17 Questions to Help us Improve our eBulletin - Results

How Would You Like Your eBulletin?

Back in February we asked you to tell us what you would like to read about in the eBulletin and 78 readers promptly obliged. Not everybody answered every question and some questions allowed several answers to be entered. Only a sample of the many comments and suggestions we received are included here.

The questionnaire is still available if you would like to have your say. We keep all feedback even if we are not able to implement all suggestions. Complete the questionnaire here. If you have a specific question for the WLT, please use our contact form instead.

Summary of responses

What respondents want to read about

For the readers who responded to the questionnaire, the main reason for subscribing to the eBulletin was to read about WLT project updates, (selected by 66 respondents), general conservation news (62 respondents) and other WLT news (43 respondents). Of these, most respondents (43) considered project updates to be the topic of most importance.

General conservation news (34 respondents) was the most selected topic to include more of in the eBulletin, closely followed by WLT project updates (33 respondents).

Not many respondents answered the question on what they would like to see less of in the eBulletin, but 10 selected Wildlife conservation career advice, which was likely to due to the most common age group amongst respondents being 36-65 (see below.).

The eBulletin format

The current length (equivalent to 2 printed pages) and frequency (once a month), seems to be what most respondents preferred (45 respondents and 56 respondents respectively), but most respondents would prefer to have just article summaries in the eBulletin, with links to more information on the WLT website (35 respondents). We also received several comments saying that the eBulletin should be as long as necessary to fit the content/news in.

An overwhelming majority did not want special editions of the eBulletin focussing on their preferred project area or the country/continent where they live: 55 and 60 respondents respectively answered no to these two questions.

Donating to the WLT

33 respondents preferred the current policy of including occasional asks for donations in the eBulletin, with only 7 preferring no appeals in the eBulletin at all.

Perhaps surprisingly, considering most eBulletin subscribers are not WLT supporters, 52 respondents said they had donated to the Trust. It would seem that WLT supporters were more likely to respond to our request for feedback! Of those who hadn’t donated to the Trust, the most commonly chosen reason was that they already support other charities (17 respondents).

Demographics and travel

Most respondents lived in the UK (45 respondents), with the US being the second most common country of residence (9 respondents). Most respondents (24) were between 36 and 50 years of age and 22 were 51-65 years old.

All WLT’s projects areas had been visited apart from Paraguay. The most visited areas were the UK, with 11 respondents having travelled there, and India with 7 respondents.

Responses in full

1. Are you an eBulletin subscriber?

(For the purpose of this questionnaire, a subscriber is a person who is sent the eBulletin by email to their own personal/work email address.)

Yes: 77
No: 1

2. How often to you read the eBulletin?

Every issue (once a month): 63
Occasionally: 13
Hardly ever: 1
Never: 0
No answer: 1

3. In what format do you usually read the eBulletin?

Usually read the eBulletin as an email: 73
Usually read the eBulletin on the WLT website: 3
Usually print out the eBulletin: 1
Usually don't read the eBulletin at all: 1

4. How much of each eBulletin issue do you usually read?

Usually read all of the content thoroughly: 19
Usually read some of the content thoroughly and skim-read the rest: 45
Usually skim-read all of the content: 3
Usually skim-read some of the content: 4
Usually read the headlines only: 0
Usually don't read any of the content: 0
No answer: 7

5. What are your main reasons for subscribing to/reading the eBulletin?

(Tick as many options as you like)

WLT project updates: 66
Other WLT news: 43
General conservation news: 62
Urgent appeals and petitions: 34
Tips on getting more involved in the Trust's work: 19
Tips on becoming more wildlife and environmentally friendly: 42
Wildlife conservation career advice: 4
Other reason: 11
For 'other reason', please tell us which:

These are some of the reasons given:
"Information worth passing to others"
"Like to support environmental charities"
"Geography teacher"
"Making sure you are a bona fida organisation and do not waste money on presentations"
"Also gives link to many other project and their partners. Helps build a team"

6. What type of content would you like to see more of in the eBulletin?

(Tick as many options as you like)

WLT project updates: 33
Other WLT news: 21
General conservation news: 34
Urgent appeals and petitions:22
Tips on getting more involved in the Trust's work: 21
Tips on becoming more wildlife and environmentally friendly: 24
Wildlife conservation career advice: 14
Other content: 13
For 'other content', please tell us which:

This is some of the content suggested:
"Carbon Balanced news"
"Factual information relating to issues at sites"
"Letter writing/e-mail campaigns"
"How about a short report on a random species' status each issue from your conservation areas?"
"Fundraising ideas"
"Greater deatil of sites and progress"
"More pictures less text"

7. What type of content would you prefer to have less of in the eBulletin?

(Tick as many options as you like)

WLT project updates: 2
Other WLT news: 4
General conservation news: 2
Urgent appeals and petitions: 4
Tips on getting more involved in the Trust's work: 3
Tips on becoming more wildlife and environmentally friendly: 2
Wildlife conservation career advice: 10
Other content : 0

8. Which of the following WLT news would you like to read about in the eBulletin?

(Tick as many options as you like and select one as most important)

Project updates: 56 (Most important: 43)
WLT events: 42 (Most important: 1)
News about WLT sponsors and how they help: 40 (Most important: 4)
News about schools and individuals fundraising for the WLT: 18 (Most important: 2)
News about training and jobs with the WLT, e.g. internships: 19 (Most important: 2)
Additions and updates to the WLT website, e.g. new articles: 26 (Most important: 1)
WLT being featured in the media: 26 (Most important: 8)
Other WLT news: 22 (Most important: 1)
For 'other WLT news', please tell us more:

These are some of the comments entered:
"Carbon balanced"
"New/forthcoming projects"

9. How often would you like to receive the eBulletin?

Every two weeks: 4
Once a month (current frequency): 56
Every other month: 11
Other: 2
For 'other', please tell us more:
No answer: 5

10. How long would you like each issue to be?

Equivalent to one printed page: 6
Equivalent to two printed pages (current size): 45
Equivalent to three printed pages: 11
Other: 6
For 'other', please tell us more:

These are some of the comments entered:
"Current size is fine, extention can be via links to website"
"As much as it takes to present the information"

No answer: 10

11. Which content format would you prefer?

Full articles and images contained in the eBulletin: 10
Article summaries and some images contained in the eBulletin, with links to more content on the website: 35
Only headlines contained in the eBulletin, with links to full articles and images on the website: 2
A combination of full articles and summaries with links to the website (current format): 25
Other: 1
For 'other', please tell us more:

No answer: 5

12. Would you prefer a special edition of the eBulletin focussing on your preferred project area?

(Ecuador edition, India edition and so on)

Yes, I would prefer an edition focussing on the project area I am most interested in: 11
No, I would prefer it if the eBulletin focussed equally on all WLT's project areas: 55
No answer: 12

13. Would you prefer a special edition of the eBulletin aimed at the country/continent where you live?

Yes, I would prefer an edition focussing on news from the region where I live: 8
No, I would prefer it if the eBulletin focussed equally on news from the whole world: 60
No answer: 10

14. How would you prefer us to integrate appeals for donations into the eBulletin?

Include donation appeals whenever needed: 13
Include donation appeals occasionally (current policy: 39
Keep donation appeals to a minimum and focus on news: 10
Do not include donation appeals in the eBulletin - send them out in separate emails: 7
No answer: 9

15. Our statistics show that eBulletin subscribers make fewer donations than readers of our printed magazine, WLT News.

The following information will help us understand current attitudes and how we can reach our target audience better.

1. Have you ever donated to the WLT?
   Yes: 52
   No: 14
   Don't remember: 6
   No answer: 6
2. If you have not yet made a donation, would you mind telling us why? (Tick as many options as you need)
   Not interested in the projects: 0
   Do not have a credit card: 2
   Do not have access to foreign currency: 1
   Already support the WLT in other ways: 1
   If you support the WLT in other ways, please tell us how:
   Already support other charities: 17
   If you support other charities, please tell us which:
   
   These are some of the charities the respondents entered:
   Amnesty
   Barnados
   Defenders of Wildlife
   Greenpeace
   Nature Conservancy
   Peta
   Wilderness Society
   WWF
3. Have you ever made a donation or purchase over the Internet?
   Yes: 52
   No: 14
   Unsure: 6
   No answer: 6

16. To help us understand the eBulletin readership, please tell us a little about yourself.

1. In which country do you live?
   These are the countries the respondents entered:
   United Kingdom: 42
   United States: 9
   Australia: 2
   Wales: 2
   Canada: 1
   Denmark: 1
   Greece: 1
   Hungary: 1
   Scotland: 1
   No answer: 18
   
2. Which is your age group?
   Under 15 years of age
   16-21: 0
   22-35: 13
   36-50: 24
   51-65: 22
   Over 65: 1
   No answer: 18
3. Have you ever visited a country where the WLT has a project? If so, tick all that apply.
   Argentina (Patagonia): 3
   Belize: 4
   Brazil: 4
   Costa Rica (now an independent project): 2
   Ecuador: 4
   India: 7
   Paraguay: 0
   Philippines: 1
   United Kingdom: 11

17. Do you have any other comments or questions about the eBulletin or the World Land Trust?

If so, please enter them in the box below.

These are some of the comments entered:
"Even though I have only made one donation to World Land Trust - the newsletter has kept me involved and I am now planning to make a monthly donation as hearing news on a regular basis re-affirms to me the good work you do."

"Maybe add more photography...maybe more general articles about animals and people affected..."

"Articles are to close to each other and the side bars are also to close to the main text, turning it hard to read. It should be something clearer so you can follow the text easily."

"I find WLT Bulletin informative, entertaining, and - a special plus, when there are now so many newsletters to read! - concise but the format is a problem the print is very small, and there are so many fonts and formats I cannot bear it on the screen, and can only read it if I print it out. "

"Excellent means of updating and communicating. Far more sense in terms of 'environmentally friendly' communication, and allows more resources to be directed to urgent project work by reducing printing and mailing costs (and their impact)."