Donor Data Represents People and Stories
Donor data holds the keys to the fundraising kingdom. Nonprofits require sustainable long-term support, and this requires thoughtful relationship management. And it’s much easier to manage these relationships when you’re keeping track of the details.
Donor data can be an intimidating subject. But the most important thing to remember is that data represents people. When you take the time to look at and analyze your donor data—giving history, time volunteered, events attended—you are checking in with your people. You are also acting as a more thoughtful steward of their support.
We’ve written before about the opportunity to utilize your donor data in designing a successful fundraising event, but here we want to take one step back to talk about the importance of data management outside of events.
Data provide you the opportunity to uncover important stories about your supporters and the relationships that will continue to move your mission forward. When you manage your donor data well, you are able to:
- Critically analyze the health of your relationships: In each donor record, you can see the history of their giving over time and how this has increased or lapsed in recent years. It’s especially important for a development officer to know a donor or sponsor’s history before engaging in conversations around support.
- Get the full picture of your organization’s history: Every organization has an oral history, but the real, full-picture history comes from donor data. Go as far back as you can to get a complete understanding of how leadership transition, fundraising events and politics have impacted your support over time and who has been with you from the beginning.
- Build thoughtful donor outreach and cultivation strategies: Knowing who is giving to your organization, how often and how much helps you create a strategic outreach plan or planning your next fundraising event. Before launching into any kind of campaign or outreach effort, start with the data.
- Better position your organization for the future: Staff transitions become easier with strong data, giving new staff members a better understanding of where the organization is and who your donors are so they don’t have to start from scratch.
Put simply, your donor data is a treasure trove of stories. You can see what has been possible in the past, what’s possible right now and what might be possible in the future. In the world of fundraising, donor data is your eyeglasses. You can’t see much without them. Create a culture shift at your organization to make data a priority.
To help you manage your event data, check out our monthly 2-hour Greater Giving Basic Training classes at the Swaim Strategies office in Portland. Click here for more information.
