We Ask, We Listen: MALT Supporter Survey Results

September 18, 2023

Earlier this year, we contacted MALT’s community – via email, print mail, or both – to ask for input on how we are doing, what they think we should prioritize in our work, and how they want to connect with MALT. 

Nearly 600 of you responded! 

We are so grateful for each person who participated and we truly value every response and comment you share with us. Conducting regular surveys is just one way we try to understand where you see yourself as part of our mission, and in what ways we can continue to grow and connect with our community. 

Below are some questions we asked as well as higher-level themes from the responses we think may interest you. 

From your comments when asked what MALT does well, we produced this word cloud to represent the understanding our community has of our core work. 

Question: What part of MALT’s mission is most important to you?

Nearly 57 percent of respondents ranked “preserving agriculture and farmland protection” as the most important part of our mission. 

Building climate resilience and protecting biodiversity ranked as the second and third most important parts of our mission with 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively. Connecting our community was still an important priority among our respondents. Read more about MALT’s new strategic pillars

Pie chart showing the largest section in green, representing "protecting agriculture" as the top priority part of our mission, as shared by survey respondents.

Question: How likely are you to recommend MALT to your family or friends?

On a scale of 0-10, more than 65 percent of respondents selected 10 or 9 as the likelihood of recommending MALT to family or friends, demonstrating a high rate of overall satisfaction with our work. We are so grateful for those who are champions for our mission in the community. 

Explaining the Net Promoter Score

As with most industries around the world, nonprofit included, MALT uses the one-question Net Promoter Score (NPS) to gauge overall satisfaction from our audience. The resulting score is calculated by taking our percentage of strongest “supporters” (those who responded with a 10 or 9) and subtracting the total percentage of “detractors” (those who responded with a 6 or below). This equation gives us an overall score that can range from -100 to 100. 

Anything above a 0 is considered a “positive” score, with the average across all sectors coming in at +32, according to SurveyMonkey data on 150,000 organizations. MALT’s NPS from this year’s survey respondents is +55, which is wonderful to see. When we asked this same question in 2021, our NPS was +32 which (though not a negative score and same as the national average) shows your confidence in our core work. Thank you. Learn more about our collective impact to-date.

A yellow half-circle donut chart shows a green arrow pointing left of center. Chart is labeled Net Promoter Score, with notations marking MALT NPS +55 and Nat'l Average NPS +32

Questions: How you give to nonprofits

MALT’s community is full of generous people, as evidenced by the 95 percent of respondents who said they had donated to a nonprofit organization recently. Thank you for doing your part to foster good works in the world. None of us could do it without your support.

A red half circle donut chart shows a blue arrow pointing to the very far left, denoting 95% of respondents having donated to nonprofit organizations recently

When it comes to how you prefer to support organizations with your donations, 43 percent of you said you have a preference for online giving. 27 percent prefer getting mail and responding by mail. About 20 percent of respondents did not have a strong preference either way. 

We appreciate your support however you opt to provide it, so learn more about the different ways to give to MALT, which includes some lesser-known options like donor advised funds, stock, endowments, or even donating a vehicle!

Thanks so much for filling out our survey and sharing your MALT experience with us. We are so grateful for your support of our mission to protect Marin farmland forever.


The Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) acknowledges that the land in our working area has been home to many Native communities since time immemorial — including the unceded ancestral lands of the Coast Miwok. This community has survived centuries of oppression, displacement, and outright genocide, and we honor their ancestors: past, present, and emerging.

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