Your nonprofit’s fundraising success depends on various factors, some outside of your organization’s control. There are just things outside nonprofits ‘ control, from weather to current events and grant fluctuations to tax code changes.
Collecting and managing data can help you better manage these things to future-proof your mission and grow revenue. Follow these best practices for fundraising and donor data to maximize your chance of long-term success and growth.
Importance of Donor Data Collection
Collecting data is extremely important in any industry to help individuals make informed decisions. This statement is especially true in fundraising, as campaign and donor data can help nonprofit organizations target the right audience.
One of the most important questions to ask yourself is, “How can I reach my donors in a way that resonates with them and inspires them to keep supporting?” This is where collecting, managing, and understanding data becomes crucial. Thanks to modern technology and online fundraising, collecting data has become much easier and more accessible.
Reliability is the number one factor to consider when collecting donor data. If you’re analyzing inaccurate data, it may harm your decisions more than it helps. If you’re able to understand your donors, you give yourself an increased chance of personalizing their experience to keep them engaged and donating longer.
You can collect and use two main types of fundraising data to make strategic decisions — campaign data and donor data.
Source: Adapting for Your Donors: Insights into the State of Fundraising Technology
What is Fundraising Data?
The emergence of online fundraising campaigns has given nonprofits access to data they can use to understand their audience better. Sometimes, the sheer volume of information can be overwhelming and challenging to analyze. First, let’s define the two main types of data:
- Quantitative: This is numerical data used to make predictions and evaluate trends of a large population. Examples of quantitative data include metrics such as donation amounts, number of donors, and page views.
- Qualitative: This is non-numerical data that is interpreted to determine trends. Examples of qualitative data are surveys that require written responses, phone recordings, and observation studies.
Quantitative campaign data
Quantitative data can give campaign decision-makers valuable insights and help predict your efforts’ results. These data points are great for setting campaign goals and evaluating the success of your nonprofit at a high level. Here are some important key performance indicators (KPIs) to track for your campaign:
- Donation frequency: How often are people donating to your campaign? Tracking this frequency may help you identify trends. You may realize your donation frequency is comparable to the schedule of your newsletters or social media posts. In that case, you’d have an easy way to attempt to boost donations!
- Donation amount: Does your campaign have a few donors contributing a large amount or a plethora of people giving a little bit? This will impact the channels and methods you use to market your campaign and the fundraising events you hold to collect donations.
- Method of donation: Track and analyze the donation methods of the people supporting your campaign. This can provide insights into new payment methods such as Venmo or Cash App. Try polling your donors and asking them their preferred giving method, whether you already offer it or not. Donating should be convenient and easy for the people supporting your nonprofit.
Qualitative campaign data
Qualitative data can be subjective and hard to measure, but it is still important. One example of this data could be when a donor is confused about where to support your nonprofit. If even one or two people have told you this, that’s valuable information you can use to improve your donation workflow.
One of the best ways to generate more qualitative information is by surveying your customers or giving them an opportunity to provide feedback at any stage in the process. Questions such as, “What did you enjoy most about this experience?” and “What could have been improved about the donation process?” are fantastic tools to fine-tune your nonprofit and maximize success.
Managing and Analyzing Campaign Data
Analyzing nonprofit data is essential in measuring your campaign’s effectiveness. Choosing which type of data to collect and analyze is the first step toward your success:
- Data that generates more funding: Donors are interested in seeing their donations’ impact on the community they’re supporting. If you show the tangible and quantifiable results of their funding, they may be more likely to donate in the future. This is often quantitative data, such as the number of people helped, meals served, and schools built. These data points can help your organization evaluate progress towards goals and identify areas you need to improve.
- Data that shows community appreciation: This type of information can be hard to quantify. Therefore, it’s often qualitative information. Share stories from the gifted communities and include as many photos, videos, and testimonials as possible. Sometimes, the numbers don’t do justice to the donations’ impact on the cause you’re supporting. This type of data is great for your nonprofit internally and your donors.
- Data that shows where the donations are going: You know where the donation goes once it’s been sent, but the original donor might not. Many nonprofits mention the cause donors are supporting but nothing else. If you offer complete transparency of your organization and can track where the donor’s gift is going, he/she/they may be more encouraged to keep supporting the cause. This can require additional infrastructure to set up initially, but it will be worth it when donors give again. This data may also offer further insights into unnecessary costs that detract from the original donation.
Make sure the data you’re collecting and analyzing will be impactful for your nonprofit, donors, and the community your organization is supporting. This will give the data the best chance of having a real impact on your campaign.
Types of Donor Data Nonprofits Collect
Collecting information about donors is vital to help understand what motivates them to support you. There are many strategies for making the most of this data, including:
- Connect donor data with campaign data: Integrating your CRM with your campaign tools will save your team time and money. This can easily unlock access to data points such as contact information, donation history, and more. You’ll also be able to follow up with new donors and stay in touch with long-time supporters.
- Break your donors into segments: Segmenting your list of donors and potential donors allows you to customize marketing campaigns to target each group. Personalizing your marketing content, such as e-mails and social media posts, will increase your chance of getting people to convert. The more granular and personalized your segments are, the better chance they may donate.
Your Go-To Guide for Donor Segmentation
With the right donor segmentation plan in place, you’re sure to deepen your donor relationships, stabilize revenue, and increase growth as you refine your strategy.
Better nurture and engage your donors with GiveSmart’s Go-To Guide for Donor Segmentation
- Create donor profiles: Evaluate different characteristics of donors and use that data to create a few profiles that most people fit into. When creating profiles, look at factors such as income, location, age, and any other relevant demographic data points to your campaign. When you receive a new donation, you’ll know what type of person you’re dealing with and how to please them based on the profile they fit the best.
Managing donor data is complex, but it pays off long-term. Be sure to tweak and customize the steps above to fit your nonprofit’s short-term and long-term goals.
Organizing and Analyzing Donor Data
Once you’ve created profiles and segments based on the characteristics of your donors, it’s time to use them to your advantage. Evaluate donors’ preferred methods of communication and frequency.
Some of your donors are most effectively reached through social media and benefit from constant reminders that your nonprofit is supporting great causes. This is typically effective for younger generations that are more active online and being pulled in every direction by information overload.
Evaluate the methods of donation that work best for your target audience based on the data you’ve collected. Did you receive a large number of donations through online forms, social media posts, or at an event? Evaluate similar campaigns from the past and leverage that information to put your resources in the most effective place possible.
It’s also important to consider your donor’s areas of interest. Are they passionate about a specific cause, or do they like helping in any way they can? If donors care about focused causes, sending them e-mails or newsletters about every event your nonprofit is having is not recommended. This could deter them and cause them to unsubscribe from future messages. Be sure to tailor your marketing materials based on the audience receiving them.
Collecting and managing campaign and donor data is essential for any successful nonprofit.
By leveraging quantitative and qualitative data, nonprofits can gain valuable insights into donor behavior, optimize their marketing strategies, and ultimately increase engagement and donations. Organizing this information effectively allows organizations to personalize donor experiences, build stronger relationships, and enhance transparency—all of which contribute to long-term support and sustainability.
