Dec 2011

Can You Predict What Your Donor Will Do Next?

by John Stockton, Vice President, Enterprise Products, Convio

A new breed of solution called the constituent engagement system is poised to gain momentum in the nonprofit sector as a more effective and efficient technology infrastructure. This type of system (often called a “customer engagement system” or a “customer relationship management system” in the for-profit arena) enables nonprofits to leverage an integrated multi-channel marketing approach for engaging with constituents to maximize the long-term value of each relationship. Here’s a deeper look at what a constituent engagement system enables nonprofits to do:

Gather & Aggregate Information About Constituents Across the Entire Organization
For years, nonprofits have struggled with their constituent data being locked up in disparate systems—a campaign-centric view of the world keeping valuable constituent data in separate fundraising, advocacy, volunteer, and other databases. This problem often is compounded in multi-affiliate organizations in which each affiliate has their own database. In this scenario, different people across the organization have different views of the organization’s data depending on what database they are using.

With a 360-degree view of constituent data, however, cross-departmental needs within the organization can be addressed even when that means different things to different people based on their function with the organization. For example, your executive director might want a snapshot of where the organization stands on fundraising, with an opportunity to drill down to details about communications with an individual. They also might want to quickly produce reports for review by their board of directors. Your organization must be able to provide for these varied data views while ensuring the data is accurate, timely, and accessible, or else it is of little value to you.

Supplement Constituent Profiles with Outside Information Sources
Even nonprofits with rich constituent data can improve their marketing and communications by supplementing their information with data from other sources. For example, appending third-party demographic information to your organization’s existing data could help you “slice and dice” information and identify selection criteria that separate unresponsive constituents from those that have a higher likelihood to respond. Targeting only those constituents most likely to respond would save you time and dollars while likely achieving better results per constituent than if you broadly targeted the entire list. You should have a system built on an open architecture to allow for the integration of this type of data.

Use Powerful, Accessible Reporting to Uncover Insights About Constituents
Enterprise-size nonprofits may have good constituent data, but limited reporting on that data is a common problem. Reporting tools are often disparate and cumbersome. They also often lack cloud-accessible dashboards for quick self-service views of data and prohibit deep dive capabilities to look at campaign results by demographic or marketing channel. For strategic constituent engagement, your organization must have powerful and accessible reporting capabilities on timely, accurate constituent data to make informed, forward-looking decisions about how to approach constituents.

Leverage Predictive Analytics for More Effective & Efficient Marketing
Constituent data holds opportunities for improving donor lifetime value and loyalty through predictive modeling. For example, constituent data can help organizations predict which active donors will disengage, which first-time donors are most likely to become monthly givers, and which donors prefer which communication channels. The ability to apply these types of insights to your marketing efforts can lift response and deepen relationships with your donors and other supporters.

Deliver Relevant, Compelling Communications Through Multiple Channels Based on Constituents’ Interests, Preferences & Demographics
Once your organization has a comprehensive view of its constituent data and the ability to understand what it is telling you, it’s time to shift toward delivering relevant multi-channel communications according to supporter preferences. That could include email, direct mail, telemarketing, social media, mobile technology, or any combination of channels, and could be a fundraising, advocacy, marketing or other type of communication or campaign.

Download the full guide, and learn how constituent engagement technology can help you increase the lifetime value of all your supporter relationships.