Nonprofits have been dealing with a downward trend when it comes to the donations they receive and the volunteers that join their organizations. For example, contributions from individuals to nonprofits have decreased over thirteen percent, while corporations have given over ten percent less in 2022 compared to the previous year. Additionally, there has been a decline in volunteering for the past 10 years. With that said, there is hope for nonprofits to reverse these trends. Today’s guest, Emily Creek, believes that nonprofit leaders can harness the amazing power of market research to turn these numbers around.

Emily has been in the nonprofit space for 20 years. She is currently the Senior Director, Customer Insights & Strategy at Stable Kernel. She helps nonprofits develop strategies to overcome their business challenges, by conducting and leveraging market research. 

Emily describes her role at Stable Kernel, where she helps nonprofits increase their volunteer base and improve their fundraising effectiveness. She explains that in order to compete in this current climate, nonprofit leaders need to fully understand their constituents’ needs and tailor messages directly to them. For those who don’t know the true power of market research, Emily describes the list of benefits nonprofits can obtain by investing time and money into this tool. For organizations who decide to get started using market research, it can be challenging to know where to focus first. Emily believes the most important step is making sure all the stakeholders are aligned with the key objectives. When it comes to smaller nonprofits, she explains that using market research tools doesn’t have to be too timely or expensive. Emily describes how AI can be used in the process of market research, but that there are still limitations to what it can do in this area. Finally she shares why she is hopeful for the future of nonprofits who use this amazing tool. She believes market research is like a GPS system that takes the guesswork out of everything and helps nonprofits get to the destination they desire. 

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Connect with Emily on LinkedIn

Stable Kernel 

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