Better Understanding
Content Marketing Team of Audience Developing an Email Strategy

7% 7% 6%
11% 12% 15%

55% 59% 53%

27% 22% 26%

Now Within 12 Months Not a Priority No Answer

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:
Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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CHALLENGES & INITIATIVES

Creating a Greater Finding More/Better Ways

Variety of Content to Repurpose Content Optimizing Content

7% 7% 8%

16% 16% 15%

50% 51% 45%

26% 32%
27%

Now Within 12 Months Not a Priority No Answer

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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COMPARISON CHART

Comparison of Most Effective Nonprofit Content Marketers

with Least Effective Nonprofit Content Marketers
Most Average/ Least
Effective Overall Effective

 Has a documented content marketing strategy.........................................................................................42%................... 23%.................... 6%

 Has a content marketing strategy, but it’s not documented.....................................................................43%................... 43%................... 34%
 Content marketing strategy very closely guides efforts.............................................................................61%................... 38%.................... 8%
 Content marketing strategy somewhat guides efforts...............................................................................35%................... 56%................... 78%
 Has a dedicated content marketing group.................................................................................................62%................... 41%................... 21%
 Is successful at tracking ROI........................................................................................................................33%................... 15%.................... 2%
 Average number of tactics used................................................................................................................... 12...................... 12....................... 11
 Average number of social platforms used.....................................................................................................6........................ 5......................... 5
 Publishes new content daily or multiple times per week..........................................................................60%................... 48%................... 39%
 Percentage of total budget allocated to content marketing......................................................................30%................... 23%................... 13%
 Challenged with lack of budget...................................................................................................................50%................... 56%................... 60%
 Challenged with measuring effectiveness..................................................................................................41%................... 52%................... 68%
 Challenged with producing engaging content...........................................................................................31%................... 49%................... 75%
 Average number of initiatives working on now........................................................................................... 14...................... 12....................... 10
 Average number of initiatives planning to begin working on within 12 months.........................................7........................ 8........................ 10

Chart term definitions: A “best-in-class” content marketer (aka “most effective”) is one who rates his or her organization a 4 or 5 in effectiveness on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 be-
ing “Very Effective” and 1 being “Not at all Effective.” Those who rate themselves 1 or 2 are the “least effective.” The numbers under “average/overall” represent total respondents.

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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COMPARISON CHART

Documented vs. Verbal vs. No Strategy – Nonprofit

Documented Verbal No
Strategy Strategy Strategy

 Considers organization to be effective at content marketing....................................................................63%................... 35%.................... 8%

 Content marketing strategy very closely guides efforts.............................................................................61%................... 25%.................... N/A

 Content marketing strategy somewhat guides efforts...............................................................................33%................... 68%.................... N/A

 Has a dedicated content marketing group.................................................................................................72%................... 33%................... 14%

 Is successful at tracking ROI........................................................................................................................34%................... 12%.................... 3%

 Average number of tactics used................................................................................................................... 13...................... 12....................... 10

 Average number of social platforms used.....................................................................................................6........................ 6......................... 5

 Publishes new content daily or multiple times per week..........................................................................58%................... 56%................... 35%

 Percentage of total budget allocated to content marketing......................................................................33%................... 22%................... 11%

 Challenged with producing engaging content...........................................................................................42%................... 49%................... 60%

 Challenged with measuring effectiveness..................................................................................................43%................... 54%................... 67%

 Average number of initiatives working on now........................................................................................... 15...................... 13........................ 9

 Average number of initiatives planning to begin working on within 12 months.........................................7........................ 8........................ 10

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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COMPARISON CHART

Differences Between Nonprofit, B2C, and B2B Marketers

Nonprofit B2C B2B

Uses content marketing...................................................................................................................................61%................... 77%................... 86%

Considers organization to be effective at content marketing.......................................................................35%................... 37%................... 38%
Has a documented content marketing strategy.............................................................................................23%................... 27%................... 35%
Has a content marketing strategy, but it’s not documented.........................................................................43%................... 50%................... 48%
Does not have a documented strategy...........................................................................................................21%................... 15%................... 14%
Has a dedicated content marketing group.....................................................................................................41%................... 45%................... 47%
Is successful at tracking ROI............................................................................................................................15%................... 23%................... 21%
Average number of tactics used....................................................................................................................... 12...................... 11....................... 13
Average number of social platforms used.........................................................................................................5........................ 7......................... 6
Average number of paid advertising methods used to promote/distribute content......................................3........................ 4......................... 3
Publishes new content daily or multiple times per week..............................................................................48%................... 48%................... 42%
Percentage of total budget allocated to content marketing.........................................................................23%................... 25%................... 28%
Challenged with lack of budget.......................................................................................................................56%................... 46%................... 41%
Challenged with lack of buy-in/vision from higher-ups.................................................................................34%................... 28%................... 29%
Average number of initiatives working on now............................................................................................... 12...................... 13....................... 13
Average number of initiatives planning to begin working on within 12 months.............................................8........................ 9......................... 8

Nonprofit Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America:

Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud

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DEMOGRAPHICS

Nonprofit Content Marketing: 2015 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America was produced by Content Marketing Institute and Blackbaud
and sponsored by FusionSpark Media.

The survey was mailed electronically to a sample of marketers using lists from Content Marketing Institute, MarketingProfs, Blackbaud, the Business
Marketing Association (BMA), Brightcove, and EnVeritas Group (EVG). A total of 1,118 nonprofit marketers from North America responded in July and
August 2014, representing a full range of organization classifications, functional areas, and sizes.

The B2B and B2C percentages referred to in this report derive from a similar questionnaire that was administered at the same time as this research
study (under the umbrella of the Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs fifth annual content marketing survey). The full findings for B2B North
America and B2C North America are available in separate reports co-produced by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs. Special thanks to
MarketingProfs for their assistance with the B2B and B2C figures used for comparisons in this report.

Size of Nonprofit Organization

Nonprofit Industry Classification (by Employees) Nonprofit Job Title/Function Blackbaud - Forward-looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements,
expectations, and assumptions contained here are
forward-looking statements that involve a number of
risks and uncertainties. Although Blackbaud attempts
14% to be accurate in making these forward-looking
24% 19% 17% 17% 4% statements, it is possible that future circumstances
27% might differ from the assumptions on which such
4% statements are based. In addition, other important
factors that could cause results to differ materially
4% 18% 5% include the following: general economic risks;
uncertainty regarding increased business and renewals
from existing customers; continued success in sales
7% 29% 37% 11% growth; management of integration of acquired
24% companies and other risks associated with acquisitions;
8% 11% 11% risks associated with successful implementation of
multiple integrated software products; the ability
9% to attract and retain key personnel; risks related to
our dividend policy and share repurchase program,
including potential limitations on our ability to grow
■ Human Services ■ Micro (Fewer than 10 Employees) ■ Fundraising/Development and the possibility that we might discontinue payment
of dividends; risks relating to restrictions imposed by
■ Healthcare ■ Small (10-99 Employees) ■ Marketing/Advertising/ the credit facility; risks associated with management
■ Education (University/College) ■ Midsize (100-999 Employees) Communications/PR Management of growth; lengthy sales and implementation cycles,
particularly in larger organizations; technological
■ Education (K-12) ■ Large (1,000+ Employees) ■ General Management changes that make our products and services less
■ Religious Organization ■ Executive Management competitive; and the other risk factors set forth from
time to time in the SEC filings for Blackbaud, copies of
■ Trade/Industry Association ■ Content Creation/Management
which are available free of charge at the SEC’s website
■ Arts & Culture ■ Marketing Administration/Support at www.sec.gov or upon request from Blackbaud’s
■ Other ■ Website/Technology investor relations department. All Blackbaud product
names appearing herein are trademarks or registered
■ Other trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.

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ABOUT

About Content Marketing Institute

Content Marketing Institute (CMI) is the leading global content marketing education and training organization. CMI teaches enterprise
brands how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multi-channel storytelling. CMI’s Content Marketing World event,
the largest content marketing-focused event, is held every September in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.  CMI also produces Intelligent Content
Conference, Content Marketing Sydney and Content Marketing Singapore. CMI also publishes the bi-monthly magazine Chief Content
Officer, and provides strategic consulting and content marketing research for some of the best-known brands in the world. CMI is a
2012, 2013 and 2014 Inc. 500 company. View all CMI research at www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/research. Learn how to create
a documented content marketing strategy, a key component for improving overall content marketing effectiveness.

About Blackbaud
Serving the nonprofit and education sectors for more than 30 years, Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) combines technology and expertise to
help organizations achieve their missions. Blackbaud works with more than 30,000 customers in more than 60 countries that support higher
education, healthcare, human services, arts and culture, faith, the environment, private K-12 education, animal welfare and other charitable
causes. The company offers a full spectrum of cloud-based and on-premise software solutions and related services for organizations of all
sizes including: fundraising, eMarketing, advocacy, constituent relationship management (CRM), financial management, payment solutions,
analytics, education solutions, and vertical-specific solutions. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com.

About FusionSpark Media

Since 1999, FusionSpark Media, Inc. (FSM) has worked with nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses to develop content
marketing initiatives that achieve fundraising, sales, education, community engagement, and marketing communications goals.

FSM’s team includes professionals with backgrounds in marketing communications, print and broadcast journalism, and nonprofit
management. We have deep roots and hands-on experience in developing purpose-driven communications strategies, stories, and
interactive content that inspires hearts, informs minds, and influences outcomes. For more information, visit @FusionSpark and
www.fusionspark.com.

For more information about this report, contact [email protected].

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