SPURspectives

It’s easy to put discussions about data collection on the back burner. You have what you need to do mass mailings and thank you letters and name badges for events. You’re getting by, data-wise. Your development people have a lot of knowledge in their files (and their brains) that you can rely on. Day to day, there’s not a sense of urgency.

Plus, discussions of data tend to lead to tough discussions about technology. If you know you don’t have the software and infrastructure to support good data collection, it may seem futile to start the conversation.

But you need to know what you need to know. You can’t figure out technology solutions until you have a very clear picture of what your database should look like. And every day that you just “get by” is robbing you of powerful opportunities to strengthen your base and deepen donor loyalty.

To achieve the level of customization required to engage every donor through the complete cycle of recognition - acknowledgement, reassurance, and communicating results - you need to be collecting the right data.

Thinking strategically about data

Certain types of data are universal. But beyond the basics, different organizations actually need different data. Since gathering and maintaining data takes significant time and resources, you want to spend some time carefully examining the data you need. If you spend the next 10 years gathering reams of data you never use - and never will use - think of the keystrokes (and associated time and brain power) that you are wasting!

On the flip side, you can’t just gather the basics or focus on what you need right now, as it’s incredibly difficult to fill in many types of data if you don’t capture the information upon first opportunity. A hit-and-miss database is a huge handicap - you need consistent, complete data to achieve the kind of customization social media and 1:1 marketing allow.

If you want to tap into the power of customized 1:1 communication, data collection needs to be thoughtful and forward-thinking, with an eye toward long-term goals.

Start by revisiting your mission. Take a big-picture, long-term look at how you want to market your mission to current and potential donors. Be very clear on what you do and why you are doing it - as well as where you are going. You don’t have to have a crystal ball, but you do want to think about the ways your mission may evolve or change over the next decade. Is your mission likely to expand? Does it tend to shift in response to community needs or political realities?

Identify drivers for giving. Determine the things that will motivate people to support your mission, based on how you plan to market that mission. People support causes for many reasons - don’t make the mistake of assuming all your donors see your mission the way you do, or the way “most people” do. Explore a 360 view of why people might choose to give to your organization. It may help to hold some focus groups with current donors (at varying levels of giving), lapsed donors, and people you wish were donors.

Develop a comprehensive list of indicators. Drill down into each potential driver to come up with indicators - the various types of data that can help you to speak to people’s true motivations (more on what some of these indicators might be in future posts). Then match that list against the data you are gathering. You’re likely to find that some of the data you have isn’t doing anything for you, and that there are important pieces of information that you aren’t capturing (at least not consistently).

Mission, drivers, indicators: When you approach data from this perspective - rather than just doing what everyone else does or what your legacy database allows - you can get a true picture of what you need to know. Ultimately, looking at data this way can truly transform how you think about your donors - and allow you to change how they think about you.

Tags: data, nonprofit, nonprofits, technology