CASE STUDIES
Non-Profit Organization
Non-Profit Organization
Non-profits’ primary source of funding is their donor base, which means understanding who is in their donor base, as well as ensuring their database is up to date is critical to their performance and impact.
Problem:
Direct mail had been a well-established and effective fundraising technique for this national not-for-profit organization, but gift rates were on the decline and expenses were steadily increasing due to higher postage costs. Further, the donor database contained a large number of inactive donors from years past that was no longer profitable to mail.
Diagnosis:
Cleanlist did an analysis of the entire donor database with a focus on data quality and the profile of active local donors. It found that despite having used Blackbaud’s address correction National Change Of Address (NOCA) service, a significant number of donors didn’t reside at the address they had. This was especially true for inactive donors who achieved a validation rate of only 35%. The Cleanlist team also modelled the active donors and segmented them using the Prizm clustering system.
Solution:
The client hired Cleanlist to identify lapsed donors that could be verified to reside at the address on file and then rank them in order of priority using the active donor profile. The client then created a direct mail campaign to reactivate this higher potential segment. The Cleanlist team also flagged the current and lapsed donors that failed to verify at the address on file. The client developed a telemarketing campaign to reach this group and request a current mailing address. A follow-up mailer was sent the the updated records that included an appealing offer.
Achievements:
- The mailing to verified lapsed donors was very profitable and the most successful in its history
- 25% of addresses were updated through the telemarketing campaign
- Donations from the active segment increased by 10% by correcting the non-verified addresses
Key Results:
- Reactivated lapsed donors
- Reduced mailing costs
- Increased number of active donors
- Increase in overall donation gifts received
