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Using Data to Make Strategic Decisions

Independent Education

April 17, 2013

Kathleen A. Kavanagh

Senior Executive Vice President and Managing Director

Grenzebach Glier and Associates

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Total Giving in the United States 1971-2011

Source: Giving USA Foundation™, GIVING USA 2012

($ in billions)

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Where The Gifts Go

Source: Giving USA Foundation™, GIVING USA 2012Note: Does not include “Unallocated”Data began in 1979 for foundations and 1987 for environment/animals and international affairs.

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Who Makes the Gifts?

Source: Giving USA Foundation™, GIVING USA 2012

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Some Trends and Considerations

• Proliferation of causes, charitable opportunities,

constant exposure

• Ability to react (give) quickly

• Aging Boomers

• Schools and their needs have not changed

significantly

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Some Observations About What Impacts Our Work

• Wedded to certain practices

• Changing expectations

• Fewer “alma mater knows best” donors

• Growth of communication channels

• Growth in number, diversity of our stakeholders

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Budget Tensions

• Spending operating dollars to raise non-

operating dollars

• Concerns about growth in size of advancement

staffs

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A Set of Solutions

• Know what you are really trying to do

• Innovate, yet remember the basics

• Make smart decisions about using your

resources effectively

• Take thoughtful risks

• Be flexible

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Once You Know Your Goal

• Set hypothesis and assemble evidence for a

direction/strategy

• Outline short- and long-term impact of this plan

on strategic direction

• Determine tactics to implement

• Agree on percentage of disagreement to accept

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The Basics

• Major gifts drive fundraising numbers

• Major gifts result from:

– A “pipeline” of identified, developed prospective

donors with capacity

– Trusted relationships

• Genuine, persuasive case for support

• Good stewardship of previous gifts, at every

level

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Important Data Point #1

• The top 1-3%

• Not infinite, doesn’t change dramatically every

year

• What work is needed by HOS, volunteers, and

the advancement officer to attend to these

prospects in the individual manner that is proven

to be successful?

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Some Key Questions That Top Programs Ask, Monitor, and Evaluate

• What percentage of your highest-rated prospective

donors have had individual, “insider”-level meetings with

your Head in the last year?

• Which of your top 15-20 prospective donors do you visit

at least once every year?

• What percentage of your top leadership annual gift

donors have had an in-person solicitation by a staff

member or volunteer in the last 12 months?

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Important Data Point #2

• Constituents with the capacity to make

leadership annual gifts: an underserved

constituency

– What percent of your giving do they represent

– Some might become major gift prospects over time

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Some Key Questions That Top Programs Ask, Monitor, and Evaluate

• How well do we tend to our leadership annual gift donors

and prospects?

• Are we asking them differently, with different messages

and approaches than our “general” annual giving

prospects?

• Are they first on the list when we need a host, speaker, or

focus group member?

• What percent are serving in some capacity every year,

formal or informal?

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Some Key Questions That Top Programs Ask, Monitor, and Evaluate

• How are we assessing those who should be

building even deeper relationships and moving

into “major gifts” relationships? How many make

this move into our major gift program every

year?

• What is our retention rate for our leadership

annual donors?

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A Few Other Measurements at High-Performing Programs

• Total Fundraising Production

• TFP per fundraising staff member

• Number and value of major gift solicitations

• Percent of major gift prospects who make

leadership annual gifts

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Some More Thoughts About Data

• What data isn’t helpful?

– Just because you can count it doesn’t make it useful

– How many people show up does not equal engagement

– Data you can’t maintain

– Data with too many changed variables

– The wrong peer comparisons

– Interesting but not useful

• The hardest part: do you know what you want to

know?

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Recap

• Make decisions based on your strategic goals

• Remember the basics first

• Consider strategic innovation

• Make smart decisions about using your precious

resources

• Be flexible, fight the battles worth fighting, don’t

react to every complaint, stay focused