Best Practices: "State of the Database"

Faith Murray

I recently received a request from a colleague to produce a "State of the Database" report for our Development teams' annual review - data such as lapsed donors, new donors, attrition, conversion, etc. - which I think is an excellent idea. However, the example he provided was taken from a nonprofit that uses a very different fundraising strategy than we do -- they solicit twice a month, we solicit quarterly; they use premiums exclusively, we don't use any at all; etc. So when they define a "Lapsed donor" as anyone who hasn't given a gift in the last 12 months, I'm wondering is that a nonprofit definition norm, or is that something specific to their fundraising strategy? I've read different websites that defined a donor as lapsed anywhere between 6-18 months of inactivity.


If anybody else produces a "State of the Database" report, could you share what information you consider the most useful, and how you define it?

Daniel Noga 2

Concerning lapsed/inactive donors, the guideline where I work currently and where I worked previously is/was 2 years.

Nicole S

I don't think this is a standard report. I would ask them what kinds of things they want to see and pull some reports/exports to show that information. I find it nearly impossible to pull a magical report that satisfies vague requests 


As far as lapsed donors goes, that depends on your organization solicittion cycle so you're on the right track. Maybe start by looking at last gift dates. Export all donors and last gift date and use excel to see how many donors fall into certain ranges -- last 3, 6, 12 moths, last 18, 2 years, 3 years, over 3 years, never.


You may be able to pull a report to look at that same info, but I can't think of which one off the top of my head.

Daniel Bayer

I did something like this once at a previous org for the Annual Board Report. It was a breakdown of all constituent records in the database and included numbers of:


Individuals

Corporations

Foundations

LYBUNT Individuals (of varying constituencies)

LYBUNT Foundations

LYBUNT Corporations

Individuals with No Valid Address

Inactive Individuals (people marked inactive AND people who had no actions or contributions within the past five fiscal years)

Duplicate Records

Deceased Individuals


It was actually helpful for me in starting a cleanup project and gave me ideas of where to look for inconsistencies that needed to be cleaned up (for example, individuals whose prefix was Mr. or Mrs. but had a suffix of MD or Ph.D., and spouses with full records for no reason). If you want more detail I'm happy to provide from memory - I don't have the actual report anymore.

Carley Haynes

Do you have NXT? Analyze can give you some of this information in pretty graphs that tend to keep everyone happy!  

Christine Cooke 2

I think it kind of depends on the individual  institutional guidelines.  But from what I have seen over 18 years, is that lapse is usually defined in two parts.  Lapsed in the first year or Lapsed in the last 2-5 years.

Christine Cooke 2

Christine Cooke:

I think it kind of depends on the individual  institutional guidelines.  But from what I have seen over 18 years, is that lapse is usually defined in two parts.  Lapsed in the first year or Lapsed in the last 2-5 years.

P.S.  when I have done this sort of statistical analysis/reporting.  I also include the number of records total vs. snail mailable vs. emailable.  And if you are a school -- how many are under the age of 18 and 22, because there are times when they are not included in appeals and the like.

Faith Murray

Carley Haynes:

Do you have NXT? Analyze can give you some of this information in pretty graphs that tend to keep everyone happy!  

No, we don't have NXT. Thanks everyone, for all of your suggestions! Yes, Daniel, if you remember any more details of what you included, I think I would like to tailor our report to what OUR org actually needs, and any suggestions for types of data that might be useful, would be appreciated.

Katherine Mannion

Nicole S:

I don't think this is a standard report. I would ask them what kinds of things they want to see and pull some reports/exports to show that information. I find it nearly impossible to pull a magical report that satisfies vague requests 


 

 

Good to know I'm not the only one pulling magical reports!  I also specialize in magical mailing lists!

Debra Holcomb

Since the work of the database team is often invisible, I send out a weekly email message to all staff members and select board members called "As of Today ..."  I've never been asked to pull an "State of the Database" but if I was, I'd look back through my weekly emails to find details.  I have a few queries I look at each week to help tell the stories our database holds.  The message is very well received and the format is simple.


Dear Colleagues,

 

As of today, so far this year:

   •  [CAMPAIGN REPORT] We’ve raised $3,122,179.43 (40%) toward our fundraising goal of $7,848,977. 

   •  [DONOR STORY - GIFT QUERY]  Donor, made her first gift to Yosemite Conservancy for $5,000 in memory of her mother. Mother had been a loyal donor since 1990 and when she passed away last year Yosemite Conservancy received many memorial gifts in her honor and we notified Donor of those thoughtful gifts as they arrived.  You might recall that last month we sent families of those who were memorialized on the Honor Wall for the first time photos of the wall with their loved one’s name.  That mailing has generated several appreciative responses from the families including this gift.    

   •  [DONOR STAT -- Typically uncovered in some report I ran the previous week].  Our donors come from all over the country.  73% of our donors are from California, with the remaining 27% representing every other state. The top three states our donors live in are California, New York, and Texas.  So, if you ask someone where they are from, ask if they’d like to support Yosemite Conservancy, too.  

 

This week, we:

   •  [GIFTS ACKNOWLEDGED] Thanked 1,483 donors for their gifts this week. 

   •  [APPEAL QUERY] Sent the email below to 20,035 donors to show how their gift makes a long-lasting impact in preserving and protecting Yosemite’s wildlife.

   •  [APPEAL QUERY +  STAT] Mailed three different renewal reminders to 15,101 past donors to ask them to make their gift this year and mailed 16,800 special appeals to ask current donors to make a second gift this year.  1 in 5 donors (20%) makes more than one gift to Yosemite Conservancy each year.  


[GOAL + MISSION STATEMENT + ASK IN EVERY MESSAGE]  You play an important role in helping Yosemite Conservancy fulfill our commitment of providing funding for 34 projects and $15M in support to Yosemite National Park this year. Thank you for your part in helping us achieve our shared goal to inspire people to support projects and programs that preserve and protect Yosemite National Park's resources and enrich the visitor experience.  If you haven't already, please make your gift today.


 

Faith Murray

Debra Holcomb:

Since the work of the database team is often invisible, I send out a weekly email message to all staff members and select board members called "As of Today ..."  I've never been asked to pull an "State of the Database" but if I was, I'd look back through my weekly emails to find details.  I have a few queries I look at each week to help tell the stories our database holds.  The message is very well received and the format is simple.


 

Debra, I love your idea. Our department is small and we communicate our successes pretty well amongst each other, but an email of that sort would be a wonderful addition to keep everyone informed, and I could integrate some of my colleagues' "state of the database" data requests quite easily. I will have to speak with our Communications Director/Associate Dev. Director to see if this is something we want to communicate campus-wide, or just keep within our own department.