EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK: Results of MinistryWatch Reader Survey

OPINION–Twice each year, usually in April and October, MinistryWatch conducts a survey of its readers. We’ve been doing this survey for almost four years, and we have used it to understand you, our readers, and to make changes to the way we serve you.

We began sharing the results of this survey with you last October. (You can read that article here.) Today, we do so again.

So, with that preamble, let’s look at some of the results. I’ll also provide a bit of commentary along the way.

How Often Do You Read MinistryWatch?

I was gratified to learn that most of you are regular readers. More than 80 percent of you read MinistryWatch stories either every day or several times a week. 100 percent of respondents read MinistryWatch at least once a week. It’s gratifying to have such engaged readers.

What Do You Like About MinistryWatch?

You have a strong preference for investigative journalism. More than 50 percent of you say that is the primary reason you read MinistryWatch. That is consistent with earlier surveys, which have ranged from the high 40s to the high 50s.

What was interesting to me is that 20 percent of you depend on MinistryWatch for breaking news. That’s up from about 13 percent in last year’s survey. That’s interesting to me because we do not consider ourselves primarily a breaking news organization. That said, we try to be first, or among the first, to report the stories we cover, and it’s gratifying to know that many of you consider that attribute important.

Too Many Emails?

We asked you if we sent you too many emails, and about 68 percent of you said that the number of emails we sent to you was “about right.” That said, 30 percent of you said we send out too many. (Nearly two percent said we send too few!) We will continue to “tweak” our system in hopes of serving you better in the future.

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Most Of You Have Never Heard Of Our Podcast

Only about 6 percent of you are avid MinistryWatch podcast listeners. Another 22 percent of you listen occasionally. These numbers represent a very slight increase from past surveys.

What continues to surprise me is that 23 percent of you had “no idea you even had a podcast.” The good news is that this is an eight-point decrease from last October’s survey, which was an eight-point decrease from the year before. So I guess we’re moving in the right direction. Still, I find this number baffling. Every daily email we send mentions our podcast.

But the numbers don’t lie, and that tells me we need to do a better job of letting you know we have a podcast, and what is on it.

How Do You Get Your News?

Almost since the beginning of this survey, we’ve asked you which publications you read. (See results below.) But in this survey we added a question about the kind of media you consume. I was fascinated that about 65 percent of you get your news online – far more than radio, television, or print. I knew, of course, that online would score sell, but the utter dominance did come as a bit of a surprise to me.

What’s Most Important To You?

A couple of surveys ago, we started asking you WHY you read MinistryWatch. Six months ago, about 65 percent of you said you resonated with MinistryWatch’s goal of “enhancing the credibility of the church by holding accountable our own.” More than half of you said you read MinistryWatch to stay informed about what is going on in the ministry world. (You could choose more than one answer to this question.)

But our most recent survey indicated a significant shift. Today, 70 percent of you say you read MinistryWatch to stay informed, and the percentage you who read us to support our the goal of “enhancing the credibility of the church” fell by about 10 percent. I don’t like to read too much into the data, but this question, plus the question above in which you said you read MinistryWatch for breaking news, suggests that many of you depend on us as one of your more general news sources.

The answer “to help me become a better steward” came in last of the four options in previous surveys, but in this survey it moved up to third. This is encouraging to me, since helping Christian donors become better stewards is in the mission statement of MinistryWatch.

However, this result tells me that we’ve got even more work to do to serve Christian donors more effectively.

What Else Do You Read?

It is interesting to me that we’ve seen a significant change in reading habits over the past couple of years. The percentage of you who read WORLD Magazine has fallen from 40 percent a year ago to just 21 percent today. The percentage who read Christianity Today (also 21 percent) has also dropped significantly in the past year. However, the Colson Center’s BreakPoint commentaries saw an increase from 29 percent to 32 percent in the past six months.

I continue to be surprised (and disappointed) that 19 percent of you read The Epoch Times. This publication, run by the Falun Gong religious group, is staunchly anti-communist, which is likely why some conservatives find it of interest. But it is, in many ways, antithetical to a Christian worldview and should be read either with great caution, or as an exercise in opposition research.

Too Much Financial Fraud and Sexual Abuse?

We sometimes get emails from readers who tell us that we publish too much bad news. I don’t think we do. I think what some call “bad news” is often a redemptive story that is simply still underway. We call one of the worst days in human history “Good Friday” because we know the rest of the story: the Resurrection is coming and, furthermore, the crucifixion makes the Resurrection possible.

Nonetheless, we do take all feedback seriously, so we asked: What is your reaction to stories of financial fraud and sexual abuse? I was gratified to learn that most of you agree with me. More than 90 percent of you told us they were “necessary,” though 9 percent of you added “a little goes a long way.”

Becoming A Discerning Giver

One of the most gratifying findings of this survey is also one of the most consistent over time. That finding is this: you use MinistryWatch to help you make giving decisions.

A robust 72 percent of you say you have used MinistryWatch to help you make giving decisions, and 42 percent of you say you have changed your giving decisions based on the information you learned from MinistryWatch.

This is why we exist: to serve donors, to help you make more discerning giving decisions.

So, the bottom line is this: We’ve still got some work to do. Your responses to this survey will help us make changes strategically and efficiently. We thank you for that.

And we also can see, though, that our work is bearing fruit in your lives and in the lives of those you touch with your generosity. We thank God for that.