Clarity Group and The Futures Co. Launch CLEARview for Nonprofits

Press release (Sept. 12, 2012) — Clarity Group and The Futures Co. have joined forces to bring U.S. Yankelovich MONITOR market research to the nonprofit world. Through the new CLEARview suite of products, nonprofits now can better understand the attitudes and motivations of consumers, based on the nation’s most comprehensive survey of American adults and their values.

Craig Wood, CEO and founder of Clarity Group, approached The Futures Co. with a vision to bring insights on consumer values and attitudes and trends behind the consumer behaviors to the nonprofit sector.

“Nonprofits need so much more than traditional research that reports on things that have already happened in the philanthropy sector. CLEARview is a new kind of research offering that explains why people behave the way they do, what they care about and what’s guiding their personal decisions. When you combine these insights with incisive recommendations on how to use the information, we expect to see great advancement in the missions of our nonprofit and faith-based clients.”

By coupling Clarity Group’s expertise in strengthening nonprofits with the depth and breadth of The Future Co.’s MONITOR consumer research tracking study, CLEARview will help nonprofits learn about the mind-set of consumers toward charitable giving, philanthropy and engagement, and will help them use these findings to bolster their fundraising, engagement and stewardship efforts.

“In today’s world, it’s no longer sufficient to rely on people’s natural inclinations for altruism,” says Gayle Davey, senior vice president at Clarity Group. “CLEARview helps bring a richer understanding of people who support nonprofits. Being able to connect with people on a deeper level because you know what motivates them greatly impacts a nonprofit’s ability to compete against other causes.”

With the pulse of philanthropy beating to a changing economy, nonprofits often focus on delivering a message that rises above the noise. CLEARview’s emphasis hones in on the importance of knowing people at their core, understanding what matters to them and what values make them give time or money or both.

Tapping into these insights is what The Futures Co. does best. “This is really about understanding what makes a donor and a volunteer ‘tick’ as an individual,” says Kevin Brown, the CEO-North America of The Futures Co. “At a time when consumer frustration with institutions large and small continues to rear its head, we all need to work that much harder to understand, internalize, and act on the wants and needs of prospective donors and volunteers. MONITOR gets to the heart of this matter better than any other research tool.”

CLEARview examines various segments of the U.S. population and the attitudes driving their philanthropic behaviors. Topics like philanthropic generosity, trends among Millennials and profiling people who both give time and money can be applied to a nonprofit’s strategy to better guide and direct their interactions with their supporters.