http://neahp.org/content.php?page=2015_Conference_Agenda

1. Maximize Your Database
for Fundraising Success

2. Jay B. Love
• 30 Years of Technology Leadership
• Over 20,000 Database Installations
• Former Founder & CEO of eTapestry
• Former CEO of Master Software/Fund-­‐Master
• AFP Board Member
• AFP Ethics Committee Chairman
• Center on Philanthropy at IU Board Member
• Innovation Fund at Butler University Board Member
• Gleaners Food Bank Board Member
• Co-­‐Chair of Indianapolis YMCA Capital Campaign
3
Your presenters »

3. Debra Liverpool
• 18 years experience of fundraising,
advocacy and business development for
various organizations
• 27 years experience in banking and
finance with various banks by merger or
acquisition
• Leadership roles in organizations and
volunteer champion for health, education,
youth and families.
• Principal, DELCY Associates, LLC
• Director Of Philanthropy, Family Services
• Major Gift Officer, American Red Cross
3
Your presenters »

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 »

51. 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 »

52. 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

53. 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 »

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

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

58. Questions?
Jay B. Love
jay.love@bloomerang.co
@JayBarclayLove