The Challenge

Data is the name of the game in successful donor development and fundraising. So, when a faith-based organization lost its data management and screening provider, the development team needed a new solution. It was a challenge to know who to send communications to and when to best reach out to them. In addition, the team needed the ability to conduct strategic donor communications with a checks and balances system to ensure the data and the segments pulled were correct.

The team needed to find a replacement—and fast. The system had to manage all their donor attributes and relationship progress, including demographics, behavior, psychographics, timing, and more. In addition, they needed a smooth transition to maintain the strong donor connections they had invested in for years.

The Solution

“We tried quite a few different data tools, and segmenting tools, and direct mail tools, and none of them really fit; then we found GivingDNA,” says Amy Melton, data specialist. The system met the varied needs of the development team while expanding its ability to identify and reach segments in ways that drew greater engagement.

On why they chose GivingDNA, Melton says: “ ...One of the reasons I was very interested in GivingDNA was the Communication Preferences feature where it tells you, ‘Okay, this person is really likely to give digitally. This person is really likely to give if you phone them. This person’s really likely to give in response to direct mail.’ And I loved that because we didn’t really do any of that before.”

The team found GivingDNA to be the solution they needed and more. Not only were they able to resume their data-driven donor strategy, but they were able to target campaigns to new segments. For example, GivingDNA allowed the team to target an appeal to all lapsed donors with just a single click—something they hadn’t been able to easily do with their previous data management tool or CRM.

The Results

Since implementing GivingDNA, the nonprofit has seen measurable increases in donor engagement as well as internal efficiencies. In a recent general fundraising appeal, 44% of the gifts received were from the lapsed segment generated in GivingDNA: “Actually, they had more than twice the number of gifts. We had about $8,000 alone come from our lapsed segment!” says Melton.

Appeals that are more targeted toward specific segments are known to be more effective. But slicing and dicing data can be time-consuming without the proper tool. GivingDNA empowered the team to execute segmentation in a fraction of the time.

Melton explains: “Before we started using GivingDNA, it probably took me about four hours, so like half my workday, to segment our list. And now I would say, being able to just pull these lists, I drop them into our CRM, and I say, ‘Okay, show me which ones don’t belong in here.’ It does it in about five seconds. It probably saved me about two hours of work every time I make an appeal list.”

One of the greatest benefits the team appreciates with GivingDNA is the user interface and dashboard features. 

It’s designed to easily present data in ways that everyone can use and understand—whether it’s marketing teams or directors or board members, which, according to Melton, reduces the amount of time that they spend talking about numbers, empowering them to focus on decisions and strategy.

All in all, the organization's use of GivingDNA has enabled the organization to find greater efficiencies and effectiveness in donor development. As their efforts are maximized, they have been able to reach more people to better fund their mission.