Market Research for Charities
Market research for charities plays a crucial role in helping you better understand your stakeholders, refine your messaging, and maximise your impact.
At CARD Group Research & Insight, we really understand the unique challenges you face and the increasing pressure to do more with less. At the same time, we know charities and social enterprises are continually seeking solutions to make a positive change for individuals and society.
Research is key to helping you maximise those opportunities while addressing the challenges and ensuring your budgets are being used effectively. It will support you to make the greatest impact for those who need it most through:
- Delivering effective programmes and campaigns
- Anticipating and responding to societal trends
- Securing sustainable funding
Planning and targeting programmes
Effective, independent research will give you a deeper understanding of the needs, aspirations and challenges of those your organisation serves. Insight gathered will help you:
- Understand and engage with your target beneficiaries
- Plan services or programmes that meet their needs
- Build partnerships with stakeholders
- Allocate resources effectively to maximise your public benefit.
Evaluating impact
Research enables you to meaningfully evaluate programmes and initiatives to:
- Communicate the impact you have had and the positive social value delivered
- Incorporate learning into programme delivery to improve effectiveness
- Demonstrate transparency and accountability to stakeholders
Securing sustainable funding
As funding becomes more limited, competition increases for grants, contracts, sponsorships, and donations. An effective income generation strategy is key to your charity’s financial sustainability. Effective market research for charities can give you the edge through:
- Providing the evidence base for successful funding applications
- Evaluating and optimising fundraising campaigns
- Better understanding of current and potential donors
Developing evidence-based campaigns and advocacy
Charities play an important role in challenging, shaping and changing policy to improve their beneficiaries’ lives. Social research provides the evidence and data necessary to do this effectively through:
- Understanding changing societal needs
- Evaluating the outcome of existing policies
- Testing messages for resonance with key stakeholders
- Developing a robust and evidence-based case for change
Building strong brand awareness
Market research for charities can help you build a strong brand identity, develop effective marketing communication strategies and grow your organisation. Understanding how the public perceives your brand means you can:
- Refine your messaging
- Reach the right audience
- Build trust and credibility for your organisation and your cause
Bolster Community Case Study
Bolster Community was commissioned by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust to arrange a consultation to improve the understanding of social issues in relation to autism. We were very pleased to be asked to assist with this project
Please click this link to read more about this project and how the evidence derived from the research is being used.
Get in touch to find out more
At CARD Group Research & Insight, we’ve spent over 20 years supporting charities, social enterprises and third-sector organisations in their mission to make a positive impact. We take a fresh approach to challenges and consider every research project from multiple angles.
We have in-depth experience working across the sector with social enterprise and charity clients such as Employers For Childcare and Bolster Community.
We understand the sensitivities of working with vulnerable stakeholders, within the requirements of charity law, and against a challenging financial landscape. We will work in partnership with you to design and implement bespoke research that aligns with your objectives and your budget.
We would love to discuss how we can support you as you work to deliver meaningful change. Your initial point of contact will be our Director of Corporate Services, Aoife Hamilton. Aoife has more than 10 years of experience working directly in the charitable and social enterprise sectors, delivering impactful social research, policy and advocacy services. Email aoife.hamilton@card-group.com to start the conversation.