# Three reasons why charities should build a market research panel

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2013/10/30/three-reasons-why-charities-should-build-market-research-panel/
- Published: 2013-10-30T22:37:35+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Brands, businesses and charities have long recognised the benefits of market research
to help them gain valuable insight on their target market when assessing the potential
success of a marketing campaign, product or service. Usually, using a market research
agency can help in this area in providing a survey panel for the organisation to
use. However, building a panel for on-going use can have many benefits, particularly
for not-for-profit organisations. Here are three reasons how charities can benefit
from owning their own panel that can be used for market research.

## Gaining opinion

The most obvious way to use a survey panel is to gain opinion, and this is as valid
for charitable organisations as it is for big brands. For example, charities can
obtain opinion on fundraising activities from supporters to help the charity in 
making these activities more successful, thus enhancing fundraising opportunities
and positively affecting the amounts raised.

It can also be a useful tool to reach out to corporate donors to seek their opinion
and gather insight that can be used when targeting further potential donors.

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It is also valuable to gain opinion on marketing efforts, such as what messages 
and imagery resonate with supporters, where to concentrate ad spend or whether street
fundraising is valuable. A charity may also wish to understand better what are deciding
factors when people choose one charity over another, either on a one-off or regular
basis, and what could influence a change of resolve.

## Generating an income

A survey panel provides another opportunity for charities to generate income. [Building and maintaining a credible online panel](http://www.cint.com/explore/online-panels/)
brings with it the opportunity for the organisation to open its community to others
that want to poll consumers. For example, a market research agency working on behalf
of a global technology brand that wants to understand mobile usage habits, an entrepreneur
that wants to test the demand for a new beauty product, or a publisher that needs
to collect opinion on breaking news to use in an article.

This gives both the panel owner (the charity) and the panel member (the survey respondent)–
a ‘thank you’ payment. This makes it mutually beneficial so that revenue is generated
for the charity and the members are incentivised and also duly remunerated. Supporters
can then of course be given the option to donate their thank you payments to the
charity.

## Securing loyalty

It has been proven that people are more loyal to a brand that asks the opinion of
its advocates. In fact, a Cint survey in 2012 showed that 62% of consumers are more
likely to purchase a product if their opinion has been sought by a brand, meaning
charities can also take advantage of this boost towards greater loyalty from supporters.

Being asked their opinion gives the panel members a sense that they have a voice
and are valued, which means they are likely to continue supporting the charity and
taking part in surveys. This enables the relationship to evolve and strengthen, 
helping to achieve a long-lasting bond.

Charities and not-for-profits can set up survey panels using DIY research tools 
that are easy to use and cost effective, meaning they can start to reap the rewards
immediately.

_Bo Mattsson is the chief executive of [Cint](http://www.cint.com), a global provider
of technology for [creating survey panels](http://www.cint.com/explore/survey-panel/)
and obtaining market insight. Bo founded Cint in 1998 when he decided to apply his
experience of trading online to the market research industry. He then took over 
as CEO in 2003 to revamp the core market research software into an exchange-based
offering for respondent access._

 

_Image: __[Market research panel questions](http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-132919844/stock-vector-communication-concept.html)
by Hoperan on Shutterstock.com_

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