How did year-end giving season go for you?
Have you thought about hosting a data-dump party yet for your team?
If not, do it! And, please, for the love of the fundraising profession everywhere, make it fun!
Choose a theme and make it fun – Data superheroes, data monsters, show me the data and we’ll show you the money – the theme ideas are endless. Grab your themed favors, bring food and prizes, and make games out of the process (e.g., a gold coin for assigning a donor, sharing information or perhaps throw in some trivia about your organization periodically).
Pull your giving data ahead of time – Kindly ask your database specialist (if you have one!) to pull your giving data from the last few years and include giving history – date of first gift, last gift, gift amount, gift type, solicitor – as well as any other helpful information for your team to review.
Do a pre-screen – Before the “party,” manipulate the data to make it a digestible for others re: formatting, color coding, etc.
Project the data on the screen – Whether you’re virtual or in person, share the data you’ll be working with clearly so that you can direct the meeting and everyone is referring to same spreadsheet or database.
The goal is to segment – and LEARN – together – Talk through new donors, what the connections are and who should be assigned the relationship. Or, should the donor “live” in another channel/strategy? Have that conversation as a team!
Break it up – This process may take a few hours, or even a few hours a day over the course of a few meetings; for this reason (and others you can guess), keep it fun!
The point is – turn what could be a tedious task into an engaging and fun learning opportunity for your team.
Have fun!
