Grey Matter Research & Consulting, LLC

What Grey Matter Research & Consulting, LLC does

Grey Matter Research & Consulting, LLC is a Phoenix, Arizona-based market research firm founded in 1996 that delivers custom qualitative and quantitative consumer research for donor-supported non-profits, faith-based ministries, denominations, churches, and the marketing, advertising, and fundraising agencies that serve them. The firm operates with 1-10 employees and is led by founder Ron Sellers, who has personally moderated thousands of qualitative sessions and led hundreds of quantitative studies over his career. Research methodology combines focus groups, in-depth interviews, and national surveys delivered via online panels, phone, and other channels, with the firm explicitly emphasizing human-run data quality checks rather than algorithm-driven validation.

The firm's product surface comprises two streams: bespoke custom research engagements for individual clients, and a catalog of syndicated reports covering evangelical religious demographics, donor behavior, fundraising effectiveness, church engagement, and faith-based consumer attitudes. Recent syndicated launches include Donor Patterns in Giving (October 2025), The Average American Donor (January 2026), The Core Audience of Christian Media (February 2026), Raising Givers (March 2026), The Generosity Landscape (April 2026), and Donor Email and Evangelicals (June 2026), several of which are co-developed with Infinity Concepts, Harmon Research, or InChrist Communications. Reports are distributed free upon email request, functioning primarily as thought-leadership and lead-generation assets rather than paid products.

Revenue is generated through commissioned custom research projects for clients including Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, TrueSense Marketing, and Chevrolet, plus collaborative research partnerships. The firm is privately held, founder-owned, bootstrapped, and operates exclusively in the United States with no disclosed external funding, parent company, or subsidiary structure. Customer acquisition is relationship-driven, with the company stating that most work comes from repeat clients or referrals built over multi-decade engagements.

Name

Grey Matter Research & Consulting, LLC

Legal name

Grey Matter Research & Consulting

Website

https://greymatterresearch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Grey Matter Research & Consulting is a Phoenix, Arizona-based boutique market research firm founded in 1996 that delivers custom qualitative and quantitative research for donor-supported non-profits, faith-based ministries, denominations, and the agencies that serve them.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Syndicated Market Research (Panels, Omnibus, Tracker Studies) (MPAAALAB), Qualitative Research (Focus Groups, IDIs, Ethnography) (MPAAALAE), Social & Digital Insights (Social Listening, Online Community Research) (MPAAALAK)

Keywords

• Market research services
• Consumer insights
• Donor research
• Qualitative research
• Quantitative surveys

Headquarters

HQ city

Prescott Valley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Custom Research & Consulting: Grey Matter Research conducts bespoke research projects for individual clients across topics including donor behavior, branding, religious beliefs, consumer behavior, and more. Their reports are free upon request for published studies, suggesting a model where they generate revenue through commissioned custom research while distributing some reports for free to demonstrate expertise and generate inbound leads.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Grey Matter Research & Consulting conducts bespoke qualitative and quantitative market and consumer research for non-profits, faith-based ministries, denominations, churches, marketing/advertising/fundraising agencies, and for-profit companies. They design and execute custom research projects (focus groups, moderated in-depth interviews, national surveys, online panels, phone research) and publish a catalog of named research reports on donor behavior, evangelical demographics, church engagement, fundraising effectiveness, and consumer behavior, most of which are distributed free upon email request.

Product overview

Grey Matter Research & Consulting, LLC is a research and consulting firm specializing in serving donor-supported organizations, faith-based ministries, denominations, and churches. The company offers a portfolio of research reports covering charitable giving patterns, evangelical and religious demographics, church engagement, fundraising effectiveness, and media consumption. Their research methodology includes both qualitative (focus groups, moderating) and quantitative approaches (national surveys). Most reports are available free upon request, with many produced in partnership with organizations like Infinity Concepts, Harmon Research, and InChrist Communications. Key products include studies on donor behavior (Donor Patterns, The Average American Donor, Raising Givers), religious demographics (The Core Audience, Beyond the Label, The Spiritual Journey), and fundraising effectiveness (Strategic Creative Design, Charity Watchdogs).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom Qualitative and Quantitative Market Research Bespoke research and consulting services combining qualitative methods (focus groups, moderated in-depth interviews, on-site sessions, discussion guide design) and quantitative methods (national surveys, online panels, phone research) for non-profits, faith-based ministries, denominations, churches, agencies, and for-profit companies. Each project is customized in scope, methodology, and reporting style to the client's business problem.
• Donor Patterns in Giving Research report of over 1,100 American givers exploring how donors think and prefer to give, including planning vs. spontaneity, research vs. gut feel, group vs. individual preferences, and appetite for innovation, with breakdowns by age, gender, income, political perspective, and religious faith.
• The Average American Donor Study of over 1,100 donors examining the generosity of the average American donor, showing donors mentally inflate their generosity by nearly four times reality (average 1.22% vs. estimated 4.6%) and exploring reasons donors are not more generous.
• The Core Audience: Evangelicals and Christian Media Joint report with Infinity Concepts examining 11 different types of Christian media channels, exploring what evangelicals think of Christian media, how they use it, reputation perceptions, social media connections, and what they most want from it.
• Raising Givers: Passing Generosity from Generation to Generation Study of over 1,100 donors examining how parenting influences generous behavior such as giving and volunteering in today's donors, building on the firm's prior Heart of the Donor research from over a decade earlier.
• The Generosity Landscape: How Evangelicals Give Joint report with Infinity Concepts exploring giving among evangelical Protestants, addressing common 'giving myths' such as election year impact on giving, time vs. money giving, digital church impact on giving, and senior volunteering.
• Evangelical Thinking: Views on Artificial Intelligence Study of 1,039 evangelical Protestant adults exploring their views on artificial intelligence, including positive and negative impacts on medical care, jobs, public safety, economy, creativity, and Christian faith.
• Evangelical Parenting: Regrets, Results, and Hopes Joint report with Infinity Concepts surveying over 550 evangelical Protestant parents about parenting, regrets about faith development, results of parenting efforts, and hopes for children's spiritual commitment.
• Who Controls the Wallet? How Evangelical Couples Give Joint report with Infinity Concepts exploring how evangelical couples make giving decisions together, including joint vs. separate giving, input equity, and agreement on causes supported.
• Strategic Creative Design in Fundraising Ads Joint report with Infinity Concepts testing fundraising advertising with over 1,000 respondents, exploring what fundraising ad content works best, including scripture use and watchdog logo effectiveness.
• Evangelicals in the Public Arena: Understanding Their Political, Moral, and Social Views Joint report with Infinity Concepts studying 1,039 evangelical Protestant adults on their views about 11 controversial issues and how involved churches should be publicly.
• The Spiritual Journey: How Evangelicals Came to Faith Joint report with Infinity Concepts examining how evangelicals came to their beliefs, influencing factors, and the role of family, church, and Christian media.
• Beyond the Label: Unmasking Evangelical Identity Joint report with Infinity Concepts studying over 1,000 Protestant Americans with evangelical theological beliefs on how they identify with the term 'evangelical'.
• Still More Dirty Little Secrets of Online Panels White paper exposing issues with online panel research quality, including fraudulent or disengaged respondents.
• Charity Watchdogs - Ignore Them at Your Own Risk Joint report with Harmon Research on donor awareness and use of charity watchdog organizations such as Ministry Watch, Wise Giving Alliance, and GiveWell.
• Lost Opportunities - Faith, Giving, and Social Media Joint report with Harmon Research studying 971 social media users about connections with religious congregations and donor-supported organizations.
• How many people use church websites, and for what purposes? Study of 1,011 online American adults examining church website usage patterns, visitor types, and purposes including checking service times, directions, and beliefs.
• Church After COVID Research report examining how church engagement for evangelicals has changed post-pandemic, including combinations of in-person and digital services.
• Donor Email and Evangelicals (You've Got Mail) Research report exploring how much donor email evangelicals actually receive from non-profits and ministries, how much they actually read, and what they do with it.

Quantifiable outcome

• Most work is repeat or referral business, indicating strong client satisfaction and retention

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Infinity ConceptscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts have partnered on multiple joint research reports covering the evangelical Protestant market, including 'The Core Audience: Evangelicals and Christian Media' (February 2026), 'The Generosity Landscape: How Evangelicals Give' (April 2026), 'The Spiritual Journey: How Evangelicals Came to Faith' (January 2024), 'Evangelicals in the Public Arena' (March 2024), 'Beyond the Label: Unmasking Evangelical Identity' (May 2024), 'Strategic Creative Design: A Study in Fundraising Advertising among Evangelicals' (December 2023), and 'Who Controls the Wallet? How Evangelical Couples Give' (September 2023). Both companies specialize in serving the Christian community.
• Harmon ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrey Matter Research partnered with Harmon Research on the report 'Lost Opportunities – Faith, Giving, and Social Media' (May 2020), which explored how Americans use social media to connect with religious congregations and donor-supported organizations.
• InChrist CommunicationsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrey Matter Research partnered with InChrist Communications on the study 'Ministry Communications in a Post-COVID World' (June 2021), surveying over 100 ministry leaders about communications priorities for faith-based organizations after the pandemic.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Gallup: Gallup is a global analytics and advisory firm conducting public opinion and consumer research, including religion and giving studies. It is a broad incumbent competitor for large-scale custom survey engagements.
• Pew Research Center: Pew Research Center is a major non-partisan research institution conducting large-scale surveys on religion, demographics, and social trends. Its religion research intersects with Grey Matter's faith-based work but operates at much larger scale with different funding model.
• Ipsos: Ipsos is one of the world's largest market research companies with syndicated tracking, panels, and custom qualitative/quantitative services. It competes with Grey Matter on the methodology layer and on larger non-profit sector engagements.
• Forrester Research: Forrester is a global research and advisory firm producing syndicated and custom research for business and consumer markets. While not focused on faith-based or non-profit verticals, it represents the scaled research-advisory model Grey Matter could be compared against by enterprise clients.

Others

• Infinity Concepts: Infinity Concepts is a marketing and communications agency serving the Christian community and a frequent co-publication partner with Grey Matter. It is ecosystem-adjacent, often commissioning or jointly producing research rather than competing for the same research contracts.
• Harmon Research: Harmon Research is a market research firm that has co-authored multiple joint studies with Grey Matter on faith, giving, and social media. It is a peer-level methodology competitor and a known co-publishing partner.

Emerging players

• Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI): PRRI is a non-partisan research organization studying religion, culture, and public policy, including studies of evangelical attitudes. It overlaps with Grey Matter's faith-based audience research but operates as a non-profit think tank rather than a commercial consultancy.

Direct peers

• Campbell Rinker: Campbell Rinker is a research firm specializing in donor research and fundraising benchmarking for non-profit and faith-based organizations. It competes head-to-head with Grey Matter for non-profit donor behavior and fundraising effectiveness engagements.
• LifeWay Research: LifeWay Research conducts faith-based and denominational research, including studies on church engagement, generosity, and evangelism. It overlaps directly with Grey Matter's donor and ministry research verticals.
• Barna Group: Barna Group is a research and consulting firm focused on the intersection of faith and culture, conducting surveys of Christian and broader US audiences. It is the closest direct peer to Grey Matter's evangelical and faith-based research practice, competing for similar ministry and denomination clients.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grey Matter Research & Consulting, LLC