Millions of People Want to Make a Difference

Now’s the Time to Find your Opportunity Audience.

Millions of Americans are looking to make a positive difference in America today.

Now is the time to engage more people for your cause.

Success begins with identifying your Opportunity Audience.

Our most recent SPIRE audience engagement survey found that 76% of Americans want to increase donating and volunteering to support causes they care about. At a time of disruption, division, and uncertainty, tens of millions of Americans aren’t shrinking back—they want to lean in. 

That could offer an opportunity for your organization to increase your reach, resources, and impact. The first step is to identify the Opportunity Audience for your issue. You need to answer three key questions: 

Who cares deeply about your cause? 

What will they do to support your work? 

How can you best inspire and engage them?

Read on to learn how one nonprofit organization answered these questions and discovered a massive Opportunity Audience.

A Small Organization Finds a Big Opportunity

BMe Community , which supports a network of African American leaders working in cities across the country, discovered an Opportunity Audience of 39 million people interested in advancing their work.

BMe commissioned an “audience segmentation” study, in which we ask dozens of questions about people’s aspirations, interests, and activities. Survey respondents rate answers to statements like these, according to how much the language reflects their own values:

“Racial discrimination is not a thing of the past.”

“Despite the challenges in society today, I always try to be optimistic and keep a positive attitude.”

“Some of the best people in our country are those who are challenging the way things have always been done.”

Their answers help identify people who have similar perspectives and motivations, so you can tailor messaging and tactics to appeal to them. A typical study will identify six or seven of these audience “segments.” 

BMe found a large group of people highly motivated to support African Americans’ aspirations. These people feel called to address racial division and right wrongs done to Black people. 

But they’re not likely to say the system should be thrown out. They’re more likely to express hope than outrage. Crucially, they’re very active—dedicating time, money, and attention to help organizations build a better way forward.

BMe calls them Builders, because they’re more focused on working toward solutions than protesting problems. 

Tailoring Communications to Engage Builders 

BMe’s Builders share values and interests, but they come from a wide range of backgrounds. They roughly represent the demographic diversity of the country: 58% White, 19% Black, and 12% Latino and other racial and ethnic groups. 

Builders are also found across the political spectrum: 51% Democrats, 22% Independents, and 20% Republicans.

As for interests and activities, they volunteer in their communities and donate to good causes. They share information with others and encourage them to get involved. They enjoy meeting people and like to have fun. They seek out music, movies, books, and art by Black creators.

Findings like these helped shape a campaign playbook that equipped BMe to shape their message, experiences, channels, and tactics to engage this audience. Tailoring engagement for your Opportunity Audience can achieve much better results than one-size-fits-all approaches.

Seize Your Opportunity

We call it an “opportunity” because that’s what these numbers represent: people who are a potential audience for an organization that does what it takes to engage them effectively. 

Your Opportunity Audience is out there. They’re aware of the issue. They care about the cause. They need to hear from you—in the right way and in the right place. The time to engage them is now. 

Want to find your Opportunity Audience? Reach out to us at info@hattaway.com