The Community Roundtable

Empowering global community leaders with research-backed resources, training, and tools.

  • About Us
    • Our Values
    • Our Team
    • Our Clients
      • Client Success Stories
    • Community Leadership Awards
      • Community Leadership Awards 2024
      • Community Leadership Awards 2023
      • Community Leadership Awards 2022
      • Community Leadership Awards 2021
  • Services
    • Benchmarking and Audits
      • Community Performance Benchmark
      • Community Readiness Audits
      • Community ROI Calculator
      • The Community Score
    • Models and Frameworks
      • Community Maturity Model™
      • Community Engagement Framework™
      • Community Skills Framework™
      • Community Technology Framework™
      • The Social Executive
  • Research
    • The State of Community Management
      • SOCM 2024
      • SOCM 2023
      • SOCM 2022
      • SOCM 2021
      • SOCM 2020
    • Community Careers and Compensation
    • The Community Manager Handbook
      • 2022 Edition
      • 2015 Edition
    • The Social Executive
    • Special Reports
    • Case Studies
  • Events
    • Connect
      • Connect 2024
      • Connect 2023
      • Connect 2022
    • Community Technology Summit
    • Professional Development
    • Resource Bundles
    • Upcoming Events
    • Community Manager Appreciation Day
      • Community Manager Appreciation Day 2025
      • Community Manager Appreciation Day 2024
  • I’m looking for…
    • Community Engagement Resources
    • Executive Support Resources
    • Community Reporting Resources
    • Platform and Technology Resources
    • Community Strategy Resources
    • Community Programming Resources
    • Community Career Resources
    • Something Else
      • Vendor Resource Center
      • Community FAQs
      • Community Management Podcasts
        • Community Conversations
        • Lessons From The NEW Community Manager Handbook
      • Community 101
        • Community Management Glossary
        • Community Management FAQs
      • Case Studies
      • Community Webinars
  • Community
    • The Network
      • Member Login
      • Join The Network
      • Roundtable Call Library
    • The Library
      • Subscriber Login
      • Subscribe to The Library
  • Blog

What’s the best way to spend your content and programming budget?

December 5, 2023 By Jim Storer

The Community Maturity Model’s™ Content & Programs competency concerns the twin foundational pillars of any thriving community program: content and programs. These are the essential components that attract and retain members. High-quality content is critical to create interest and engagement among members. Programs facilitate connections and foster deeper relationships between members. Together, they are the driving force that keeps a community active and successful.

Experienced community managers know that creating and curating compelling content is critical to the success of any community. Likewise, creating opportunities via programs for members to come together to share and learn together is an essential part of their work.

Our 2023 State of Community Management respondents reported an increase in their budget allocated to content and programs, more than tripling since 2020 (from 3% to 10%) – which is a great sign that the efficacy of community programming is being more widely recognized.

But, with so many options, what’s the best way to spend your content and programming budget?

What's the best way to spend your content and programming budget? Percentage of budget allocated to content and programs.

Understanding the importance of content and programs and allocating your budget appropriately is a positive step, but where you allocate that money is where it’s interesting to compare our survey average against the best-in- class segment. Not surprisingly, both segments report “virtual discussions” are the leading program with 77% of the survey average and 90% of the best-in-class segment leveraging them. “New member welcome/onboarding” programs are also widely employed (62% vs 77%), as well as “member spotlights” (48% vs 57%). “Conference and events” also sneak onto the list, reinforcing that getting your community members together in person remains a focus in this post-COVID era.

Best-in-class programs, with their formal leadership programs, remind us to look outside your community team to create compelling programs. While the 2023 survey average generally tracks with previous years, the best-in- class segment draws in contributors from both in and outside the organization. It’s most striking with “peers from other areas of the organization,” where 76% of the best-in-class segment is pulling from (vs just 46% of the survey average). It’s worthwhile to audit how diverse your community program plan is and add in new voices on a regular basis to keep it from getting stale.

Finally, last year we (strongly) suggested that if you don’t currently have programs focused on new members it should be on your short list. To the 36% of respondents in this year’s survey that still don’t do this or don’t know if you do, please find out. If you’re not welcoming new members with information on how they can get the most out of the community, make it a priority. We may sound like a broken record, but it’s essential to your success.

It’s also of note that we saw a general maturation of content and program planning in this year’s sample, with 21% of respondents indicating that they have a formal plan that aligns with community strategy and is integrated with other functional plans, up from 13% in 2022. This is a big jump and given the importance of content and programs in overall community engagement, a welcome one.

Download the State of Community Management 2023 to learn more about how you can leverage communities as effective behavior change-makers at your orgs.

State of Community Management 2023
  • No Question Left Behind: Transforming Community Engagement Through Effective Communication
  • Scalable Self-Service in Online Communities
  • The Power of Metrics: Enhancing Community Engagement at ISTE+ASCD

About Jim Storer

Jim has always been interested in bringing people together and connecting them to one another, whether it’s for events, online communities or a food/craft beer tasting. Connect with Jim on Twitter or Linkedin.

comments powered by Disqus
Community best practices

Resources for the people who build online communities.

ABOUT US
Our Values
Our Team
Our Clients
Careers

RESOURCES
Vendor Resource Center
Podcasts 
Community 101
Case Studies
Webinars

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Benchmarking and Audits
Models and Frameworks
Research
Professional Development

QUICK LINKS
Blog
Newsletter
About The Network
About The Library
About The Academy

LOGIN
The Network
The Library
The Academy

Contact
Support
Partnership
Inquiries
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter