Data Processing TipsDatabase marketing is always tricky. But attention to detail probably becomes most meaningful when creating and maintaining databases for fundraising organizations. The most successful fundraisers use a personal touch to create relationships with their donors. They create graphics carefully keyed to fit their message, use personalization freely in their executions � even things like address labels - and the donation request schedule is set to recognize past behavior and gently move a donor to more regular and larger contributions. So then why do so many fundraisers send out executions to �DEAR ROBT. J. MOORE�? It looks sloppy and worse, depresses response.
So here are my top 10 tips for Data Processing for the most successful fundraising.
Communication is key. In general, you may not think of your service bureau as someone to share your dreams, goals and past failures with. But in the case of Data Processing for fundraising, communication is key. Tell them what your cause is about, who you think your donors are and where you�ve had trouble in the past. These little anecdotes will help them set the technical settings to work towards the executions that meet your donor goals. A good service bureau will treat a fundraising merge/purge or database development with a high amount of customization and use each of those many computer settings to your advantage.
Make it personal. Know your donors. Your donors think when they donate to your cause that they are handing money directly to the person or cause in need. Don�t make them see your organization as a room full of computers. The way they wrote their name on their response form is the way they want to be recognized. �Mrs.� not �Ms�. �Elizabeth� not �Eliz�. �Jane Doe�, not �JANE DOE�. And if the put down a vanity city or suite, use it � they don�t live in Los Gatos, they live in Monte Sereno and it�s Apartment G. Make sure your donor mailings eliminate things like inappropriate character casing (Upper/lower), avoid abbreviations and parsing and use proper honorifics.
Know the value of your current donors. Not only does a past donor have a higher propensity to donate again, their history is a gold mine of information for future executional efforts. Take the opportunity for learning and let your service bureau help you. If a gold level donor comes up on a rental file � know it � enough of them means that you may have hit the perfect list. Keep a history of donor contact and have your service bureau track what went to who and when and how much it brought. Build a depth of information, roll it out and have a stable of top level donors based on background, tracking and firm information, rather than just a list of who responded to your latest campaign.
Pick the right purge level for your organization. There is nothing you�d hate to hear more than �well, if you need the money so bad, stop sending me the same mailing three times.� Except perhaps, �I stopped donating because you dropped me from your list�. Set your merge/purge to reflect what makes sense for your organization. If most of your donors are families, consider selecting one per household. If your cause attracts a lot of singles, loosen things up a bit. And for causes that attract a lot of roommates or gay and lesbian couples, you�ll need to set things differently again. Be prepared to review the results carefully as the merge/purge is run and to work to get the right balance.
Exceptions may be the rule in fundraising. The donor is always right. Even more than the computer sometimes. Don�t discount or eliminate donor groups who give Data Processing problems and exceptions. There was a case of a grandfather who donated a membership for an environmental organization to each of his grandchildren � all in the same house, all with the same last name and all with the same first initial. A donation dream and a merge/purge nightmare. Recognize this; ask your service bureau for creative answers to get it right.
Priorities matter a lot for fundraisers. Work with your service bureau on how they set the priority for your merge/purge. It can make a huge difference. If you�ve rented a number of names on net names basis, let them know and they can set the lists at the lowest priority so that those records will purge, resulting in maximum cost savings. Or they can use the multi buyer information to help you see how much crossover there is in files.
Segment your executions with data. Your service bureau should easily be able to help you break your donors and prospects into appropriate giving levels. Don�t pester a major donor with a $50 donation request. Likewise, don�t build an �asking string� from $5,000 to $250 for names from an exchange list. Use the programming prowess of your service bureau to tailor �giving strings� to match the donation history for current donors or the real giving potential of prospective donors.
Build real information into your keycodes. A really good service bureau can build a keycode that tracks all the sources of the names on your mailing file, not just the list source that you gave the highest priority. If a great name comes off of a cheaper list or one that has a higher rollout potential, don�t lose that learning just because your service bureau found it on your donor list or an old favorite first. Build a �compiled� keycode so you can track all your sources and learn from them all.
Take special care with exchange lists. Lists that result from an exchange of donor lists with a partner organization are great because they�re free. And often they are a great fit from a targeting standpoint. But, they may not have been maintained well and may have bad practice stuff like unnecessary information in mailing fields or difficult to follow record layouts. Plus, they don�t get cleaned up and standardized like rental lists. Make sure your service bureau can clean up and properly reformat these lists. And if you�re doing the right thing, your service bureau can also make sure that no one ever snickers at your list behind your back as well.
Stay close to home. If yours is a local cause, don�t mail to folks far away unless they�re on your current donor list. Folks in Alabama aren�t very likely to support wild rivers in Oregon. Likewise, track your most responsive geographies even if your cause is not local. Is your cause one that plays better in Iowa than Manhattan? How about in the conservative south versus the liberal west? Code that, track that and make decisions on rollouts based on the most responsive areas .A good service bureau can keep records from your house list from everywhere while only selecting records from rental lists that are in your top geography.
Take care of your Data Processing and your fundraising mailings will take good care of your cause � eliminating wasted mailings, in donor confidence and most important � with increased response!
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