FundSvcs Community

Hello everyone! We would like create an Performance Report that compares our numbers and giving total from our Spring 2021 Appeal to Spring 2022 Appeal. Our challenge with this is we are not sure what our timeframe should be. Our appeals started on completely different days and months. We thought 4-6 weeks from the drop date would be a good timeframe to report on for those appeals but we are curious what others have done? 

Does any one have best practices or suggestion on what is the best timeframe to use on reporting for annual appeals? 

Anything would be helpful! Thanks!!

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Gizel Avina
Assoc. Director, Gifts Accounting & Database Admin
Claremont Graduate University
gizel.avina@cgu.edu
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Hi Gizel,
My thoughts are based on what I have seen in over 20 years at post sec institutions in Manitoba, Canada and with absolutely no knowledge of your experience :)

Do you mark which constituents received the appeal and mark the gifts received as those from that appeal? And do those markers indicate Spring 21 vs Spring 22. If so, that would make the comparison straightforward and if not, should be something to consider for future appeals. I have seen donors respond far outside of the usual 4-6 weeks who have not received any additional appeals. Typically the comparison date range would be from one year to the next - whatever your department uses -  calendar year - fiscal year or academic year depending on how you report fundraising year to year in general. Keep yearly fundraising reporting consistent from 1 reporting year to the next. Hope this is helpful.
Just another quick thought - track in the system the date of the drop(s). This is helpful when discussing the results of 2 Spring campaigns where one is sent out closer to summer. In summer months, constituents are on holidays and the response usually drops.
Hope this is helpful. Feel free to email me directly with any further questions or need for clarification.
Have a great day!

Melody

Melody Penner | Development

Raiser's Edge System Manager

Red River College Polytechnic
mkpenner@rrc.ca

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Melody Penner
Raiser's Edge System Manager
Red River College
mkpenner@rrc.ca
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Thanks Melody! 

Yes, we do mark which constituents received our different appeals and that definitely helps us track when they received the appeal but like you have mentioned we do have some donors who will respond far outside the usual 4-6 weeks sometimes we have received them 5-6 months later! We normally have a Spring Appeal and a Fall Appeal but we have never created a report to look at our year to year performance specifically for our appeals so I think it's a great opportunity for us to look back and create a solid consistent foundation for our future appeal reports. 

We are definitely trying to keep track of drop dates in our new system in order for us to start this conversation. Thanks!

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Gizel Avina
Assoc. Director, Gifts Accounting & Database Admin
Claremont Graduate University
gizel.avina@cgu.edu
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-24-2022 12:16 PM
From: Melody Penner
Subject: Annual Appeal Comparison Report

Hi Gizel,
My thoughts are based on what I have seen in over 20 years at post sec institutions in Manitoba, Canada and with absolutely no knowledge of your experience :)

Do you mark which constituents received the appeal and mark the gifts received as those from that appeal? And do those markers indicate Spring 21 vs Spring 22. If so, that would make the comparison straightforward and if not, should be something to consider for future appeals. I have seen donors respond far outside of the usual 4-6 weeks who have not received any additional appeals. Typically the comparison date range would be from one year to the next - whatever your department uses -  calendar year - fiscal year or academic year depending on how you report fundraising year to year in general. Keep yearly fundraising reporting consistent from 1 reporting year to the next. Hope this is helpful.
Just another quick thought - track in the system the date of the drop(s). This is helpful when discussing the results of 2 Spring campaigns where one is sent out closer to summer. In summer months, constituents are on holidays and the response usually drops.
Hope this is helpful. Feel free to email me directly with any further questions or need for clarification.
Have a great day!

Melody

Melody Penner | Development

Raiser's Edge System Manager

Red River College Polytechnic
mkpenner@rrc.ca

------------------------------
Melody Penner
Raiser's Edge System Manager
Red River College
mkpenner@rrc.ca
------------------------------