Bayer Center Nonprofit Technology Survey

Here is some hoped-for-but-not-necessarily-expected news: nonprofits in the region are using “new” interactive IT tools more in 2008 than in 2006. The survey collects data on the use of a whole menu of communication tools from the fax (remember that? charming device) to print and phone and blogs and podcasting and text messages. The data for this year shows increased adoption of newer tools. The rates of increase over 2006 for selected modes of communication:

• Podcasting up 170%
• Text messaging up 96%
• Managed email systems up 20%
• Interactive or e-commerce web pages up 56%

Plus, in what may be a nod to higher fuel prices:

• Video conferencing up 74%

Many of these increases are offset by declines:

• Managed email systems may be eating away at the use of direct email, which is down nominally by 5%
• Interactive web sites outpaced the growth of “regular old” web sites by 50 percentage points

The nuance in this data comes in how frequently organizations use the various tools. You’ll have to wait for that nuance until the full debut of the data at TechNow. In the meantime, get back to recording your podcast.