Using constituency codes in appeals

ShawnAlis Cusato

We've broken out our annual giving appeal by constituency code, and we've had trouble getting reliable reports, especially participation.  We have 4 appeals:  Current Parent, Alumni, Employee, Friends.  It seems to me that having one appeal and using the constituency code on the record for reporting purposes would yield better results.  What do you all say?  Should this matter?

JoAnn Strommen

What do you mean you've had trouble getting reliable reports.  Are you recording the separate appeals on constituent records?

Either way, for reporting you are assuming that each of those being asked has one of those constituency codes.  Is it the primary so you can report by primary?  If records have more than one of those codes, you'll probably get duplication in reports.

If you've recorded one of those four appeals on the records, you should be able to generate reports on results, participation etc. fairly easily.

ShawnAlis Cusato

Yes, the appeal is on the constituent and any gift it generates.  The constituent code isn't always primary, for instance an alumnus might also be a current parent.  For the sake of argument, let's assume we're handling the appeals and gifts correctly.  If that is the case, is there any drawback to setting up the appeal this way (with 4 appeals using constituent codes) rather than as a single appeal?

JoAnn Strommen

ShawnAlis Cusato:

Yes, the appeal is on the constituent and any gift it generates.  The constituent code isn't always primary, for instance an alumnus might also be a current parent.  For the sake of argument, let's assume we're handling the appeals and gifts correctly.  If that is the case, is there any drawback to setting up the appeal this way (with 4 appeals using constituent codes) rather than as a single appeal?

 

So, if John Smith gives and has constit codes of alumnus and current parent, how do you plan to code the gift?  Was John sent one appeal?  I've done one campaign with different 4 appeals but I did not have an overlap in the constituencies between the appeals.  To me that will be your issue to work around whether it's what appeal is credited with the gift or what gift constituency is used on the gift record.

Carolyn Moatz

If the appeals are similar, another option is to use packages. So you would have one appeal (e.g. Fiscal Year End Appeal) and four packages in the appeal (e.g. Alumni, Current Parents, Parents of Alumni, Grandparents). Code each person with the package they receive. When you report on it, you can look at the appeal as the whole, as well as each group.

Cynthia Dwyer

It depends on how you are "talking" to each
segment.  One of the advantages of segmenting is the
opportunity to customize your ask for different audiences.  If
you are sending the same message to all segments, without referring
to who they are, I wouldn't expect to see much difference between
segments.

--

Cynthia J. Dwyer

Database Manager

New College Foundation

(941) 487-4675

cdwyer@ncf.edu

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Christine Cooke 2

Like Melissa said -- you will still have a problem if you and/or your gift entry person is choosing which constituency is on the gift in the appeal or otherwise.

What is seems to be missing in this whole conversation is that if you want to track by Constit Code you have to take the hierarchy of the Codes into account.  And there are two different ways of reporting by Constit -- one includes all codes the other includes primarycode only.  One will not total up correctly because the $$ will overlap between codes, the other will.

So you all, as an organization, need to decide if someone is an alum and a current parent, which is the primary Constit Code.  And if you really want to not have to babysit it, you should change Bio 2 to reflect the hierarchy.

Jill Bradley

We use differently named appeals for each constituent segment even though the reason for the ask is the same.  However, if it were up to me I would use the method of creating packages as Carolyn mentioned. When you pull your reports I’d assume you would be pulling by the gift appeal so you should receive good data. 



When it comes to Constituent Codes be sure to establish a hierarchy rule so that your data is consistent throughout your database and so you can rely on Primary Constituent Code. Follow your hierarchy rule when setting up the Constituent Codes on the BIO2 tab.  The Primary Constituent Code will be the default for the Gift Constituency field.



When determining the hierarchy of your constituent codes think about solicitations and the messaging you have for each segment.   Example of our Hierarchy Rules:



RETIREE is the Primary Constituent Code

ALUMNI is the Primary Constituent Code if not a RETIREE

FACULTY is the Primary Constituent Code if not a RETIREE & not an ALUMNI

PARENT is the Primary Constituent Code if not a RETIREE, not an ALUMNI & not a FACULTY

FRIEND is the Primary Constituent Code when not one of the codes above   



So in the examples above we could have a RETIREE that is an ALUMNI and PARENT but because Retiree is the primary we solicit that constituent as a Retiree but may invite them to a Parent’s weekend.

 

ShawnAlis Cusato

You explained it better than I did--we name our appeals by the constituent code.  Changing to a single appeal per ask and using packages for the constituent segments makes more sense to me, too, but we probably won't change that.



We are going to strictly define the const. code order.  That should help a lot. 



Thanks everybody for all the ideas and suggestions!

Lynn Slussar

ShawnAlis Cusato:

Yes, the appeal is on the constituent and any gift it generates.  The constituent code isn't always primary, for instance an alumnus might also be a current parent.  For the sake of argument, let's assume we're handling the appeals and gifts correctly.  If that is the case, is there any drawback to setting up the appeal this way (with 4 appeals using constituent codes) rather than as a single appeal?