AMMC 2001 - Benchmarking

Numbers: Crunching and ComparingAvalon Consulting GroupOctober 2011www.avalonconsulting.net Produced for the 2011 AMMMC Conference by Avalon Analytics, a division of Avalon Consulting Group, Inc. For more information, contact Avalon Executive Vice President Allison Porter at 1 allisonporter@avalconsulting.net or 202.429.6080 x102.

Benchmarking Tools for Your Membership ProgramUnderstanding Statistical DefinitionsEvaluating Your StatisticsCompare to Environmental Indicators and Benchmarks 2

Understanding Statistical DefinitionsQuantity Total number of members/prospects mailedNumber of Gifts Number of contributions receivedResponse Rate Number of Gifts / Quantity MailedRenewal Rate Total number of renewal gifts in year (all channels)/ number of current members eligible for renewal in yearAverage Gift Gross Revenue / Number of GiftsGross Revenue Total income receivedGross/M (“gross per Compare performance across multiple mailings with different quantities – comparesthousand pieces mailed”) apples to apples (Gross Revenue / Quantity) * 1,000Cost Total cost of a mailing (includes copy, art, print, laser shop, mail shop, postage, list costs, miscellaneous)Net Revenue Gross Revenue – CostNet/M (“net per thousand Compare performance across multiple mailings with different mail quantities andpieces mailed”) different costs (Net Revenue / Quantity) * 1,000Net/Donor (“net revenue Used mostly in acquisition to evaluate the quality of donors across different listsper donation”) – collapses response rate, average gift, and costs Net Revenue / Number of GiftsCost/$ Raised (“cost per What is spent to bring in a dollardollar raised”) Cost / Gross Revenue 3

Evaluating Your Statistics Monitor the number of days for returns.Do not make conclusions too early. Most mailings require at least 90 daysbefore they should be considered final and conclusive. As a general rule, expectto receive 50% of your total returns in the first 20 days. Look out for large gifts.A large gift can throw off the average gift and other statistics for determiningtesting results. These gifts should be subtracted out before results areevaluated. Confirm accuracy of costs.Ensure that all costs are included and that costs are accurately broken- out bypackage. Verify adequate sample sizes.If evaluating segments against each other, make sure that each segment has atleast 300 returns. This ensures that the results are statistically significant. Ifsample sizes are not large enough, consider testing over multiple months beforemaking a decision. 4

Compare to Environmental Indicators and Benchmarks In the fundraising industry, results often follow consumer confidence trends. Consultthe Consumer Confidence Index as an Environmental Indicator if a sudden increase or decrease in results is realized but not explained by obvious trends. www.conference-board.org Source: The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® 5

Acquisition Benchmarking Across Industries Acquisition Response Rates Acquisition Average Gift 1.2% 1.1% 1.0% 0.9% 1.0% 0.9% $42 $49 0.6% 0.5% $24 $22 $25 $26 $22 $23Arts & Culture Environment & Advocacy All Arts & Culture Environment & Advocacy All Conservation Conservation 2009 2010 2009 2010 Acquisition Net/Donor -$10 -$13 -$13 -$17 -$14 -$17 -$42 -$44 Arts & Culture Environment & Advocacy All Conservation 2009 2010 6

Appeal Benchmarking Across Industries Appeal Response Rates Appeal Average Gift 4.3% 4.4% 3.6% 3.8% 3.4% $66 $73 3.2% 2.9% 3.1% $39 $41 $48 $48 $44 $46Arts & Culture Environment & Advocacy All Arts & Culture Environment & Advocacy All Conservation Conservation 2009 2010 2009 2010 Appeal Net/Donor $39 $41 $26 $28 $31 $33 $29 $31 Arts & Culture Environment & Advocacy All Conservation 2009 2010 7

Renewal Benchmarking Across Industries Renewal Rates Renewal Average Gift $76 $75 63.9% 62.7% 47.4% 48.4% 44.8% 45.0% $52 $54 $51 $53 $42 $44 28.6% 29.0%Arts & Culture Environment & Advocacy All Arts & Culture Environment & Advocacy All Conservation Conservation 2009 2010 2009 2010 Renewal Net/Donor $68 $67 $40 $42 $44 $45 $36 $37 Arts & Culture Environment & Advocacy All Conservation 2009 2010 8

Analyze and Benchmark Results Visitation, Performing Arts, All Sectors & Libraries sectorsTotal Email file size: 38,736 39,100Usable email file size: 24,625 25,572Online revenue: $221, 964 $349,967Online revenue growth: 19% 20%Online avg. gift: $106.19 $91.94Fundraising open%: 21% 18%Fundraising click%: 1.96% 1.76%Fundraising response%: .10% .16%eNewsletter open% 27% 19%eNewsletter click% 3.44% 3.06%*All stats from Visitation, Performing Arts & Libraries sector of 2011 Convio Online MarketingNonprofit Benchmark™ Index Study published in March 2011. This sector includes zoos, museums,and aquariums that rely on members and guest visiting their facilities, and comprised 30 of the 589groups in this study. 9

Dara Rosenberg Igersheim Kristen Shank FinnSenior Program Manager Senior Program ManagerAvalon Consulting, Inc. Avalon Consulting, Inc.1150 17th Street, NW, Suite 200 1150 17th Street, NW, Suite 200Washington, DC 20036 Washington, DC 20036202.429.6080 ext. 118 202.429.6080 ext. 117darar@avalonconsulting.net kristens@avalonconsulting.net 10

AMMC 2001 - Benchmarking

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