Case Study: Vanguard Charitable achieves rapid NAVi launch and hyperlocal donor insights with SurveyMonkey Product Concept Analysis

How Vanguard Charitable launched an industry-changing tool with Product Concept Analysis

Vanguard Charitable, one of the largest donor-advised fund providers, faced a timely challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic: donors wanted to give hyperlocally but struggled to find small, local nonprofits that matched urgent community needs. The research and strategy group needed a way to prove a complex, map-driven platform would work before committing significant development funds.

Using SurveyMonkey’s Product Concept Analysis and expert solutions, the team rapidly tested concepts, branding and messaging—collecting 1,000+ responses in a week and getting initial expert results within hours—then built and launched the free Nonprofit Aid Visualizer (NAVi) within months. NAVi helped donors discover local pandemic-response organizations, supported quicker, more targeted giving, and was credited in part for donors directing over $1.5 billion in grants in 2020.

Vanguard Charitable

Magda Swanson

Research Project Strategist