The document covers a session on key metrics for direct mail, online, and multi-channel fundraising strategies aimed primarily at newcomers to the industry. It discusses essential aspects such as donor acquisition, retention rates, multi-channel donor behavior, and various performance metrics, such as cost per new donor and average gift amounts. Additionally, the session includes insights on effectively measuring the success of fundraising campaigns through various channels and the importance of analyzing relevant data to optimize strategies.

1. Understanding Key Metrics Of Direct
Mail, Online, & Multi-Channel Fundraising
March 2, 1:45-2:45

2. Welcome to Our Session!
Introductions:
• Bryan Terpstra, VP of Fundraising, LW Robbins
• Paul Habig, Exec. VP, SankyNet (@paulhabig)
Tweet along with hashtag #DMA

3. This is a fundamentals session –
- Understanding the most important metrics & buzz words
people use in offline, online, and multi-channel worlds
- Will cover the basics – and get you started with
advanced
- This session is useful for those:
- New to the industry
- Just starting out in online/multi-channel
fundraising

4. Here’s what we’ll cover today:
• File Audits: Essentials you need to
know!
• Key Metrics/Benchmarks used for:
 DM Appeals
 Online Appeals
 Website Analytics
 SEO/SEM Analysis
 Multi-Channel Analysis
4

5. File Audits:
Essentials You Need to Know
5

6. File Audits
• Measuring and tracking donors, not
campaign results
• Typically look at trends across years and
across multiple channels: direct
mail, online, telemarketing, special
events, etc.
• Four major audiences:
 New Donors, First Year Renewal Donors,
Multi-Year Donors, Lapsed Donors
6

7. New Donors –
What you want to know “Is my
program growing?”
• Things to measure:
 # of new donors over 3-5 years
 Value :
- Average Gift Gross Rev./ Total # of Gifts
- Rev. Per Donor Gross Rev./ Total # of Donors
- Gifts Per Donor Total # Gifts/ Total # of Donors

8. New Donors –
What you want to know “How Many Do
You Have?”
• Number of new donors in 2010 had a big impact on 2011 and will
continue to have a big impact for years … 2010 to 2011
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Percent Change
New Donor Acquisition
Current Year Donors 10,968 7,279 4,869 5,528 4,789 -13.37%
Current Year Gifts 15,074 10,490 7,262 7,358 6,426 -12.67%
Current Year Revenue $493,217 $505,453 $317,652 $402,106 $452,097 12.43%
Current Year Average Gift $32.72 $48.18 $43.74 $54.65 $70.35 28.74%
Current Year Revenue per Donors $44.97 $69.44 $65.24 $72.74 $94.40 29.78%
Current Year Gifts per Donor 1.37 1.44 1.49 1.33 1.34 0.81%
First Year Donor Renewal
Previous Year Donors 4,609 10,968 7,279 4,869 5,528 13.53%
Previous Year Revenue $260,665 $493,217 $505,453 $317,652 $402,106 26.59%
Current Year Donors 1,512 3,449 1,751 1,548 1,342 -13.31%
Current Year Gifts 3,273 7,374 3,951 3,299 2,908 -11.85%
Current Year Revenue $131,438 $283,970 $242,690 $140,649 $143,484 2.02%
Donor Retention Rate 32.81% 31.45% 24.06% 31.79% 24.28% -23.64%
Current Year Average Gift $40.16 $38.51 $61.43 $42.63 $49.34 15.73%
Current Year Revenue per Donor $86.93 $82.33 $138.60 $90.86 $106.92 17.68%
Current Year Gifts per Donor 2.16 2.14 2.26 2.13 2.17 1.68%
8

9. New Donors –
What you want to know “When will my
new donors break even?”
 Cost per new donor
Total cost of acquisition/ # of new donors
 LTV analysis
Tracking costs and rev. by list over a period of time
Acq Cost Per Cost at 12 Value at 12 12 Month Value
Mailing List Donor Months Months minus Cost
List A $14.00 $35.00 $33.00 -$2.00
List B $14.00 $37.00 $55.00 $18.00
List C $18.00 $40.00 $67.00 $27.00
9

10. First Year Renewal Donors –
Just a Date? Or are you in a Relationship?
• What you want to know “Are my
new donors giving again after their first
year in the program?”
• Things to measure:
 First Year Retention/Renewal Rate:
- Total # of new donors previous year giving a gift this
year/ Total # of all new donors previous year
 Value: Average Gift, Rev. Per Donor, Gifts Per Donor
10

11. First Year Renewal Donors –
Just a Date? Or are you in a Relationship?
Strategies for FYR donors
Welcome & Acknowledgments
Second gift series
Pre-lapsing program at 9 -12 months
11

12. Multi-Year Renewal Donors –
Some Very Good Friends …
• What you want to know “How
healthy are the stats for my core, loyal
donors?”
• Things to measure:
 Multi-Year Retention/Renewal Rate:
- Total # of MYR donors previous year giving a
gift this year/ Total # of all MYR donors previous
year
 Value : Avg Gift, Rev Per Donor, Gifts Per Donor
12

13. Multi-Year Renewal Donors –
Some Very Good Friends …
Strategies for MYR donors
Monthly Giving Opportunities
Mid-Level Programs & Packages
Loyalty & Retention Mailings/Messages
Major & Planned Giving Leads
13

14. Lapsed Donors –
Old Friends … with Benefits
• What you want to know “How many
are reactivating?”
• Reactivated donors more valuable than new
donors, have much higher renewal rates
• Things to measure:
 Reactivation Rate (1 year vs. 2 year vs. 3+ year
lapsed)
- Total # of lapsed donors previous year giving a gift
this year/ Total # of all lapsed donors previous year
 Value: Average Gift, Rev Per Donor, Gifts Per Donor
14

15. Lapsed Donors –
Old Friends … with Benefits
Strategies for Lapsed donors
Inception Package Mailings
Tailored Messaging & Treatments
Premium Packages
Anniversary Style Packages
Lapsed Modeling

16. Key Metrics used for
DM Appeals &
Email Appeals

17. Basic Metrics – DM Appeals
• Average Gift
Campaign Gross Revenue/ Total # of Gifts
• Cost Per Dollar Raised
Total Campaign Cost/ Gross Revenue
• Cost Per Piece
Total Campaign Costs/ Total # of Pieces Mailed
• Response Rate
Total # of Gifts/ Total # of Pieces Mailed
• Net Revenue
Total Campaign Gross Rev. minus Total Campaign Cost
• ROI
Total Gross Rev/ Total Campaign Cost
17

18. Online Metrics
• Everything digital can be measured
• Too much information – you must give it context
• How can this help create a strategy?
Email Website

19. Email Metrics
“How do I get metrics, and what should I measure?”
• Keep data on EVERY email in one place
• Aggregate by type of email (newsletter, appeal, etc.)
• Segment out groups (donors, prospects, etc.) to track response
separately and compare
What to Measure:
• Open Rate – Does anyone care?
• Click-Through Rate – Does anyone read it?
• Conversions – Does anyone donate?
• Unsubscribe – Does anyone want it to stop?

20. Email Metrics
Open rate (# Clicks/ # Opens)
“How many people opened your email?”
What a good open rate means:
- Subject line was effective
- Sender was recognizable
- Sent at a ideal time of day
(morning on weekdays)
Industry Average is 18%

21. Email Metrics
Click-Through Rate (# Clicks/ # Opens)
“How many people clicked on the links?”
What a good CTR means:
- Messaging drove action
- Links were well placed
- Compelling images were linked
Industry Average is 1.69%

22. Email Metrics
Response Rate (# Donations/ # Sent)
“How many people donated from the email?”
What a good response rate means:
- Messaging drove donations
- Donors were ready to give (cultivated)
- You made some money!
Industry Average is 0.23%

23. Email Metrics
Unsubscribe Rate (# Unsubscribes / # Sent)
“How many people don’t want my emails?”
What a high unsubscribe rate means:
- Too many emails going to same group
- Subject line and messaging were mismatched
- The person is a donor, and the message asked
for a gift without acknowledging previous giving
Industry Average is 0.04%

24. Email Metrics
Example Tracking Table
Online Donors DM Donors Prospects Total
Delivery
# Emails Sent 2,062 1,585 12,464 16,613
# Delivered Successfully 2,056 1,580 12,410 16,547
Delivery Rate 99.71% 99.68% 99.57% 99.60%
Email Activity
# Emails Opened 321 112 701 1,242
Open Rate 15.61% 7.09% 5.65% 7.51%
# Emails Clicked 32 8 22 67
# Total Clicks 53 10 35 103
Click-To-Open 9.97% 7.14% 3.14% 5.39%
Click-Through Rate 1.56% 0.51% 0.18% 0.40%
Non-Fundraising
# Unsubscribe 13 10 23 48
Unsubscribe Rate 0.63% 0.63% 0.19% 0.29%
Fundraising
# Donations 16 3 1 30
$ Donated $640 $250 $50 $3,455
Average Donation $40.00 $83.33 $50.00 $115.17
Overall Response Rate 0.78% 0.19% 0.01% 0.18%

25. Email Metrics
“How can this data help me strategize?”
Find costs vs income:
• Revenue per 1,000 emails (1,000 / Sum of Donations)
• Cost per 1,000 emails (1,000 x Cost)
• ROI (Spent / Donations)

26. Email Metrics
“How can this data help me strategize?”
Track these metrics over time
Click-Though-Rate of Different Email Types
2.50%
2.00%
Appeal Click-
Through-Rates
1.50%
1.00% Recipe Mailing
Click-Though-
Rates
0.50%
0.00%
July August September October November December

27. Fundamentals of
Web Site Analytics

28. Website Metrics
“How do I get metrics, and what should I measure?”
• Install and use Google Analytics. Do it now!
• Use origin code tracking or custom segments from referring
sites to measure traffic from specific sources (like emails)
What to Measure:
• Pageviews & Unique Views – Is my site being seen?
• Referring Sites – How do they get there?
• Time-on-Site – How long do they stay?
• Top Content – What part of my site is most interesting?
• Bounce Rate – How many people click then leave?

29. Website Metrics
Pageviews (How many times the site loaded)
Unique Visitors (How many individual visitors)
“How many people are coming to my site?”
What pageviews vs. unique visitors means:
- Are there lots of people visiting your site multiple times?
- Are there traffic spikes?
Industry Average is anywhere from 6,000 to 20,000

30. Website Metrics
Referring Sites (Number of people from a source)
“How did people find my site?”
What referring links mean:
- Is there a pattern in traffic sources that
can be used to find new online partners?
- Are there spikes in referrals (from
press, etc.)?
- Set a goal to have more traffic from a
source (a partner, a social network, etc.)
Direct traffic (to your url) is usually first, then Google

31. Website Metrics
Time-on-Site (Average time spent on site)
“How long did people stay?”
What time-on-site means:
- Longer time means deeper engagement?
- Only a few seconds means irrelevant or
unappealing content.
Look at what pages are keeping people reading!

32. Website Metrics
Pages-per-Visit (# Pageviews / # Visitors)
“How deep do visitors go?”
What pages-per-visit means:
- More pages means deeper engagement
- One page isn’t bad – but it’s not ideal
Average is 2.03 pages per visit

33. Website Metrics
Bounce Rate
(People who visit page / People who leave after
1 second)
“Do I have quality traffic?”
What bounce rate means:
- High bounce rate means your traffic sources
are not delivering good leads
- Paid traffic from ads may have higher
bounce rate
- New visitors are more likely to bounce
60% is average, anything over 90% is a problem!

34. Website Metrics
Combinations of Metrics
“How can I see where people viewing a page came from and
if they are new visitors?”
- Referring sites on top content, and unique views
“How can I see if traffic from Facebook stays on my site?”
- Bounce rate Time on Site of visits from referring site of
Facebook
“How can I see how many people complete my donation
form?”
- Unique visits on donation form divided by donations in a
certain time period.

35. Advanced Website Analytics
and Search Engine Analysis

36. Advanced Website Metrics
Heatmapping
• High traffic areas
• Important
placements on site

37. Advanced Website Metrics
Search Engine Optimization
“Where does my site come up on Google?”
Google/Bing/Yahoo Pagerank:
Backlines, keywords, and magic = Where your site
is listed for each search term.
Alexa Rank:
Rank of popularity across all internet sites. Lower is
more popular in terms of visitors.

38. Advanced Web Metrics
Search Engine Marketing
“How is my Google Grant doing?”
Cost-per-Click (CPC):
How much it costs to display your ad for that
search term
Google Grants are capped at $1.00 CPC
Impressions:
How many people see your text ad
Average Ad Position:
Where on the search page the ad appears.
Higher is more visible, but only the highest
bid gets that spot.
Remember Google Grant only lets you bid up to $1!

39. Multi-Channel Analysis

40. Multi-Channel Donors
Your BFF!!
• Some key things about donors/constituents:
 Move across many programs and channels
 Have different habits, ways of communicating,
levels of commitment
 Receive information (intentional and
unintentional) about mission and brand at all
touch points
 Will be significantly impacted by how your
organization communicates with them along
the way
40

41. Multi-Channel Donors
Your BFF!!
• Talk to them where you find them
• Multi-channel donors are HIGH VALUE
donors, much higher retention rates than single
channel donors
All Donors Giving DM Giving Web Gifts Giving to 2 or
Year XX (Any Gifts to DM, Web, Tele, Gifts Only Only More Channels
WM)
Annual Revenue/Donor $102.00 $54.00 $181.00 $190.00
First Year Renewal Rate 22.35% 29.26% 5.63% 76.88%
First Year Revenue/Donor $85.00 $58.00 $188.00 $134.00
Multi-Year Renewal Rate 58.83% 53.30% 36.95% 64.55%
Multi-Year Revenue/Donor $154.00 $89.00 $377.00 $185.00
Recapture Rate – 1 Year
Lapsed 17.59% 15.31% 5.55% 25.10%
1 Year Lapsed Revenue/Donor $89.00 $57.00 $210.00 $124.00
41

42. Multi-Channel Donors
Your BFF!!
Strategies for
Multi-Channel donors
Integrated Media Plan: communicate in many channels
Have a multi-touch plan for major appeals
Conversion series for online to offline
Update website often
42

43. Case Study #1:
St. Labre New Donor Series
Online
2 emails in welcome series
Telemarketing
1 automated call to welcome donors
Direct Mail
3 appeals for conversion series – #1
photo of kids, #2 certificate, #3 tote bag
43

44. Case Study #1:
St. Labre New Donor Series
• Results:
– First-Year renewal rates jumped from
27% to about 35%
– Overall response rates to direct mail
series very high, effort 1 at 8%, effort 2
at 7%, effort 3 at 12%
44

45. Case Study #2:
St. Labre Water Emergency
Online
1 email – integrated message with DM
Direct Mail
1 appeal – includes blueprints for new
water system needed
Telemarketing
Coordinated campaign to donors, lasted
several weeks

46. Case Study #2:
St. Labre Water Emergency
Online
1 email – integrated message with DM
Direct Mail
1 appeal – includes blueprints for new
water system needed
Telemarketing
Coordinated campaign to donors, lasted
several weeks
46

47. Case Study #2:
St. Labre Water
Emergency Email

48. Case Study #2:
St. Labre Water
Emergency Email
48

49. Case Study #2:
St. Labre Water Emergency
• Results:
Email – raised over $20,000 in gross
revenue
Direct Mail – over $1 million in gross
revenue mailed universe of about 400,000
You can do this type of multi-channel
campaign forMANY reasons: matching
gift, budget short falls, year-end
appeals, specific need appeals, mid-level
offers

50. Case Study # 3: Multi-Channel Donor Response

51. Case Study # 3: Multi-Channel Donor Response

52. Any Questions?
These slides will be on Slideshare at
http://www.slideshare.net/SankyNet