To improve online fundraising results, savvy nonprofit organizations’ (NPOs) marketers are using more sophisticated fundraising analytics to improve transparency, weed out inefficiencies and make more informed decisions about their campaigns.
Online fundraising drives increased expectations for transparency and a data-driven approach. That can seem daunting, but when you know the right metrics to track and the right tool to track them, deploying a data-driven strategy is now easier than ever.
So, in the digital age, as online fundraising is now the standard, below are some tips for supporting your mission with analytics.
Getting Started with Analytics for Online Fundraising
Before implementing data analytics into their online fundraising strategy, key decisionmakers must understand that the use of analytics is a multi-faceted solution that presents endless possibilities when applied to every area of the organization.
Targeting specific metrics and tapping the power of data analytics into your overall online fundraising strategy, allows organizations to transform vast volumes of data into actionable insights to uncover blind spots, increase cost savings, inform intelligent decisions and drive business continuity during unforeseen disruptive events.
The use of data analytics has been a game changer for nonprofits, which historically relied on verbal feedback from their most vocal supporters to guide fundraising.
However, as the use of Big Data rapidly advances in the nonprofit world, analytics are a must for building stronger relationships with supporters, enhancing the digital experience, creating organization differentiation and driving more donations.
Key Metrics to Consider in Your Online Fundraising Strategy
Those that fail to create a robust data strategy that targets specific metrics will miss out on the endless benefits of this innovative practice. So, first NPOs must do their research.
One specific way NPOs are taking advantage of analytics is to increase online and virtual fundraising event ROI. Powered by data, nonprofits can better forecast event attendance, donation expectations and overall targeting based upon cohort analysis and industry stats around best-performing age groups, locations and styles of events.
Additionally, organizations must take advantage of every source of critical data available. In the nonprofit sector, frontrunners in effective online fundraising are utilizing every event registration, survey and donation form as vehicles to cut through the opacity surrounding their support networks and identify critical donor data.
For instance, one source of data that many NPOs do not take advantage of is date-of-birth. Nonprofits should make DOB a required field in their surveys and sign-up forms because this seemingly nominal piece of information allows nonprofits to encourage fundraising in lieu of a gift or determine the best fundraising age bracket to target.
Once metrics are identified, nonprofit business and IT leaders need to select and implement a platform that enables them to track these metrics in real time.
Platforms with Innovative Data and Analytics Reporting
Through a platform like Panorama by Fronstream, nonprofits are equipped with a comprehensive data and analytics reporting dashboard. This empowers nonprofit leaders to view all fundraising and donation data in one secure place, providing actionable insight into their organization’s online fundraising activities.
Powered by a cutting-edge platform complete with analytics, nonprofits can assess key metrics surrounding their fundraisers, teams and team members and compare and contrast success rates to past events.
Additionally, when donation amounts are falling flat, nonprofit leaders have more insight into which fundraisers have yet to achieve their goals and, based on the data, send automatic tips and recommendations on how to change these shortcomings.
Plus, with robust reporting and analytics tracking fundraising efforts across all your campaigns, you can continuously improve your activities to extend your mission’s impact.
Sharpen Your Analytical Sword
Once you adopt a platform tailored to your needs, identify what metrics are crucial to your organization and put together a razor-sharp data analytics strategy, you’re ready to deploy an analytical approach to online fundraising.
So, sit down with your team members, communicate the need for adding data analytics into your nonprofit’s operations and watch your donations soar.
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