Going Small for Big Results

Whatever size prospect list you have, make it smaller. It doesn't matter if your list is 10 names or a database of thousands. You have to start somewhere. And there is no better place than at the top.  



Create your own RFM score to fill in the blanks indicating your donors'
prospect value and loyalty.

Three measurements from your donors' giving histories point the way: recency, frequency, and giving total (RFM).

I have added longevity as a fourth factor in the score illustrated here.

The result ranks (prioritizes) your prospects relative to each other. Such scores are particularly useful at the segment level for prioritizing your direct marketing, phone calls, and personal visits.

Include the RFM score for each donor in gift reports your database, if you are fortunate enough to have such reporting capabilities. If not, create an Excel file to quickly calculate donor scores.

The particular score is less important than having a consistent methodology to compare prospects relative to each other. Create a score that makes sense for your constituency. You may want to add other variables, such as membership, ticket holders, event attendance, volunteer status, etc.

However, keep it simple. Do include hand review of your top scoring donors.

Detailed data on your donors' giving behavior is unique to your organization. Use it to your competive advantage.

Start Seeing Donors

The donor pyramid is a common analogy fundraisers use to represent donor tiers or segments. 


Visualizing the donor pyramid as communities of donors
can prompt new insight.

Yet such pyramids can be so loaded with complexity and numbers that we lose sight of what the statistics represent.

Let's set the numbers aside for a moment. What else do you see in your nonprofit's donor pyramid?

Hopefully, a picture emerges of donors as individuals and the strategic role that each segment plays in your organization's success.

Intuitively, we realize this. The challenge is to operationalize what we know to be true.

The solution in part requires treating different donors differently, to recognize people for their individuality, even as we learn from each segment's statistical profile.

Closer inspection reveals the donor pyramid as communities of donors. Moreover, such a perspective forces new questions.

What is our engagement strategy for our top donors? How can we more effectively apply scarce resources to involve mid-point donors in a meaningful way to lift them to a higher giving level? And how can our organization add value to attract new donors?

Documenting plans for each donor segment, including contact schedules, message, and channel is instrumental in creating consistent and repeatable outcomes.  

Naturally, a donor pyramid is not an end in itself. But visualizing donors is a good place to start.