# Virtual Promise enters its 6th year – are charities mastering or hashing new media?

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2006/10/05/virtual-promise-enters-its-6th-year-are-charities-mastering-or-hashing-new-media/
- Published: 2006-10-05T21:19:34+01:00
- Author: Guest Blogger

Virtual Promise is the only piece of regular research into UK charities use of the
Internet / new media. I have supported it since it began in 2000, helping with the
design of the questionnaire and completing it for CAF when I worked there. I have
found it invaluable: as a yardstick for what uses charities are making from the 
Internet, as a data set for internal and external presentations to educate, evangelise
or analyse, and as a perpective on the trends, opportunities, challenges and contradictions
inherent in working in the online field. I encourage everyone to download and read
the free reports from previous surveys available from the nfpSynergy website.

As always, nfpSynergy are interested in responses from charities large and small,
and categorise the results into 3 annual turnover streams to reflect organisations
of different sizes. Do please contribute to this year’s survey. It should only take
about 15 minutes. Go to [http://www.nfpsynergy.net/vp06](http://www.nfpsynergy.net/vp06).
 The deadline is 31st October 2006.

I felt that Virtual Promise 2005 really highlighted the contradictions the online
charity sector is fraught with. Whilst high numbers of respondents felt the Internet
had changed their charity’s dealing with clients and supporters, that their organisation
was making the most of the Internet, or that the Internet was an important part 
of their organisation’s brand and reputation, very few, by contrast I felt, had 
the essential tools to exploit it effectively.. Against the growing numbers of sites(
the average was 4), increased functionality and budgetary spend, things like profiles
of online users, integrated cross-media strategies and analysis of results seemed
very low.

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

This is born out by other research which shows the same old chestnuts of low levels
of senior buy-in, internal silos or conflicts, poor internal and external funding,
resourcing and project management, and fragmented strategies (or activities) 
for marketing and fundraising.

It seems to me new media still isn’t accountable and is principally the domain of
internal champions. Does anyone agree or disagree?

Whatever your thoughts, I look forward to the results of Virtual Promise 2006
and hope for the signs of a strategic, directional, analytical approach to long-
term online success.

 

 

**Sarah Hughes**

 * **[Centre of Excellence?](https://fundraising.co.uk/2006/10/12/centre-excellence-0/)**(
   12 October 2006)
 * **[Salaries and Bonuses](https://fundraising.co.uk/2006/10/13/salaries-and-bonuses/)**(
   13 October 2006)
 * **[Third Sector Forum – good for you?](https://fundraising.co.uk/2006/10/14/third-sector-forum-good-you-0/)**(
   14 October 2006)