3 Types of Donor Data to Track: A Guide for Nonprofits – Yearly
Your data influences the direction of your nonprofit, especially when it comes to your donor relationships. Whether you’re collecting data to put your annual report together or are just analyzing your progress towards your quarterly goals, you will likely have a lot of data to examine, and some of it will be notably more helpful than others.
The most important types of data for each nonprofit will vary from organization to organization based on their unique goals and support bases. However, with so many types of data to examine, it can be easy to lose sight of the most relevant data and how it applies to your immediate and long-term goals.
To help your nonprofit get a better sense of your data, this guide will explore the essentials of donor data and how careful tracking can make a difference for your organization. Then, we’ll explore three of the most important types of donor data for most nonprofits, including:
- Wealth indicators
- Giving history
- Engagement rates
Of course, when you decide which data you need to track, you’ll also need to determine what tools you’ll use to do so. For many nonprofits, this will consist of fundamental reporting tools such as annual and impact reports, as well as collection methods like your online donation form.
Whichever methods you choose, be sure that your target data and data gathering methods align to provide you with the information you need. Let’s get started.
What is donor data and why should you track it?
Donor data consists of all of the information you collect about your donors through your various interactions with them. This information can include everything from their donation history and survey responses to event attendance to how many times your nonprofit has contacted them.
Your donors are your nonprofit’s primary audience, and the more you know about them, the better your organization can forge connections with them. This means your nonprofit can gain a number of benefits from consistently gathering, managing, and acting upon donor data, including:
- Get to know your donors. To send effective donation appeals, you need to know who you are talking to. Every donor base is made up of diverse groups of individuals, and by collecting personal details about each donor, you can treat them as individuals, establishing better one-on-one relationships.
- Make smarter fundraising decisions. Your nonprofit should be making data-driven decisions about how to manage and grow your donor base. Of course, to make data-driven decisions, you’ll need solid data that you can analyze and practically apply to your fundraising decisions.
- Identify new prospects. If you know who your current donors are, you can use that information to identify new audiences who have a high likelihood of being receptive to your nonprofit’s message. Additionally, you can identify potential major giving candidates within your current supporter base if you have information about their giving capacity and affinity.
Your donor data can also be used to improve your communication with your donors. For example, you might include key data about overall trends in your donor base in your annual report to emphasize your nonprofit’s growth and impact. With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at three important types of donor data.
1. Wealth indicators
Some of your donors have a greater capacity to give than others. You can determine which ones have the potential to become major donors by tracking key wealth indicators using wealth screening tools. Double the Donation’s guide to wealth screening defines it as the process of analyzing your donors and supporters to identify high net worth individuals.
There are a variety of wealth indicators to track, including:
- Real estate ownership. Donors with investments such as real estate ownership tend to be more wealthy than mid-level donors. Additionally, statistics show that individuals with large real estate holdings worth $2 million or more are seventeen times more likely to give to charitable causes.
- Occupation. Donors with high-income jobs often have the capacity to donate in large quantities. Additionally, many of your more mid-tier supporters might work for a business that has a matching gift program. Matching gifts are donations made by corporations when their employees donate to charitable causes, essentially allowing eligible donors to increase their support at no additional cost.
- Relationship to other prospects. Your current donors can be one of your best resources for identifying new prospects. For example, if many of your donors all work for the same employer, you might be able to reach out to them to establish an employee engagement program.
Take note of these indicators in your donor profiles as part of your regular data management practices. This allows you to take more targeted actions for individual donors and identify trends throughout your entire donor base for your donor recap and fundraising reports.
2. Giving history
In order to grow your supporters’ engagement, you’ll need to know their previous giving history. This can provide insight into their overall giving trends and what your nonprofit can reasonably expect from them in the future. For each of your donors, ensure you are gathering data on their giving history, including their:
- Previous donations to your nonprofit. You can make more targeted donation requests if you’re keeping track of your donors’ previous contributions. For instance, Donately’s guide to monthly giving explains how nonprofits can use past donations to identify prospective monthly donors, which often include, “previous recurring donors, long-time volunteers, or engaged advocates who interact with your organization frequently online.”
- Donations to other nonprofits. If your new and prospective donors have given to a cause that’s similar to yours in the past, chances are that they might also become invested in your organization. For example, a donor who has a history of donating to arts-oriented organizations is more likely to give to your arts nonprofit than a donor who has only ever given to health-related causes.
- Political giving. Some of your donors may have contributed to political campaigns related to the issues your nonprofit tackles. For example, there’s a good chance a donor who has given to campaigns supporting environmental legislation might be interested in your nonprofit’s habitat protection efforts.
While your nonprofit will be able to monitor giving to your own organization easily enough, you may need to use third-party wealth screening tools and databases to gain additional insight into your supporters’ giving histories. Then, if you plan to invest in these donors, ensure you have the reporting tools necessary to track your relationships with them.
3. Engagement rates
You’ll only know how effective your various engagement opportunities are if you monitor your donor engagement rates. With engagement rate data, you can determine which of your events and fundraisers are most successful among your donors and personalize your communication with donors by referencing their past participation.
Stay on top of your engagement rates by tracking:
- Event participation. For each of your events, be sure to track which guests attended. In addition to monitoring your overall participation numbers, also take note of your guest retention rate to see if supporters continue to attend event after event.
- Marketing materials. When you send out a promotional email or post information about a new fundraiser to social media, how many responses do you get? Monitoring your clickthrough and conversion rates can help you identify which of your marketing materials are the most effective with donors.
- Connection with other donors. When your donors attend events, fundraisers, and other gatherings, are they interacting with one another? Building a community around your nonprofit can help you sustain a reliable base of support as donors attend events to support your organization and reconnect with their fellow supporters. This data will be qualitative rather than quantitative, so make a note of it in donor profiles to ensure all the specific details are recorded.
Whether you’re hosting a virtual fundraising event or an in-person gathering, take note of who is attending and how they’re participating. Then, use this information to personalize their experience with your nonprofit, such as by inviting them to participate in future similar events.
Collecting and managing your donor data should be a routine part of your nonprofit’s day-to-day responsibilities. Keep track of essential information, such as your donors’ capacity and affinity to give, as well as data about their overall connection to your organization.
Your reporting tools can give you an overhead view of your entire donor base, helping you make practical decisions and earn increased donor support. Good luck!
***
A guest post from Jacob Spencer of Donately.
