 1. Donor
performance index
Having a vast amount
of fundraising data is a good beginning, but the information is useless
if it is not analyzed correctly and put to some good purpose.
At a recent conference,
the topic of donor data gained quite a bit of attention because of
the need of nonprofits to manage the donor relationship in such a
way that each person feels as if the nonprofit organizations knows
him/her personally.
Thus there is a Donor
Performance Index, a list of items to keep in mind when attempting
to get the most useful information out of a mound of data. The Index
includes such items as:
- At what rate is
the program growing?
- How large is the
typical gift and how has gift size changed over time?
- What is the frequency
of giving and how has the frequency of giving changed over time?
- How long have
donors been giving and how much money are donors worth over their
lifetime?
- What are donors'
renewal and attrition rates?
- Who are your core
donors?
- How many lapsed
donors do we have?
- How much revenue
do lapsed donors represent? Which ones are worth re-soliciting?
- Who is upgrading
their support, who is downgrading and what is the pattern?
- Which donors respond
to which appeals?
- How many donors
gave more than one donation this year? Last year?
- How long do we
have to wait to get a second gift?
- How many major
donors do we have?
2. Tracking
your organization's success
Solicitation is an
integral pat of any nonprofit operation, regardless of how time-consuming
or painful it might be. Although most organizations recognize the
need for solicitation and have been open to sophisticated and proven
methods of prospecting, not all of them are attuned to ways of measuring
success in terms other than dollars raised.
A huge return is
of course welcome and a cause for cheer, but there may be others
measure of success that are not so easy to quantify.
At the Association
of Fundraising Professionals annual conference in Baltimore earlier
this year, convention attendees learned about benchmarks of success
for a solicitation, some of which may not be among the most prominent
considerations when a campaign's results are being evaluated.
Some benchmarks are:
- Frequency of giving
increases. This will not be apparent in the immediate aftermath
of a campaign and will take time to be noticed.
- The donor and
volunteer base expand. This may happen right away or over time.
- Volunteers become
more active. They may find more ways and more creative ways to
help.
- The institution
gains community respect.
- In-kind support
increases. This is another area that may not show up on the bottom
line right away.
- The staff functions
as a team. This will happen if the staff was treated as a team
during the solicitation.
- Planned gifts
occur more frequently. Another aspect that occurs over time.
- Annual per capita
giving increases. Also extends over time.
- Attendance at
functions increases. Thanks to increased visibility.
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