Maximize Your Database for Fundraising Success Your donor database is likely a large investment on the part of your organization, in both time and money. It’s also a critical component of your fundraising efforts. So why let this asset go underutilized? In this session, we will cover the tenets of effective database usage, no matter what program or vendor you use. We will show examples of best practices in data management, communication segmenting, engagement tracking and reporting in order to help your team work smarter, not harder. Learning Outcomes: Be familiar with data management techniques that maximize the capabilities of your database and increase productivity Understand segmenting strategies lead to higher response rates from your donor communications Learn how to generate meaningful reports that will impact your internal procedures

1. Maximize Your Database
for Fundraising Success

2. Wayne Robbins
• 20 Years in Nonprofit Sector
• 10 Years of Technology Leadership
• Over 5,000 Database Installations
• Former Director at eTapestry
• Former Director of Development
• Former Board Member and Current Volunteer
for many nonprofit organizations
3
Your presenter »

3. 3

4. Agenda »
• The importance of donor retention
• Your database: a 3-legged stool
• Data Management 101
• Segmenting 101
• Appeals
• Acknowledgement
• Engagement Tracking/Scoring
• Reporting

5. What is the key purpose of a database?

6. What is the key purpose of a database?
“To enable and insure the proper
funding of your organization’s mission.”

7. What is the key purpose of a database?
“To enable and insure the proper
funding of your organization’s mission.”
(Is there a secret to achieving this purpose?)

9. Calculating Your Retention Rate »
# of Donors in Current 12 Months
(from the previous years pool)
divided by
# of Donors in Previous 12 Months

10. Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP)
A project to help nonprofit organizations
measure and compare
Who is Studying Donor Retention?

11. The 2014 results are in »
Nearly 6 out of every 10 donors do not give again!

12. Gift retention isn’t much better »

13. New donor retention is even worse »

14. But retention is improving slightly »

15. Who to focus on »

16. Donor Attrition Over Five Years
# of Donors Attrition
Rate
Donors
Remaining
After 1 Year
Donors
Remaining
After 2
Years
Donors
Remaining
After 3
Years
Donors
Remaining
After 4
Years
Donors
Remaining
After 5
Years
1,000 20% 800 640 512 410 328
1,000 40% 600 360 216 130 78
1,000 60% 400 160 64 26 10
So what?

17. So what?
Improving donor
retention rates by just
10% can increase the
lifetime value of your
database by 150-
200%!
- Dr. Adrian Sergeant,
Bloomerang Chief Scientist

18. Donor retention math »

19. 10% of your donors in the previous year
multiplied by your average gift amount
EQUALS
Potential first-year increase!
The hidden “math” of your database »

20. “The total net contribution that a
customer/donor generates during
his/her lifetime in your database”
Defining Lifetime Value »

21. $1000 +
$500 - $1000
$100 - $500
$25 and under annually
$25 - $100
Value
Value Segments »
Time

22. “Proper database usage
is the key to donor retention
and lifetime value!”
- Jay Love - CEO, Bloomerang

23. The 3-Legged Stool »
1. Record keeping
2. Outbound communications
3. Interactions

24. 1. Record Keeping »
• The original reason to replace 3x5 cards in the 1980s!
• Everyone in the organization should use the database
• Everyone in the organization should benefit from data

25. 2. Communications »
• The “secret sauce” of retention success!
• Offline
• Appeals
• Acknowledgements
• Newsletters
• Handwritten notes (magical!)
• Online
• Email
• Website interactions
• All must be integrated!

26. 3. Interactions »
• Types
• Phone calls
• Texts
• Meetings
• Emails
• Chat
• Notes
• The institutional memory of your organization
• Enables the highest levels of engagement
• All must be integrated!

27. Data Management »
Can you have too many names in your database?

28. 0 / 10 / 90 Rule »
• 0% of your funding
• 10% of your funding
• 90% of your funding

29. 0 / 10 / 90 Rule »
• 0% of your funding
• 10% of your funding
• 90% of your funding
What should you do with each segment?

30. 0 / 10 / 90 Rule »
• 0% of your funding
• remove all but:
• previous above-average donors
• previous board members
• previous top volunteers
• 10% of your funding
• handle in an automatic manner, but research
• 90% of your funding
• focus the majority of your efforts here

31. Segmenting »
Seattle’s Lakeside Upper School counts … Bill
Gates among its alumni. Rumor has it a
fundraiser for the high school called Gates,
who asked: “How much is everyone else
giving?” About $75 he was told. “So put me
down for $75,” said Gates.
-- Forbes, Jan 22, 1996, p. 16

32. Appeal segmenting »

33. Appeal principles »
• Design a “style” for each segment
• Consider calling and mailing segments 2, 4 and 6
• Handwritten notes and/or P.S. are powerful
• Test, test, test!
• Personalize as much as possible (database fields)
• More than once a year
• Always aim for monthly donors!

34. Acknowledgement segmenting »

35. • 48 hour rule
• Call ALL first-time donors
• Handwritten notes
• Be different than the rest
• State exactly how donation will be used
• Fully map a track for each segment
Acknowledgement principles »

36. Donor communications »
“Successful donor
communications are quite
simple.
At heart, they are love
letters to donors &
prospects, woven through
with clear cries for help.”
- Tom Ahern,
Bloomerang Donor
Communications Head Coach
http://aherncomm.com

40. Engagement factors »

41. 40

42. Reporting »

43. 1. Record keeping
• Hone in on what is truly needed
Reporting »

46. 1. Record keeping
2. Communication-related (plus results!)
• The key to proper testing
Reporting »

49. 1. Record keeping
2. Communication-related (plus results!)
3. Big picture for board (YTD and vs budget)
• Dashboards and graphics
Reporting »

52. 1. Record keeping
2. Communication-related (plus results!)
3. Big picture for board (YTD and vs budget)
4. KPIs
• Metrics that make a difference
Reporting »

53. KPI September Goal September Actual
New Donors 500 831
New Volunteer
Signups
460 652
Web Sessions 17,500 22,253
Email Signups 12,500 16,794
Cost per New
Donor
$1.00 $1.39
Cost per Return
Donor
$0.25 $0.27
Budget YTD $61,745.09 $61,638.94

54. 1. Record keeping
2. Communication-related (plus results!)
3. Big picture for board (YTD and vs budget)
4. KPIs
5. Funnel
• Moves the funding needle the most!
Reporting »

57. Free educational resources »
https://bloomerang.co/retention

58. Free educational resources »
https://bloomerang.co/resources
•Daily blog post
•Weekly webinar
•Downloadables
•Nonprofit Wrap-Up
•Bloomerang TV

59. Questions?
Wayne Robbins
wayne.robbins@bloomerang.co