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BENCHMARKING YEAR IN
REVIEW
“HOW DO WE COMPARE?”
ALIGNING EXPERTS JULY 2014

INTRODUCTIONS
• Brian Gawor
• Associate Vice President
• Benchmarking, Analytics and Strategy
• PhD student at Illinois State
University
• Research Interests:
– Turning “like” into “give”
– Lifetime relationships with alumni.
– Leveraging Millenial behavior
Brian.Gawor
@RuffaloCODY.com
Twitter: @BrianGawor
(309)299-4682

GIVING USA
• Overall Charitable Giving Rose by 4.4%
in 2014 to $335 billion.
• 4.2% increase by individuals.
• 8.7% increase in bequests.
• -1.9% decrease from corporations.
• +8.9% increase in giving to education
• Alumni led the charge
• Chronicle of Philanthropy “Philanthropy 400”:
4% increase at largest charities, expected flat results.

800.756.7483 | www.ruffalocody.com/fundraising
TOTAL GIVING: 1973-2013
(IN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS),
FROM GIVING USA

TOTAL GIVING AS A PERCENTAGE
OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT,
(in inflation-adjusted dollars,
2013 = $100)

INDIVIDUAL GIVING AS A PERCENTAGE OF
DISPOSABLE PERSONAL INCOME,
1973-2013 (IN CURRENT DOLLARS)
The “Stubborn 2%”
pattern continues.

• Havens and Schervish (1999) - $41 Trillion will
transfer between the next two generations.
• Updated recently to $59 trillion.
• 6% or more of this will go to charity given
historical patterns
• Accuracy/assumption is now under question.
• Will the money still be there?
• Longer lifespans, shifting priorities and demands.
THE “GREAT WEALTH TRANSFER”
7
http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/research_sites/cwp/pdf/A%20Golden%20Age%20of%20Philanthropy%20Still%20Bekons.pdf
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomwatson/2014/06/11/the-transfer-of-wealth-trap-why-causes-should-probably-ignore-the-big-numbers/
http://plannedgivingadvisors.com/category/wealth-transfer/
$

 2013 VSE Survey: $33.8 billion in gifts was
recorded. This is an increase of 9% over 2012
and the largest total in the history of the
survey.
 59.5% of institutions raised more in 2013
than 2012.
 Total Giving by alumni increased by 16.9%,
with the average gift increasing by 18.1%.
 Keep the celebration brief…
8
THE VOLUNTARY SUPPORT OF
EDUCATION SURVEY (VSE)
vse.cae.org

© VSE from CAE
vse.cae.org
46,261
47,938 48,206 48,986
51,598 51,192
54,598
58,318 59,350 60,422
62,363
68,874
70,939
69,076 68,628
71,831
69,321
73,880
79,177 79,398
81,219
83,449
28,414 28,918 30,059 30,712 31,971 32,852
34,347
35,798 37,016 36,879 37,962
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
ALUMNI OF RECORD
All Higher Education
All Public
All Private
All Bacc Institutions
Bacc Institutions (Private)
Women's Colleges

© VSE from CAE
vse.cae.org
15.3% 14.9%
14.3%
13.7%
13.1%
12.5%
11.5% 11.3%
10.7% 10.2%
9.6%
7.9% 7.7% 7.7% 7.5%
6.9% 6.6%
5.8% 5.8% 5.4%
4.8% 4.9%
20.7% 20.4%
19.7%
19.1% 18.7%
18.1%
17.1% 16.8%
16.1% 15.6%
14.7%
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%
ALUMNI PARTICIPATION
All Public
All Private
Women's Colleges

© VSE from CAE
vse.cae.org
18.3% 18.3% 18.2%
17.4%
16.4% 16.0%
14.6% 14.9%
13.8% 13.9%
13.2%
7.9% 7.9% 8.1% 8.4%
7.4% 7.3%
6.5% 6.6%
5.8% 5.8% 5.5%
25.1% 25.1%
24.5%
23.4% 23.0% 22.5%
21.2% 21.3%
20.1% 19.8%
19.2%
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%
40.00%
UNDERGRADUATE ALUMNI PARTICIPATION
All Public
All Private
Women's Colleges

© VSE from CAE
vse.cae.org
6,080
6,030
5,947
5,717
5,826
5,542
5,473
5,660
5,574
5,473
5,312
6,758
6,620
6,453
6,019
6,126
5,662
5,620
5,742
5,566 5,536
5,441
5,529 5,520
5,480
5,427
5,535
5,409
5,319
5,449 5,446
5,336
5,210
4,500
5,000
5,500
6,000
6,500
7,000
ALUMNI DONORS
All Public
All Private

© VSE from CAE
vse.cae.org
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
5,500
6,000
6,500
7,000
ALUMNI DONORS
All Public
All Private
Women's Colleges

 Alumni giving participation declined once
again.
 In addition, For the 951 schools that
responded in 2012 and 2013, total alumni
donors declined by 1.7%.
 All alumni donors in higher education down
19% since FY2003 .
 Is dollars up, donors down the new reality?
vse.cae.org

THEMES
• “Dollars Up, Donors Down.”
• Young Alumni/Millenial Giving
• “How do we track that?”
• “Fundraising Fusion.” - Multichannel
• Burden of data management and getting
good ROI on data enrichment.
• Impact of Annual Giving on the
major/planned Gift pipeline
• Hidden ROI of phonathon and other
annual fund efforts
$
#

THE ADVANCEMENT
COMMUNICATIONS TOOLKIT
Reality:
A “like” is
not a check.

GENERATIONAL GIVING
17
From Edge Research/Blackbaud’s “Next Generation of American Giving”
- http://npengage.uberflip.com/i/147711

“What motivates Millennials
is a desire to affect their
cause through your
organization with their
friends.”
-Derrick Feldmann
The Millenial Impact Project @ AFP Int’l 2014
themillenialimpact.com
MILLENIAL CAUSE MOTIVATION
18

MILLENNIAL GIVING
• Tremendous opportunity
with youngest alumni.
• Gift values increasing
• Millennials view tine and
network as equal to
money.
• Value small, incremental
acts.
• Volunteer, Volunteer,
Donate cycle--97%
prefer to use their skills
to help.

STUDENT PHILANTHROPY PROGRAMS
• CASE Survey: 63% of institutions
funding at least one student
organization or working group.
• Only 8% had “no activity” with
student philanthropy.
• Institutions that spend at least 50
cents per student have significant
results in student giving.
• Crowdfunding an excellent vehicle
for involving students (and faculty!)
Currents, Summer 2014
Whitepaper on its way FA14

GROWTH OF ONLINE GIVING
• Online Charitable donations grew 14% in 2013
(M+R/Non-Profit Technology Network)
• 5.5 Million gifts and $325 Million raised
• - likely an understatement.
• Average number of Facebook fans increased 37%
• Twitter followers increased 46%
• Average Gift: $57 (one time)
• Average Monthly Gift: $20
• Steady increase in “sustaining donors” or monthly
commitments.

FUNDRAISING FUSION
• Difficult to track what “made
the difference” to arrive at the
gift.
• Timing of direct mail/e-
mail/phone/social media up in
the air—different at each
institution.
• “Fundraising Fusion is the
new “ROI.”
CASE STUDY:

CALENDAR AND FISCAL YEAR END
APPEALS
• Results of a RuffaloCODY survey Q1
2014.
• 80% using direct mail, email and
phoning together.
• Timing: post-Thanksgiving and 6-8
weeks out of fiscal year end.
• 50% of respondents didn’t know how
their appeals were performing.

PHONATHON BENCHMARKING
REPORT PROJECT
• Started in Q4 2013 as an effort to give CAMPUSCALL
users and other phonathon programs good information
to evaluate their programs.
• Answers the question “how do we compare?”
• 182 CAMPUSCALL and other software users
• 139 RuffaloCODY managed on-campus sites
• = 321 Institutions
• Will continue in 2014

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
• Phonathon is not dead.
• Institutions are continuing to have success.
• No significant differences outside of broad
categories (Public/Private, Small/Medium/Large)
• Small Publics and Large Privates vary widely.
• Almost all divergences from cohort are institution-
specific.
• A professional manager in call center nightly will
greatly increase results.
• Data management is a struggle for many institutions.
• “Who you call” and “How much you get through”
(Completion Rate) are a big contributor to results.

PHONATHON SUCCESS METRICS FLOW
26
Include Everyone (Yes, Everyone)
Enrich Your Data
Complete Records
Pledge Rate
Average Gift and Credit Cards
Update Info

RECURRING THEMES
• Contact Rates: Highest where
institution has sought and called
prospect mobile phone numbers.
• Dials to make a Contact: Seem to
be increasing; best in programs
calling many mobile phones.
• Credit Cards: Increase in rate as
prospects get younger, very strong
results with youngest alumni.

BENCHMARK COHORTS
• 51 Larger Public Universities
• 36 Smaller Private Universities
• All CAMPUSCALL users and using standardized coding
• All with RuffaloCODY on-site management
• Cohort group completed at 60% or greater within a pool generally
about 80% the size of their alumni of record
• 100% solicitation calling
• All engaged in aggressive data enrichment
• All called mobile phones
• Few accept “Unspecified Pledges” (Maybes)

CONTACT RATE
• Defined as the % of “Completed” calls that result in a
solicitation – a “yes, no or maybe.”
• Increased by having very good contact information and
phone numbers for your prospects.
LARGE PUBLIC SMALL PRIVATE

PLEDGE RATE
• Defined as the % of “Specified Pledges” – with a dollar
amount, per contact.
• “Unspecified Pledges” or “Maybes” not included.

AVERAGE PLEDGE
• Defined as the total pledge amounts, including matching gifts,
divided by the number of pledges.

CREDIT CARD GIFTS
• Defined as the % of “Specified Pledges” that fulfill
instantly by providing their credit card number on the
phone.
• Rose despite significant card security breaches in US.

PHONATHON CREDIT CARD GIFTS
BY DECADE OF GRADUATION
LARGE PUBLIC
SMALL PRIVATE

ATTEMPTS PER HOUR
• The number of “dials” per Telefund hour.
• Greatly increased through automation.

COMPLETED CALLS PER HOUR
• Defined as the number of Completed Calls per Telefund
Hour – Hours spent dialing.

CONTACTS PER HOUR
• Defined as the number of Contacts per Telefund hour.

DOLLARS PER HOUR
• Defined as the total funds pledges, including matching
gifts, divided by Telefund hours.

SOME EFFICIENCY IMPRESSIONS
• Contacts per hour are declining but not as
much as the hype has indicated
• Many institutions have reported more attempts
needed
• Institutions stemming the tide with data
enrichment
• Very wide range of dollars per hour and this is
influenced by strategy and maturity of the
annual fund program
• At about 1 pledge per hour, we need to make
every call count!

PHONATHON BEST PRACTICES
• Phonathon is not dead, but like any animal,
it needs to be fed.
• Professional manager in the center each
night
• Call everyone and seek leadership gifts.
• Ask more than once: both per call and
through second gift programs.
• Seek and call mobile phones.
• Invest in the best data enrichment available.
• Use phonathon as a powerful database
update tool.

SOLICITATION SUCCESS METRICS
FLOW
40
Include Everyone (Yes, Everyone)
Enrich Your Data
Complete/Solicit Records
Pledge/Response Rate
Average Gift and Credit Cards/Online
Update Info

HIDDEN ROI: THEORETICAL VALUE OF
GOOD ADDRESSES + EMAIL ADDRESS
CASE STUDY:
• Alumni Giving Rate: 10%
• Average Alumni Annual Gift: $100
• Planned/Major Gift Rate: 1%
• Minimum Major Gift/Bequest: $25,000
• Marginal Effect of Multichannel Program: 10%
• (recipients of mail/email 10% more likely to make a MG)
• Value per Address: $225
• (assuming 20 successful annual gifts + effect on MG)
• Annual Phonathon Contacts: 15,000
• Total Value of Confirmed Addresses: $3.375 million

VALUE OF THE ANNUAL FUND
• Nonprofit Research
Collaborative, July 2014
NPResearch.org

RC360 INSIGHTS
CASE STUDY
$604
$3,487
$4,098
$3,603
$21,135
$0
$5,000
$10,000
$15,000
$20,000
$25,000
1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5+ years
Alumni "Lifetime" Donor Value vs Maximum Donor Consistency

FUNDRAISING EXPENDITURES
• Of the “Philanthropy 400” – average “Fundraising Expenses”
averaged 8.9% of the average raised in 2013.
• VSE Advancement Investment Survey 2013:
– Mean Fundraising/Development Expenditures:
$3.961 million
– Median Fundraising/Development Expenditures:
$1.307 million
– About 60% higher at privates.
– Rose from 2012 in 2013 in CPI-Adjusted dollars.
– Rebound from big cutback in publics 2011, 2012
• Note: Survey has less coverage than broader VSE
philanthropy.com

“HOW DO WE COMPARE?”
• “Dollars Up, Donors Down” is very common.
• If you are thinking about a giving day or challenge you
are not alone.
• Data is a heavy burden and all top-achieving programs
are investing in data enrichment.
• Fundraising Fusion is the new, confusing “ROI.”
• Expect to have to justify your annual fund in the age of
mega-gifts.
• The “Great Wealth Transfer” is under debate but clearly
affecting results.
• If you are spending more, you are not alone.

YEAR END APPEAL WHITE PAPER
Download at: http://www.ruffalocody.com/multichanneltrends.
What are you doing in December?

FIND OUT MORE
• As for a no-cost custom benchmarking report for your
phonathon, or ask for a VSE study.
• Check out our FM blog, whitepapers and other
information at www.ruffalocody.com/fundraising-
management.
• Consider RuffaloCODY consulting services.
• Don’t be shy! RuffaloCODY.com
Twitter: @BrianGawor
Let’s turn like into give!

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