Robert H. Lane, MBA, Ph.D. Lane Services, LLC Richard Gaines, PMP Salesian Missions

Robert H. Lane, MBA, Ph.D. Lane Services, LLC Richard Gaines, PMP Salesian Missions

Ask the Right Person for the Right Gift at the Right Time... Today s presenters Robert Lane, MBA, Ph.D. CEO, Lane Services, LLC Authorized imis Solution Provider since 2003 Authorized imis Fundraising Professional Doctorate in Information Systems (dissertation on fundraising software) Serve on board of COMMON Education Foundation (an association foundation) Fundraising since college 2

Today s presenters continued Richard Gaines, PMP, is an independent consultant implementing innovative solutions for non-profits. He has worked with Salesian Missions to migrate their fundraising to imis from a mainframe system and improve their fundraising systems. At their request, Mr. Gaines has made several presentations on the challenges and solutions that Salesian Missions has faced and implemented to clients and at NiUG International (imis user group). Previously Richard worked at IBM for over 25 years where he was a consultant and senior project manager using his experience and expertise to address clients business issues through a combination of process improvements and advanced technology. 3

First step Before you begin your segmentation project, the quality of your data is paramount - add data clean up efforts to what we ll talk about today for maximum effectiveness 4

The plan: RFM 5

Direct Mail Cost Comparison 6

Analyze your segments Small cells Delete those that don t yield $ Offer special premium or incentive to certain segments What are your segments? 7

The Mechanics 8

Interpret the results 9

Act on the results Welcom e Offers Try to get back - don t go crazy Test 1x a year Stay top of mind - inc. frequency Best Offers Win Them Back

Standard RFM Definition - # of Segments in each bucket

Rankings Lowest Value Highest Value

Standard RFM Definition Create a Population Query (the universe )

Standard RFM Definition Create a Transaction Query

Standard RFM Definition Sample Results

Most Valuable Segment Top Value 3 Recency 3 Frequency 3 Monetary 9 Total Value 3+3+3=9 16

Details behind RFM Contacts = Recency & Frequency Amounts = Monetary Values Used to determine rankings

Salesian Missions Founded in 1859 by St. John Bosco 2 nd largest order in Roman Catholic Church Providing customized services Food, Clothing, Healthcare, Job-Skills, Dignity Caring for poor children in 130 countries More than feeding poor and homeless children Focus on rebuilding lives, self-sufficiency Over 3 million children have received services 82% of all donations go directly to programs

Fundraising at Salesian Missions Fundraising at Salesian Missions Multiple targeted appeals per year Sophisticated selection algorithms Most include outside lists and test mailings All are tracked to refine future mailings Heavily Direct Mail Online giving/social media imis replaced an aging mainframe system 20 years of customization and improvements Little, if any, process documentation existed No inventory or internet access was available

Fundraising at Salesian Missions Sometimes RFM is not enough and additional criteria is required for the selection Selection and keying instructions: A. Input = imis House File EOD 3/16/12 B. Output = select records as per the following criteria. C. Explanation of selection/keying criteria: 1) 13-18 Months = date of most current (latest) donation is in this time frame. 2) $5-9.99 = Highest Donation Amount given in the 24 months prior to the latest donation date above is in this range. a. If this Highest Donation Amount has one of the following purpose codes or source codes ignore this transaction and search for the donor s next highest donation, within the 24 month period, which is not one of these purpose codes or source codes: A. Purpose Codes: AN UU ST II CH MS RD UP B. Source Code: EG SD b. Any donor whose transactions are all ignored should be given the Misc. Key Code as specified on the attached keying instructions. c. Exceptions: 1. If a Donor s record has 2 or more BC (Bounced Check) Purpose Transactions and does not have the equal quantity of RC (Returned Check) Purpose Transactions, then ignore this record completely. 2. If a Donor s record has one of the following Service Codes or Promotion Codes, then ignore this record completely: a. Service Codes: 3S No Appeals 41 Mail Sweeps only 1X a year 8A - January sweeps only 8C - March sweeps only 8G - July sweeps only 8I - September sweeps/christmas only 8J - Datebooks only 8K - November sweeps only b. Promotion Codes: FR Stop all mailings FN Stop all mail Undeliverable address DR Deleted (Deceased) FO Stop all mailings except Magazine. c. If the record is a Foreign address, then ignore this record completely. Continued

Fundraising at Salesian Missions Sometimes RFM is not enough and additional segmentation is required for the selection House House House Catholic Non-Sect Spanish Last 12 Months Donors Key Key Key (April 2011 to Current Date) a. $.01 4.99 GEC01 GEN01 GES01 b. $5 9.99 GEC02 GEN02 GES02 c. $10 19.99 GEC03 GEN03 GES03 d. $20 49.99 GEC04 GEN04 GES04 e. $20 49.99 No Stamps GEC05 GEN05 f. $50 99.99 GEC06 GEN06 GES05 g. $50 99.99 No Stamps GEC07 GEN07 h. $100 499 GEC08 GEN08 GES06 i. $100 499 No Stamps GEC09 GEN09 j. $500 999 GEC10 GEN10 GES07 k. $500 999 No Stamps GEC11 GEN11 l. $1,000 & Over GEC12 GEN12 GES08 m. $1,000 & Over No Stamps GEC13 GEN13 n. Misc. GEC14 GEN14 GES09 13-18 Months Donors (October 2010 to March 2011) a. $5 9.99 GEC15 GEN15 GES10 b. $10 19.99 GEC16 GEN16 GES11 c. $20 49.99 GEC17 GEN17 GES12 d. $50 99.99 GEC18 GEN18 GES13 e. $100 499 GEC19 GEN19 GES14 f. $500 999 GEC20 GEN20 GES15 g. $1,000 & Over GEC21 GEN21 GES16 h. Misc. GEC22 GEN22 GES17

Fundraising at Salesian Missions Customization / 3 rd parties help imis fit Lane Services wrote customization for: Selections via SQL queries Interface with coupon imaging system Support for different gifts based upon donation $ Gift Entry with advanced logic 3 rd Party software purchased for: AutoDraft recurring credit card transactions

Fundraising at Salesian Missions Spreadsheet used to support custom SQL

Fundraising at Salesian Missions Lessons learned The tool should fit your business model i.e., don t force your business to fit the tool Your imis partner s skill is very important Test Fundraising / imis knowledge beforehand Test, test, test and backup often! Don t be afraid to customize

Fundraising at Salesian Missions Custom Front-end appeal selection application Select previous house donors using RFM values Select prospects from rented lists Assign key codes (appeal codes) for mailing scan line Create activity history Import to lookup system to be ready for receipt of $$$ 25

Fundraising at Salesian Missions

Fundraising at Salesian Missions

Fundraising at Salesian Missions

Fundraising at Salesian Missions

Fundraising at Salesian Missions

Fundraising at Salesian Missions Bottom Line Every organization is different Don t expect one size fits all solution Review your possibilities & be open to business process improvement Know your donors and prospects Use RFM (or a variation thereof) to ask the right people for the right amount at the right time

Richard Gaines, PMP Salesian Missions New Rochelle, NY http://www.salesianmissions.org Robert Lane, PhD Lane Services, LLC Philadelphia, PA (215) 856-0908 info@lane-services.com http://www.lane-services.com 32