Finding the Gold in Your Database Baird Straughan, LeadGreen With Kevin Kasowski, River Network River Rally 2011

Goals: Decide if your list needs to be cleaned up, and how youll do that. Decide how to segment your list, identifying potential major donors. Decide how to replenish your list. Decide whether to reduce mailing costs by limiting mailings to recent donors.

How much gold is in a mailing list, anyway?

Group A: Established Dollars from individuals (dues, donations, major donations) Dollars$184,586$149,950$135,408$135,000 # donations average gift$300$241$183$270

How Group As income breaks down Size of gifts

B: Sporadic major donor work Dollars$63,394$91,607$41,734$72,660 # donations average gift$115$175$89$122 Dollars from individuals (dues, donations, major donations)

C: Neglecting and restarting Dollars from individuals (dues, donations, major donations) Dollars$54,711$32,500$57,280$52,805 # donations average gift$143$295$78$79

Group Cs revenue distribution Size of gifts

How much gold do you get from your mailing list now? Annual income from dues: $__________ from donations: $__________ from major donations: $ ___________ How many people donated in the last year? __________ Average income per donor: $__________ Average donation size: $__________

How much could you get? Annual income from dues: $__________ X renewal rate: __% Total from dues: ____________ Average donation: $ _____________ X response rate: __% X number of appeals __ Total from appeals: $__________ Number of major donors: __________ Average gift: ___________ Total from major donors: $________ Total Income from the people in your list: $ ___________

3 minutes: Estimate your current income from your mailing list, and your potential. 5 minutes: Form groups of 5 and share.

Take-aways: - Set a target for individual revenue income. - … and

One list to rule them all, One list to find them … Just One List

Cleaning Up Your List

Two approaches Roll up your sleeves and clean it up in your database or spreadsheet. Send out a mailing and see how many duplicates you have and bad addresses are returned.

Approach #1: Run reports and sort by Last Name

Sort by

If you have a CRM, get Dupe- Blocker An example of DupeBlocker, a program free to nonprofits who use the Salesforce database or customizations of it, like Watergrass.

Send out a mailing.

Clean up the database as you get returns.

How much work is that? I asked Shanda Minney, ED at West Virginia Rivers Coalition and a WaterGrass user, what had led to the improvement in their mail responses. She replied: To answer your question about what we did differently, I would have to say that I think these results are the product of a year long effort to do better at our overall supporter servicing. Amanda has done a tremendous amount of work cleaning up our database, removing duplicates, chasing down correct details and amending previous errors. In addition, our appeals are firmly incorporated within our overall outreach strategy - newsletters, thank you acknowledgments, personal contact, major donor development, rapid problem solving etc.

But theres really no way around it … About 30% of all addresses become defunct each year. About 16% of the population moves, so their addresses change. CHURN YOUR MAILING LIST

1 minute: If necessary, what steps would you take to clean up your mailing list? 5 minutes: Form groups of 5, share and discuss.

Segmenting Your List

By Giving Potential

By Check -ing in NOZA

By Interest

By Partic- ipation

By opens

Begin thank- you calls Begin reinforcement

Example: MD Sierra Club

More touches Reminder calls to our list of top donors

March Mail Appeal

March Appeal

By Partic- ipation

1 minute: How do you want to segment your list and reach out to special groups in order to improve your response rate? 10 minutes: Form groups of 5, share and discuss.

Replenishing Your List

Acquisition Mailings Mailings to Lapsed Members Enter your participant lists!

Acquisitions

1 minute: How do you want to replenish your list?