2010 SONI benchmarking study expands to 19 countries
Howard Lake | 9 June 2010 | News
The 2010 State of the Not-For-Profit Industry (SONI) survey is now open and has been expanded to run across four continents and 19 countries. Now in its fourth year, the annual survey is run by Blackbaud in association with the Resource Alliance. It aims to provide an international benchmarking picture of not-for-profit activity, including insight into the effect of global recession and recovery.
This year’s SONI survey is now open to not-for-profit organisations operating within the UK, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Italy, USA, Canada, India, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, Philippines, Japan, China, Malaysia, Philippines, and Malaysia.
Results will be revealed at the Resource Alliance’s 30th International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands, which runs from 19 to 22 October 2010.
The SONI survey asks charities and not-for-profits about their performance, operations and standards. Over the last few years it has generated valuable information about best practice, emerging trends and techniques, and how the sector as a whole in particular countries has fared over the past year.
The findings are intended to offer practical insight that will help organisations to benchmark their operations across four areas:
1. General operations (staffing levels, budgets, service delivery requirements and organisational challenges)
2. Fundraising (top methods in terms of income and investment, increase or decrease for each fundraising method against the previous year and predictions for the next 12 months, methods most commonly used to communicate with donors)
3. Technology and Internet usage (use of new media techniques and social networking, database requirements)
4. Accountability and stewardship (looking at transparency of expenditure)
Martin Jervis, VP and Managing Director of Blackbaud Europe, said: “Last year’s survey reported high levels of optimism despite the recession and it will be fascinating to see if this continues as we move into a challenging period of recovery. Now, more than ever, our not-for-profit clients are looking for ways to measure their performance and the 2010 SONI Survey will be a great enabler in this area – measurement by your own standards, in relation to your peers, and, for the first time, across multiple continents”.
Neelam Makhijani, Chief Executive of the Resource Alliance, added that “the inclusion of further countries, such as India, will provide the first ever full picture for some of these growing markets.”
The 2010 SONI survey closes on 30 June 2010. Individuals’ responses are strictly confidential and are only used in aggregate and anonymous form. After the presentation of the results at the IFC in October, the results will also be available as a download from the Blackbaud Europe website.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MJBM666
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.