The Nonprofit Communications Trends Report
What’s Inside the 2022 Report:
How nonprofit communicators are implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
New data on the communications team sizes based on the budget and the overall staffing size of nonprofit.
New insights on what you might expect from your communications team as it grows from one person to six or more.
New data on strategic use of communications within nonprofits.
New insights on how a communications teams is modeled and whom they report to can indicate the level of strategic importance of communications in a nonprofit.
Updated data detailing how often nonprofits use 15 different communications channels.
New data on how nonprofit communicators can build healthier habits around time and productivity.
Get the Trends Report
It’s the “Go-To” Source for What’s REALLY Happening in the World of Nonprofit Communications.
(And our most popular download of the year!)
Curious what other nonprofit communicators are thinking and doing? Need data on best practices? Looking for starting benchmarks? Need backup to get buy-in from your boss?
It’s all in the free Nonprofit Communications Trends Reports.
The 2022 Report is now available.
The data in the 2022 Report is based on an online survey completed by 537 participants.

Want to hear Kivi’s thoughts on this year’s report? Watch the Nonprofit Communications Trends for 2022 webinar.
You can find it and the Report in the Free Membership Webinar Archive.
Where to Find What Data
In the 2021 Report:
- Impact of the pandemic on nonprofit communicators
- New data on managing time and boundaries
- Relative importance of various communications channels
- Adoption of various email, social media, and messaging best practices.
- Updated data on communications team salaries.
In the 2020 Report:
- New data on nonprofit communications objectives
- New data on how nonprofits manage their email lists
- New data on how nonprofits are engaging supporters on social media
- Updated data on effective communications team models
- The types of skills nonprofit communicators want to develop
In the 2019 Report:
- New data on priority level, experience and effectiveness for 12 marketing strategies
- Updated data on communications teams sizes, structures, and budgets
- Updated communications team salaries, including regional differences
- New data on writing skills, annual report formats, and the use of video
- New data on organizational culture around communications work
In the 2018 Report:
- Effectiveness on 12 specific communications goals
- How much content teams typically create
- How staff rate their levels of expertise on a dozen communications skills
- The types of training communications staff get and who pays for it
- Demographic data for nonprofit communications staff
In the 2017 Report:
- The four models for how the majority of nonprofit communications teams are structured, including important differences
- Extensive data on how nonprofit communications teams can measure their own effectiveness
- Important differences in how communications directors, development directors, and executive directors view and approach communications work
In the 2016 Report:
- Which communications channels are most important
- What gets in the way of nonprofit communications success
- The importance of a strong relationship with the executive director
- Advice for executive directors on how to work more effectively with communications teams
In the 2015 Report:
- The points of conflict in nonprofit communications
- Portrait of a typical nonprofit communications director
Other Popular Resources
The First 100 Days at Your New Nonprofit Marketing Job
Whether you are new to the world of nonprofit marketing or a veteran who has recently switched jobs, this free e-book will help you succeed.
High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause
A nonprofit’s real-world survival guide and nitty-gritty how-to handbook. This down-to-earth book shows how to hack through the bewildering jungle of marketing options and miles-long to-do lists to clear a marketing path that’s right for your organization, no matter how understaffed or underfunded.