Net Dollars Not Donors Part 1

Somewhere over the rainbow in fundraising, two metrics were established as the gold standard: gross revenue generated and the number of donors acquired. And that’s a shame. It’s a shame because you can optimize these two metrics into organization ruin....

The Shift to Lift

At Analytical Ones, we simplify all of our recommendations into three categories: Win (acquisition and reactivation); Lift (upgradation) and Keep (retention). If you study donor files, active donor counts peaked in 2008, at the cliff of the Great Recession. Though...

Fundraising & String Theory

Last month at DMA-NY, the American Cancer Society presented the adverse effects on their fundraising when they pulled out of direct mail acquisition. And though they received some undeserved criticism, I for one appreciated the fact they shared their results with all...

The First Thing about Analytics

As fundraisers, we plan to succeed. And to maximize our chances for success, our plans have to be grounded in empiricism. Far too often, we’ve seen inexperienced boards or EDs make up crazy revenue goals for their DDs. These goals seem to be based on whim and wish....