Don't let bad data be the Grinch to your holiday appeal Your year-end holiday appeal is about to launch. Most of the work has been done. What next? If you are like most organizations, you can't wait for the responses to start coming in. The impact of your holiday appeal reaches throughout your organization. But are you ready to manage the response? Did your plan include a 'before' and 'after'? Are you managing your donor data, or is it managing you? -The most common advice consultants are sharing with their clients about fundraising mistakes - and why they are wrong. -How bad data trumps the best of content. -What you can do now to make next year's appeal more successful.

1. Don’t
let
bad
data
be
the
Grinch
to
your
holiday
appeal
a
webinar
from
Adcieo
and
Third
Sector
Labs

2. Welcome
* The
holidays
are
upon
us
* Everyone
is
busy
* Your
year-­‐end
appeal
is
under
way
(hopefully)
* We’d
like
to
talk
about
how
to
improve
that
appeal
…
now
…
after
you
just
launched
one
…
before
you
get
wrapped
up
in
the
next
task

3. Agenda
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Introductions
Look
at
the
before
and
after
activities
of
the
annual
appeal
Review
what
the
experts
tell
you
Separate
data
from
content
Looking
at
an
example
Recommendations
Conclusions

4. Who
are
we?
Adcieo
* Adcieo
is
a
leader
in
fundraising
consulting,
social
media
and
the
use
of
fundraising
technology
* Dennis
Chyba
is
the
Founder
and
President
* Dennis’
leadership
experience
includes
both
Kintera
and
YMCA
of
the
USA
Website:
Email:
LinkedIn:
www.Adcieo.com
dennis.chyba@adcieo.com
www.linkedin.com/in/dennischyba

5. Who
are
we?
Third
Sector
Labs
* Third
Sector
Labs
is
a
data
services
company
challenging
nonprofits
to
re-­‐think
their
data
practices
* Gary
Carr
is
the
Founder
and
President
* Gary’s
leadership
experience
includes
Carr
Systems,
Kintera,
KindMark
and
United
Way
Website:
www.ThirdSectorLabs.com
Email:
gcarr@thirdsectorlabs.com
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/gpfcarr
Our
data
tip
of
the
week:
Facebook
&
Twitter

6. Don’t
let
bad
data
be
the
Grinch
to
your
holiday
appeal
Shall
we
get
started?

7. Your
year-­‐end
appeal
It’s
December
…
Planning
done
Website
updated
Direct
mail
to
the
post
office
Emails
sent
Social
messaging
set

8. What’s
on
everyone’s
mind?

9. Chairman:
“Did
we
hit
our
goal?”
Executive
Director:
“What’s
the
number?”
Anonymous
staffer:
“How
many
shopping
days
are
left?”
Director
of
Development:
“Can
I
keep
my
job?”

10. Is
anybody
talking
about
the
most
common
mistakes
made
with
an
annual
fundraising
appeal?
Is
it
too
late?
No
…
and,
no!

11. The
anatomy
of
the
annual
appeal
Let’s
break
it
down
(briefly)

12. #1:
Components
Planning
&
budget
Style
Content
Materials
Data
Year-­‐end
appeal

13. #2:
Schedule
of
activities
Before
• Planning
• Messaging
• Materials
• Website
• Direct
mail
• Email
• Social
media
During
• Donations
received
• Inquiries
answered
After
• Enter
data
• Update
records
• Send
out
responses

14. What
are
the
most
common
mistakes?
What
do
the
experts
say?

15. Our
approach
to
answering
the
question
Start
with
the
leading
search
engines
…
Use
a
variety
of
search
terms
and
questions
…
To
find
the
most
consumed
advice
…

16. And
our
survey
found
…
* Top
30
articles
* 90%+
in
the
past
two
years
* 156
total
recommendations
* Which
we
organized
as
follows:
* Content
only
* Content
and
data
* Data
only

17. Examples
of
what
we
found
Content
only
* Weak
call
to
action
(CTA)
* Failure
to
tell
stories
* Failure
to
demonstrate
impact
* Failure
to
personalize
* Small
fonts
* Too
much
content
…
too
little
* Too
many
communications
…
too
few
* Sloppy
mistakes,
misspellings
* Failure
to
thank
donors

18. Examples
of
what
we
found
Content
and
data
* Treating
all
donors
the
same
* The
ask
is
too
small
* Failure
to
track
responses
to
the
appeal,
analyze
the
results
* Failure
to
research
prospective
donors
/
audiences
in
order
to
determine
the
right
message

19. Examples
of
what
we
found
Data
only
* Failure
to
reach
out
to
lapsed
donors
* Failure
to
reach
out
to
new
donors
* Failure
to
track
fundraising
stats
* Failure
to
clean
and
update
your
donor
list

20. Part
of
the
problem:
Nobody
is
talking
“data”
Recommendations
for
“Content
+
Data”
…
Recommendations
for
“Data”
…
All
require
interpretation
to
understand
that
the
issue
is
data.

21. Part
of
the
problem:
Nobody
is
talking
“data”
Nobody
explains
things
like
…
* HOW
you
do
something
such
as
track
an
appeal
response
against
the
message
…
or
how
NOT
to
treat
all
donors
the
same
* HOW
to
analyze
lapsed
givers
This
work
starts
with
data.

22. We
graphed
the
problem
(because
we
are
data-­‐geeky
people)

23. Before
………….
After
Examples
of
the
advice
Thank
donors
Track
responses
vs
messages
Track
donor
stats
Send
reminders
Collect
the
pledge
Convey
urgency,
impact
Simple
writing
style
Larger
asks
Personalize
Don’t
treat
all
Tell
stories
Stronger
CTA
donors
the
same
Don’t
ignore
lapsed
donors
Envelope
design
Research
prospects
Mailing
list
Fonts
Better
plan
Content
………….
Data

24. Before
………….
After
Few
even
reference
“data”
4%
2%
1%
4%
81%
6%
2%
Content
………..….
Data

25. The
mistake
about
the
most
common
mistakes
What
does
the
survey
data
tell
us?

26. The
survey
data
says
…
* 81%
focus
on
content
related
activities
before
the
appeal
* 12%
vaguely
discuss
content-­‐related
data
issues,
but
offer
little
direction
* 3%
address
data
* 7%
discuss
what
to
do
after
the
appeal
…
and
most
are
thank
you
reminders

27. What
do
we
do?
Where
do
we
start?

28. We
think
…
“It
is
a
capital
mistake
to
theorize
before
one
has
data.
Insensibly
one
begins
to
twist
facts
to
suit
theories,
instead
of
theories
to
suit
facts…”
-­‐-­‐
Sherlock
Holmes
“A
Scandal
in
Bohemia”

29. Two
rules
to
remember
Rule
#1:
* If
the
data
is
poor,
the
content
does
not
matter
Rule
#2:
* What
you
do
AFTER
the
appeal
matters
as
much
as
what
you
did
BEFORE

30. So,
what
are
you
doing
wrong?
Let’s
look
at
an
example

31. Let’s
look
at
an
example

32. GEDCO
Donor
Individuals
Corporations
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Older
Adults
Professionals
Retirees
Faith
Based
Baltimore
Natives
Volunteers
Member
Organizations
Baltimore
Based
Shared
Vision
Personal
Connection

33. How
does
GEDCO
reach
it’s
donors?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Direct
Mail
and
Newsletters
Online
Engagement
Events
Phone-­‐A-­‐Thon
Board
Fundraising
Individual
Calls

34. From
data
to
impact

35. Results:
Comparison
of
EOY
Giving
$160,000
$140,000
$120,000
Online
Donations
$100,000
$80,000
Appeal
Responses
$60,000
ThanksGiving
Tribute
$40,000
$20,000
$0
EOY
2012
EOY
2011

36. Why
the
Increase?
þ New
donors
þ Higher
gifts
from
current
donors
þ Use
of
communications
þ
Supported
and
framed
final
appeal
þ
Personal
look
at
residents
and
clients

37. Bringing
it
all
home

38. First
and
foremost
Act
now!
-­‐
the
“after”
is
next
year’s
“before”

39. Our
recommendations
Your
appeal
is
underway
…
data
is
coming
…
are
you
prepared?
1. Control
your
data
inputs
2. Clean
before
spring
3. Measure
and
track
appeal
success

40. Our
recommendations
Then
commit
…
1. Clean
your
data
…
REGULARLY
2. Check
all
data
sources
into
your
db
3. Ask
for
the
data
that
you
want
from
your
donors
* This
is
the
easiest
and
cheapest
way
to
enrich
your
data
4. Segment
your
donors
and
messaging
* Do
you
know
how
your
donors
want
to
communicate?
* Are
you
delivering
the
right
messages
to
the
right
people?

41. Our
recommendations
Finally
…
1. Plan
and
budget
for
good
data
management
Don’t
be
the
1%-­‐er

42. Conclusion
Begin
planning
NOW
for
the
next
appeal,
and
start
from
the
data
AND
by
the
way
…
This
advice
applies
to
ALL
of
your
giving
programs,
campaigns,
events

43. Questions
???
You
can
read
more
about
this
topic
on
our
blog
at:
http://3rdsectorlabs.com/data/dont-­‐let-­‐bad-­‐data-­‐be-­‐
the-­‐grinch-­‐to-­‐your-­‐holiday-­‐appeal/