Valley gives knowing_your_donors_through_data_segmentation_2016_updated

Editor's Notes

• #2: Hi, I’m Kevin Martone from JCamp 180, a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in Agawam, Massachusetts. I help camps, PJ Library communities, and other organizations use technology to reach their goals. In particular, I help organizations select, implement, and use donor databases.
• #4: Okay, this morning we are going to talk about donor databases: Why are we spending time talking about data segmentation? Five things you can do right now to segment your data to prep for THIS YEAR’S ValleyGives on May 3 Five things you should do to make your data even more helpful to you for all of your fundraising work, including NEXT YEAR’S ValleyGives Knowing your Donors – how your database can help What you should do with your data after ValleyGives for ongoing fundraising success
• #5: Who said this? Nobody. Ever. We’ll try to make this as interesting as possible. This is important information. It’s not as fun as social media or as visible as your eNewsletters and Website, but your fundraising work – both online and off - won’t be possible without a good database in the back-end. A well-maintained donor database can help you do your fundraising work more effectively and efficiently.
• #6: Ask questions to get an idea of the audience. Track responses on a flipchart? Who here works at a nonprofit that does NOT have a database to track donors, prospects, gifts, etc.? For those with your hands up, how are you tracking gifts? Excel? For everyone else, what database are you using?
• #7: How confident are you that you can pull the data you need to do your development work effectively? On a scale of 1-10, 10 is the highest, anyone a 10? How about 8-9? 5-7? 3-4? 1-2? This is important. If you have a great donor database…but the data is inconsistent or nobody is trained to use it effectively, it’s no better than excel (maybe even worse!). Hopefully some of the tips here will help anyone who raised their hands to get their database to work better for them.
• #8: Today we’ll talk about what your database SHOULD be able to do to support your work. Some tips will be things you can go do today for this year’s ValleyGives – even for those of you using Excel! Others will be things to work on for next year’s ValleyGives…and all of your development work to help you Know Your Donors.
• #9: Okay, this morning we are going to talk about donor databases: Why are we spending time talking about data segmentation? Five things you can do right now to segment your data to prep for THIS YEAR’S ValleyGives on May 3 Five things you should do to make your data even more helpful to you for all of your fundraising work, including NEXT YEAR’S ValleyGives Knowing your Donors – how your database can help What you should do with your data after ValleyGives for ongoing fundraising success
• #10: Segmentation – what is it? Segmentation – why? Donor Databases allow you to segment your donors and prospects so you can efficiently communicate with them as a group in a customized way – direct mail; eNewsletters; event invitations; etc.
• #11: For example, one organization I work with – Camp JCA Shalom in Malibu - sent out these three different appeal emails a few years ago. You can see they sent different letters to different segments – Past donors to the annual campaign; Alumni who have never donated; LYBUNT (Gave Last Year But Not This Year). The letters were customized with stories and asks they thought would resonate best with them. You can do this with any segment and for any communication – event invitations, etc.
• #12: Every donor management system has functionality to categorize people as you enter them. You can tag someone as a Major Donor Prospect, for example. Or a Program Participant. You can create any categories that will be helpful to you managing relationships with your various constituencies. Once you’ve segmented your data, you can send content – letters, emails, invitations – that are customized for each segment. In DPO, you use Flags. Other systems have Tags or Categories. Don’t forget about giving history, too. If you track gifts consistently, you can segment your database by total giving, # of gifts, gifts to specific campaigns, etc.
• #13: You can segment by ANY data in your system. Biographical information? Occupation, interests, capacity to give. What’s important to note now is that many of these fields we’ve mentioned are not in a donor database by default. But most systems allow you to add as many custom fields as you need to the screens.
• #14: Think “total lifetime giving” when trying to segment your list. Total giving – which we’ll talk about soon – isn’t the only measure of who is the most passionate supporter of your organization. If you track any of this type of information, you can segment your list based on much more detailed information. What message might resonate with these various groups? How can you show they Matter, as Debra Askanase talked about a month or two ago here?
• #15: Okay, this morning we are going to talk about donor databases: Why are we spending time talking about data segmentation? Five things you can do right now to segment your data to prep for THIS YEAR’S ValleyGives on May 3 Five things you should do to make your data even more helpful to you for all of your fundraising work, including NEXT YEAR’S ValleyGives Knowing your Donors – how your database can help What you should do with your data after ValleyGives for ongoing fundraising success
• #16: Top 5 things you can do now to help segment your emails, mailings, etc. NOW Sort by total giving – top donors at top Sort by Total # of gifts – most regular donors LYBUNTS/SYBUNTS People who gave to you on ValleyGives Dec. 2014 Didn’t track this? . You can still go back and look at anyone who gave on ValleyGives Day last year (Dec. 10, 2014 was actually the last one!)
• #17: Sort by total giving – top donors at top Debra Askanase was here recently talking about Matterness. Communicating with your biggest supporters in a way that shows you know how generous they’ve been shows they matter.
• #18: Sort by Total # of gifts – most regular donors Think about a $10 monthly donor – each individual gift might be small, but that regular giving adds up and shows their continued interest in your organization. In fact, who here has a Planned Giving or Legacy Program to ask for gifts to be put in a prospect’s will? Your major donors aren’t your only prospects for these programs. Those small, regular donors can be your best Planned Giving prospects. They might not have a lot of money NOW, but they are invested in your success.
• #19: LYBUNT and SYBUNT reports can also be very helpful. Does anyone know what either LYBUNT or SYBUNT stand for? <Wait for responses> LYBUNT = Gave last year but unfortunately not this year SYBUNT – Gave SOME year but unfortunately not this year These groups are especially lucrative because they are the segments of your database that are most likely to give IF ASKED. <Show Report> Here is an example of a LYBUNT report. Donor databases can pull these lists based on giving history in the database. Then you can send them a special, customized appeal letter or email thanking them for their prior gifts and asking them to support the organization again this year. This is great because LYBUNTs are the most likely people to support your organization. You want to make sure you reach out to them.
• #20: People who gave to you on ValleyGives Dec. 2014 Didn’t track this? . You can still go back and look at anyone who gave on ValleyGives Day last year (Dec. 10, 2014 was actually the last one!) Oh, and what if you weren’t at the organization and can’t find ANY giving history from the 2014 ValleyGives? Any gifts given through Razoo! will still be there – you can download that list of donors and send them a special ValleyGives message.
• #21: Demographics! Let’s say you are an animal shelter. If your database tracks that a person is a “cat” lover vs. a “dog” lover, you can send the dog lovers an email with a dog photo or video or story. Cat lovers could get a totally separate communication, one that is more likely to connect with them emotionally, as Eric talked about in “Making the Ask” last week. What if your organization offers a lot of different programs for different audiences? If you track what program someone is interested in (they volunteered for it, donated to it in the past, came to an event?), you can send them a specific communication about THAT program.
• #22: Okay, this morning we are going to talk about donor databases: Why are we spending time talking about data segmentation? Five things you can do right now to segment your data to prep for THIS YEAR’S ValleyGives on May 3 Five things you should do to make your data even more helpful to you for all of your fundraising work, including NEXT YEAR’S ValleyGives Knowing your Donors – how your database can help What you should do with your data after ValleyGives for ongoing fundraising success
• #23: Top 5 things to to this better next year! “Everyone in”! Clean up your data Segments – Flags/Tags/Categories ??? ????
• #24: Think of your database as “Everyone In.” Some people only enter donors – people who have already given a gift. But if you think of your database as a communications database, you realize that you want any potential donor to be included as well. That way they will get your emails, be invited to events, and potentially be cultivated for future gifts.
• #25: So you want to think about who is your organization‘s “Everybody” to get into the system. Here is a potential list of people who should be hearing from you about your work. Does anyone have other possible people who should be entered into your database? Because anyone has the potential to become a donor or supporter of your organization – IF ASKED – your database is the building block for building support from your many fans. Here are some ideas of places to look for names to include….
• #26: Do you have historical records from events, programs, yearbooks, or other lists? <Does anyone have an example like this they can think of from another type of organization?> Your organization needs to get that information into an electronic format before they are lost or destroyed. You can spend money on a temp to either enter it directly into your system or fill out a spreadsheet that can be imported into your database. By the way, you may even be able to scan old typed lists or documents to create into an electronic file automatically using Optical Character Recognition. If so, that will save some time. If you prepare a spreadsheet for collecting information, make sure the columns in your spreadsheet match fields to import them into your database. Don’t forget paper donation logs and files. Make sure you enter all of this into your database and don’t lose your giving history.
• #27: What about lists of attendees from past events, whether in an electronic or paper format? If someone attended one of your events, they have already shown some commitment and interest in your organization. Don’t lose their information! Ideally you’d capture what event they attended as a touchpoint in their record so that everyone who reviews them in the future will understand where the data came from and how they are connected to the organization.
• #28: Do you have a recognition wall? Or other plaques or awards posted in your office or where programs are held? Those names need to be captured as well. They could be long-lost donors who need to be re-stewarded and cultivated.
• #29: And last, but definitely not least, is word of mouth. Often the personal touch is the most effective way to reach out and find people who are interested in your organization. Ask your board members, staff, and dedicated volunteers to give you names of people they know should be receiving your newsletter and being invited to your events. And think about people who might wear different hats. Is your staff list in your database? Do they receive your appeals and enewsletters? Other lists? AND GET THAT DATA INTO YOUR DATABASE!
• #31: The first (and – although time-consuming – best) method is via person-to-person activity. Get your board and active volunteers to look at your outdated data. Ask them to update it wherever they can. It’s not easy, but we find it is the most effective if managed well.
• #32: This is important: Make sure there is a regular, standard process finding and removing duplicates.
• #33: Finally, as a final step, there are electronic tools out there to help you update the contact information for people in your database. Has anyone heard of NCOA before? <Wait for responses> Right, it’s the National Change of Address database managed by the US Postal Service. Every time you fill out a postcard to get your mail forwarded to your new address, the USPS tracks that information in a database (for 4 years). NCOA services let you check your database information against that database and updates any addresses it can. And to get the cheaper bulk mail rate from the post office, you have to run your database through NCOA sometime 95 days before the mailing. Other paid services like AlumniFinder try to go back even further – as far back as 20 years – to update your information. As you can imagine, this information is less reliable and you get a small percentage of updates using this method. But it might be worth it if you’ve exhausted all other options. Especially for trying to keep up with Millenials!
• #34: We talked earlier about sending segmented lists based on your donors’ interests. Cats or dogs? Our elder care program or our literacy programs? People who regularly Share your content on Social Media? Volunteers? For the long-term, think about what your donors’ passions might be and what you can track to help direct the right communications to the right people. And then create fields in the database to track that information…and formulate a plan to learn that information from your donors.
• #35: Define rules for how data should be entered. What campaign or Fund should be included in each type of gift? How should a new person being entered into the system be categorized? What fields need to be entered for every person? How do we write the name of the donor (or donor couple) on every mailing envelope…and where is that data stored in the system? Etc.
• #36: Be sure all staff who will be using the system are trained in how to use the system. In particular, everyone should know what the data standards are and be able to enter data consistently.
• #37: Okay, that’s a lot of important work. So…how can you do this work? Can you create a plan for methodically improving your data so that it works for you and your organization? And who is going to do this work? Can you hire an intern or part-time employee? And despite the time requirement, wouldn’t it be great if the Development Director really knew the data, really knew the donors? And might it be helpful for the Executive Director to know the data to buy-in to the effort needed to maintain the data long-term? Exercise? Share Pairs to think about this?
• #38: Okay, this morning we are going to talk about donor databases: Why are we spending time talking about data segmentation? Five things you can do right now to segment your data to prep for THIS YEAR’S ValleyGives on May 3 Five things you should do to make your data even more helpful to you for all of your fundraising work, including NEXT YEAR’S ValleyGives Knowing your Donors – how your database can help What you should do with your data after ValleyGives for ongoing fundraising success
• #39: Now we get to one of the main tenets of fundraising: “Know Your Donor.” A database is the place where the information about your donor can be stored so all of that institutional knowledge is available to anyone who needs it internally. “Know Your Donor” – track bio info; track contacts with donors; prospect research (newsle!); track relationships; track interests; etc.
• #40: There are reports in every donor database that allows you to take a quick look at each prospect/donor. This is the Info Sheet Report in DPO. This is also something that can be especially useful for phone-a-thons. Anyone doing a phone-a-thon along with ValleyGives to increase the awareness of the campaign? Print this out and hand them to the callers. They can write pledges right on the sheet. They can also note any contact information changes. Then someone will be responsible for entering all Pledges and changes into the system. This type of report is also often used for major gift fundraising, to help solicitors be prepared for conversations with prospects.
• #41: The best way to really learn about a prospect or donor’s life is by talking to them. Really, listening to them. Meeting with a prospect is the best way to hear why they do (or don’t) support your organization and what their interests are. Again, keep in mind “Matterness.” How can you make them feel like you really care what they think? The next best thing is to have the people who already know them tell you what they know. Ask board members and volunteers what they know about a prospect. Track any (appropriate) information in the database.
• #42: And then there are numerous free and paid Prospect Research tools you may use to learn more about the capacity and interests of your prospects and donors. The important thing to remember in this presentation? Be sure this data is collected in the donor database so that it becomes part of the shared knowledge of your donors and prospects and isn’t locked inside someone’s head. First of all, there are tons of free tools out there to get you started. Google. Newsle: If you connect an email address, Facebook Account, LinkedIn Account, etc., Newsle will provide you with recent news articles your contacts are mentioned. It can be very helpful for keeping up to date with your contacts…and finding out when they get a new promotion! Zillow: If you have a person’s address, it will provide the estimated value of their home, as well as the values of the homes in their neighborhood. <What other free tools have you used?> There are also paid tools like WealthEngine or DonorSearch. These services pull together a number of publicly available datasets into one interface and provide you with an estimated giving capacity for a prospect, based on their internal algorithms AND THE DATA THAT IS AVAILABLE TO THEM. The key? Making sure that data gets entered consistently into your database so it can be used to help you focus on and rate your prospects.
• #43: Okay, this morning we are going to talk about donor databases: Why are we spending time talking about data segmentation? Five things you can do right now to segment your data to prep for THIS YEAR’S ValleyGives on May 3 Five things you should do to make your data even more helpful to you for all of your fundraising work, including NEXT YEAR’S ValleyGives Knowing your Donors – how your database can help What you should do with your data after ValleyGives for ongoing fundraising success
• #44: Obviously, you have to thank all of your donors! But you may want to create a special ValleyGives Thank You Letter template to connect them with your ValleyGives effort and what impact it will have on your organization. Maybe even a special thank you video that you email to your ValleyGives donors…
• #45: If you don’t already have a process in place to ensure all of your gifts are entered into your database, make ValleyGives your starting point. EVERY gift needs to be entered into your database so you have a full picture of your donors and a better idea of your overall fundraising efforts.
• #46: When you enter your gifts, be sure to mark them as “ValleyGives.” It can be a solicitation code or campaign code – as long as you do it consistently. Next year you should be able to easily pull a list of all donors who gave to ValleyGives this year - and how much they gave – to help you create a special email or mailing to that group of donors.
• #47: Some key things to remember: Your development and communications efforts should all come from a single database. Data from your website forms, new donors, other information you learn about your donors and prospects should be tracked in one place. Otherwise, it will not be as helpful to you in managing your work. If you have another database for managing programming (camper registration system; event registration system; etc.), you must have a standard process for moving that data into the donor management system regularly. As you’ve heard me say a few times already tonight, you need a standard process for entering data in the system. These standards should be documented and shared with everyone who touches the database. And finally, anyone working with the database needs to be trained how to use it and how YOUR ORGANIZATION is using the system.
• #48: Hi, I’m Kevin Martone from JCamp 180, a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in Agawam, Massachusetts. I help camps, PJ Library communities, and other organizations use technology to reach their goals. In particular, I help organizations select, implement, and use donor databases.