April showers bring May flowers and lots of other things...
Take income taxes, for example.
April 15th, Monday, Tax Day
April 23rd, Tuesday, First day of Passover
April 24th, Wednesday, Administrative Professionals Day
Tips for Measuring the Success of your Giving Campaign
The definition of success is subjective. Here are some considerations when measuring successful donor campaigns.
Nonprofit organizations should select Key Performance Indicators to measure the effectiveness of their actions. To establish a reference point, compare the results with previous years or overall goals. Setting up a robust analytical system to collect your KPIs is crucial. Receiving only four inquiries after mailing 20,000 pieces or raising $147,000 may not be successful if expenses are deducted. Follow up on inquiries properly, have trained personnel, and focus on your stewardship game.
Playing the Metrics Game
KPIs allow you to learn a lot more about your organization than just dollar figures and help you to make informed decisions about not just marketing, but how you achieve your mission. KPIs allow you to:
Create profiles for donor prospects
Identify what’s working—and what’s not
Determine your ROI (return on investment)
Measure progress on goals from fundraising to mission achievement
What kind of planned giving metrics should you track? At the very least, you should measure:
Average gift size
Number of gifts received
Number of pledges received
Conversion rate (digital and print campaigns)
Number of website visitors
Number of pledges filled
Donor retention rate
Donor growth rate
Return on Investment (also called Cost Per Dollar Raised)
Changes in the above metrics by year
Tools and Tricks
Measuring success and tracking metrics require a serious framework of analytics and techniques. Below are some tools to use:
1. Google Analytics: Follow your metrics for two months after implementing marketing systems to be fired at certain intervals. Check if you got a spike in visitors. You will need a planned giving website for this.
2. Social Media Analytics: All major social media platforms have their analytics platform to go with their ads platform. LinkedIn and Facebook even have specific tools to help nonprofits. Social media analytics are invaluable for determining who your audience is and what they want.
3. A robust database management system: Your phone or email should be ringing with responses. If you're too busy stewarding donors and prospects, you're on the right track.
4. Use Your Gut: If you feel a serious buzz or notice an uptick in inquiries from donors, you're likely on the right track.
Putting it in Practice
If you haven’t been keeping track of metrics, or the data is disorganized and incomplete, it is much better to place sound marketing systems in place now and begin a new, fresh campaign with established benchmarks. That gives you the ability to refocus your priorities and start collecting the information you need going forward.
The metrics you collect might not always provide the news you were hoping to hear, but they will always provide you with the information you need to chart a clear path forward. And that’s as much a definition of success as anything else.
How about a FAQ?
Q: We are a church who uses check scanning and Planning Center. Can Paperless Transactions delete a check causing a duplicate MICR?
A: We are unable to delete the check causing the "duplicate MICR" error as this is a failsafe the system has to prevent checks from scanning/charging twice. However, there is a workaround that enables you to scan this item again, if you would like. When you are scanning the check, you can add a 0 to the beginning or end of the check number in the Scan Data section and that will force our system to read it as a different check and will not cause the error.
Client Spotlight
"Sharing the gospel and our lives with the military community"
The story began with a bold prayer by a young soldier during World War II.
"Lord, if I ever have a home of my own, You can have it for servicemen.”
Jesse Miller was stationed in the Philippines when he prayed this prayer. While he entered the Army Air Corps as a believer in Jesus, it was in the home of missionaries Dad and Mom Brooks (Cyril and Anna) that Jesse became grounded in his faith. There he learned to love and obey the Word of God. Along with other servicemen, he memorized Scripture verses and experienced the blessing of hospitality in a “home away from home.”
Jesse never could have foreseen that the Word planted deep in his heart that first year in the Philippines would be his sustenance through the following terrible years of surviving the Bataan Death March and being held as a POW.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Seven years after Jesse’s release, servicemen gathered in the home where he and his wife Nettie lived in Manila, Philippines. The Millers were then serving as missionaries with Far Eastern Gospel Crusade, now SEND International. Ministry to the military was quickly becoming their main focus."Now that I had a home of my own, I remembered my promise to open my home to military people.”
Two servicemen, Tom Hash and C.P. “Tark” Tarkington, were saved on the same night in November of 1950 in the Millers’ home in Manila. Both grew in their love for and obedience to the Lord and His Word as they were discipled by Jesse and Nettie and as they led others to know Christ. When their tours of duty were finished, both men returned to the United States and enrolled in Christian colleges to prepare for ministry. Visit https://cadence.org to find out more about this wonderful organization!
Are you in the Path of Totality?
The Monday, April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The total solar eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean. The first location in continental North America that will experience totality is Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. Pacific Time. It will be the last total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States until 2044. A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. For more information, visit NASA's site using this link: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/
The headquarters of Paperless Transactions Corporation is located "smack-dab" in the Path of Totality in beautiful Southlake, Texas just north of Fort Worth. Of course we will be wearing our Space Cowboy Eclipse Glasses to observe the eclipse safely, like any true Texan would do. YeeeeeHawwww!
The occasion celebrated on the first day of April is officially called April Fools’ Day in the United States. Each word of the title is capitalized and the "fool" is plural possessive.
However, this is not standardized and seems to vary from dictionary to dictionary (i.e., whether the plural or the singular is listed as the main spelling). Actual usage seems to support this non-preference, with both spellings being used about the same frequency. We found instances where the same publication varied back and forth with the spelling. Google’s Ngram Viewer will say that the singular April Fool’s Day is more popular.
This day, which is sometimes referred to as All Fools’ Day, is a day to play pranks or practical jokes on people with the main purpose to get others to believe something that is false, then one is able to say ‘April fool!’ The day is not a national holiday for any country, but is celebrated in North America, Europe, and Australia, with its popularity still growing.
Daily Dose of Inspiration
"Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
Hosea 6:3
Parting Words
Greetings valued clients,
We value your trust and confidence in us and sincerely appreciate you. Your commitment as a customer is much appreciated. We look forward to serving you each day and would like to thank excellent customers like you for your support.
May God bless you,
George Reich
Founder & CEO
Paperless Transaction Corporation
Cast your vote now!
April's survey question is, "What do you think is the most important part of creating a giving campaign?"
