This document discusses how non-profits can use data and analytics to improve their fundraising and engagement efforts. It provides examples of key metrics non-profits should track, such as web traffic, email performance, and donation data. It also highlights results from testing fundraising campaigns, including how message framing and small design changes can significantly impact donations. The document advocates testing approaches and using data to develop multi-channel communication strategies tailored for different audience segments.

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DATA IN THE REAL WORLD
Making Sense of the Big Data Trend at Your Non-Profit
Prepared by Scott Gilman and Nancy Palo
http://www.slideshare.net/scottmgilman/afp-data

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ABOUT SCOTT

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ABOUT NANCY

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June: 6.4 pounds
August: 6.1 pounds

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• How is Big Data being applied in the
nonprofit space?
• What does segmenting really mean?
• How can use testing to improve our efforts
• How does data relate to your organization’s
events
WHY WE’RE HERE

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Data has a bad
reputation - but it
shouldn't
“Use of the word 'data' can be
misleading. It makes people think it's
all about statistics and spreadsheets
and can be off-putting.
I prefer the term 'evidence', of which
quantitative data is a part."
THE WHAT AND WHY
Source: James Noble, professional social researcher at New Philanthropy Capital (NPC)

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Know what you’re using data for.
"I think people can get caught up in data or visualization for its own
sake.
You have to be clear about what question you're trying to answer
before you set up your data collection and analysis activities.”
THE WHAT AND WHY
Source: Mike Thompson, senior consultant at mySociety.

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Data is the future.
"For charities the possibilities are
huge, ranging from internal data
analytics to measure efficiency,
external data metrics to measure
effectiveness and big data to
look at opportunity and bench
marking.”
THE WHAT AND WHY
Source: Richard Craig, chief executive of the Charity Technology Trust.

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• Web Traffic
Monthly visitors; unique visitors, pages per visit
Month Over Month Change; Year Over Year Change
• Conversion Rate
New organic registrants, e-mail capture rate
Month Over Month Change; Year Over Year Change
• House-file Health
Total file, Usable file, Percent Usable, Opt-outs
Month Over Month Change; Year Over Year Change
• Online File Composition
Online donors, Percent of file who are donors
Month Over Month Change; Year Over Year Change
• Fundraising / Online Revenue
Overall total, Number of Gifts, Average Donation Amount, First Time Donors, Repeat Donors, Gifts over a certain
amount
Month Over Month Change; Year Over Year Change
MONTHLY DASHBOARD: WHAT TO TRACK

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• E-mail Performance
Open rates, click-through rates, response rates
• Monthly Giving
Number of monthly donors, Number of new monthly donors, amount given, average
gift size
Month Over Month Change; Year Over Year Change
• Advocacy
Total number of advocates, new advocates, donations by advocate
Month Over Month Change; Year Over Year Change
• Revenue Per E-mail Address
Year Over Year Change
MONTHLY DASHBOARD: WHAT TO TRACK

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NEWSLETTER CLICK-THROUGHS
Lead Story: X
Feature Story: Y
Article Referenced
in Subject Line: Z

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MOTIVATION: PROFILE-DRIVEN COMMUNICATION

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EMAIL APPEAL TESTING: EMAIL
• Wolf-focused tone increased donation rates by 29% in one segment
Wolf copy focus: 0.17% donation rate Match copy focus: 0.13% donation rate

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RECENT MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
Open Rate Click-through Rate Un-subscribes
Overall 60,270 21.43 2.65% .21%
Benefit Events 5,041 26.7% 4.19% 0.26%
Bicycling 284 35.56% 5.63% 0
Birding/Wildlife 272 38.97% 7.72% 0
Conservation 59,546 21.37% 2.65% 0.19%
Monthly Newsletter 9,792 27.39% 4.15% 0.27%
Cultural Activities 8,945 28.02% 4.21% 0.31%
Events and Cultural
Activities
421 38.24% 7.36% 0
Free Events 9,056 28.05% 4.21% 0.33%
Kids & Family Activities 8,981 27.9% 4.3% 0.31%
Nature & Horticulture 9,269 28.41% 4.47% 0.3%
Pets 9,887 27.06% 3.99% 0.29%
Recreation & Sports 4,145 25.86% 3.91% 0.24%
Sports & Leisure 347 36.6% 6.92% 0

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DONATION PERFORMANCE BY GROUP
Group 2011 2012
% Who
Gave
Gifts Total Avg. % Who
Gave
Gifts Total Avg.
Benefit Events 4.61 426 $72,955 $171.26 5.33 514 $93,196 $181.31
Bicycling 15.91 82 $13,405 $163.48 15.66 73 $16,895 $231.44
Birding/Wildlife 16.45 79 $12,271 $155.33 17.48 92 $17,991 $195.55
Conservation 2.97 5,221 $915,957 $175.44 3.23 5,690 $1,011,721 $177.81
Monthly Newsletter 5.49 925 $164,603 $177.95 5.86 1,022 $212,907 $208.32
Cultural Activities 5.48 847 $144,568 $170.68 5.94 941 $192,037 $204.08
Events and Cultural Activities 14.5 115 $14,856 $129.18 15.31 130 $21,350 $164.23
Free Events 5.36 851 $147,343 $173.14 5.82 954 $194,312 $203.68
Kids & Family Activities 5.62 863 $148,468 $172.04 5.94 948 $197,212 $208.03
Nature & Horticulture 5.94 933 $158,260 $169.62 6.25 1,001 $202,953 $202.75
Pets 4.82 865 $146,669 $169.56 5.3 975 $196,778 $201.82
Recreation & Sports 2 141 $22,085 $156.63 2.25 172 $27,586 $160.38
Sports & Leisure 16.53 98 $15,820 $161.43 13.47 85 $17,251 $202.95

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GROUP PERFORMANCE (ONLINE ONLY)
Group (Group Size) 2011 2012
Gifts Amounts Avg. Gifts Amounts Avg.
Appended E-mails Fall 2009 705 $62,301 $88.37 668 $65,892 $98.64
Not Appended E-mails Fall 2009 13,446 $1,087,742 $80.90 10,906 $1,047,730 $96.07
All December Only Donors 2,185 $392,631 $179.69 2,311 $480,449 $207.90
December 2011 Donors Only
Gave in 2011, but only in December 1,701 $355,407 $208.94 956 $262,662 $274.75
December 2012 Donors Only
Gave in 2012, but only in December -- -- -- 1,720 $415,655 $235.10
Advocacy Participants 285 $35,880 $125.89 222 $31,037 $139.81

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OPTIMIZING TRAFFIC TO POPULAR PAGES

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• Single page vs. Two page form
• Horizontal vs. Vertical ask string
• Location of trust logos
• Charity Navigator, BBB, VeriSign, etc…
• No extra navigation on the page
• Donate button size and color
• Intro text, imagery, etc…
DONATION FORM TESTING IDEAS

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IN SUMMARY
Small changes to donation
forms can have a big
impact.
• Do you have a VeriSign
logo?
• Are you asking for too
much information?
• Do you have mission
oriented copy included?

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THE REPORT

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USING DATA TO DEVELOP FUNDRAISING
EVENT STRATEGIES

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BENCHMARKS AND USER BEHAVIORS

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WHAT IS IN THE P2P BENCHMARK REPORT?
P2P Analysis Overview
• 1,275 organizations & 28,000 events
• Events from Jan 1, 2010 to Dec 31, 2011
• TeamRaiser and FAF Platforms
• Metrics listed in Median Values

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KEY FINDING:
PARTICIPANTS ARE MULTI-CHANNEL COMMUNICATORS
While number of emails sent were down, online fundraising was up!
Participants are using truly multi-channel fundraisers.

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Email Mail
Social
Media
Other
MULTI-CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

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KEY FINDING: AVERAGE GIFT AMOUNT

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DONATION FORM STRATEGY

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KEY FINDING: RETURNING VS. NEW PARTICIPANTS

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Retention
Event Day
Post Event
Year Round
Segmented
RETENTION STRATEGY

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KEY FINDING: TEAM CAPTAINS OUTPERFORM IN
EVERY CATEGORY

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TEAM CAPTAIN FOCUSED STRATEGIES

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THREE ONLINE BEHAVIORS THAT DRIVE REVENUE

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SELF DONATION
Behavior Fundraising
Average
Non-Self Donor $69
Self Donor $508

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UPDATE PERSONAL PAGE
Behavior Fundraising
Average
Page Not
Updated
$31
Page Updated $205

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SEND EMAIL
Behavior Fundraising
Average
0 Emails Sent $52
1-9 Emails Sent $231
10+ Emails Sent $541

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When in doubt, ask
yourself, how is what
we’re tracking help us
better understand how
we’re doing?
Do we take what learn,
and change or evolve
our strategy because of
it?
If not, think twice.
TIPS TO REMEMBER