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Numbers: Crunching and ComparingAvalon Consulting Group

October 2011

www.avalonconsulting.net

Produced for the 2011 AMMMC Conference by Avalon Analytics, a division of Avalon Consulting Group, Inc.

For more information, contact Avalon Executive Vice President Allison Porter at allisonporter@avalconsulting.net or 202.429.6080 x102.

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Benchmarking Tools for Your Membership Program

Understanding Statistical Definitions

Evaluating Your Statistics

Compare to Environmental Indicators and Benchmarks

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Understanding Statistical Definitions

Quantity Total number of members/prospects mailed

Number of Gifts Number of contributions received

Response Rate Number of Gifts / Quantity Mailed

Renewal Rate Total number of renewal gifts in year (all channels)/ number of current members eligible for renewal in year

Average Gift Gross Revenue / Number of Gifts

Gross Revenue Total income received

Gross/M (“gross per thousand pieces mailed”)

Compare performance across multiple mailings with different quantities – compares apples to apples(Gross Revenue / Quantity) * 1,000

Cost Total cost of a mailing (includes copy, art, print, laser shop, mail shop, postage, list costs, miscellaneous)

Net Revenue Gross Revenue – Cost

Net/M (“net per thousand pieces mailed”)

Compare performance across multiple mailings with different mail quantities and different costs(Net Revenue / Quantity) * 1,000

Net/Donor (“net revenue per donation”)

Used mostly in acquisition to evaluate the quality of donors across different lists – collapses response rate, average gift, and costsNet Revenue / Number of Gifts

Cost/$ Raised (“cost per dollar raised”)

What is spent to bring in a dollarCost / Gross Revenue

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Evaluating Your Statistics

Monitor the number of days for returns.Do not make conclusions too early. Most mailings require at least 90 days before they should be considered final and conclusive. As a general rule, expect to receive 50% of your total returns in the first 20 days.

Look out for large gifts.A large gift can throw off the average gift and other statistics for determining testing results. These gifts should be subtracted out before results are evaluated.

Confirm accuracy of costs.Ensure that all costs are included and that costs are accurately broken- out by package.

Verify adequate sample sizes.If evaluating segments against each other, make sure that each segment has at least 300 returns. This ensures that the results are statistically significant. If sample sizes are not large enough, consider testing over multiple months before making a decision.

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In the fundraising industry, results often follow consumer confidence trends. Consult the Consumer Confidence Index as an Environmental Indicator if a sudden increase or

decrease in results is realized but not explained by obvious trends. www.conference-board.org

Source: The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®

Compare to Environmental Indicators and Benchmarks

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-$42

-$10 -$13 -$14

-$44

-$13 -$17 -$17

Acquisition Net/Donor

2009 2010

Arts & Culture Environment & Conservation

Advocacy All

$42

$22 $24 $25

$49

$23 $22 $26

Acquisition Average Gift

2009 2010

0.6%

1.2%1.0% 1.0%

0.5%

1.1%0.9% 0.9%

Acquisition Response Rates

2009 2010

Acquisition Benchmarking Across Industries

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3.2% 3.6% 4.3% 3.8%2.9% 3.1%

4.4% 3.4%

Appeal Response Rates

2009 2010

$66$39 $48 $44

$73$41 $48 $46

Appeal Average Gift

2009 2010

Arts & Culture Environment & Conservation

Advocacy All

$39

$26 $31 $29

$41

$28 $33 $31

Appeal Net/Donor

2009 2010

Appeal Benchmarking Across Industries

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63.9%47.4%

28.6%44.8%

62.7%48.4%

29.0%45.0%

Renewal Rates

2009 2010

$76

$42$52 $51

$75$44

$54 $53

Renewal Average Gift

2009 2010

Arts & Culture Environment & Conservation

Advocacy All

$68

$36 $40 $44

$67

$37 $42 $45

Renewal Net/Donor

2009 2010

Renewal Benchmarking Across Industries

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Analyze and Benchmark Results

Visitation, Performing Arts, & Libraries sectors

All Sectors

Total Email file size: 38,736 39,100

Usable email file size: 24,625 25,572

Online revenue: $221, 964 $349,967

Online revenue growth: 19% 20%

Online avg. gift: $106.19 $91.94

Fundraising open%: 21% 18%

Fundraising click%: 1.96% 1.76%

Fundraising response%: .10% .16%

eNewsletter open% 27% 19%

eNewsletter click% 3.44% 3.06%

*All stats from Visitation, Performing Arts & Libraries sector of 2011 Convio Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark™ Index Study published in March 2011. This sector includes zoos, museums, and aquariums that rely on members and guest visiting their facilities, and comprised 30 of the 589 groups in this study.

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Dara Rosenberg IgersheimSenior Program ManagerAvalon Consulting, Inc.1150 17th Street, NW, Suite 200Washington, DC 20036202.429.6080 ext. 118darar@avalonconsulting.net

Kristen Shank FinnSenior Program ManagerAvalon Consulting, Inc.1150 17th Street, NW, Suite 200Washington, DC 20036202.429.6080 ext. 117kristens@avalonconsulting.net