5 Ways Data Powers Your Giving Day
In a world driven by data, it’s no wonder that it can play a significant role in the success of your Giving Day. Data is a tool that can be used not only to reflect on past results, but also to forecast the future.
At GiveGab, we understand that the word “data” is thrown around quite a bit in the fundraising space. While it is a simple word to say, it is not always the simplest to act on. This leaves many of our Giving Day hosts with valid questions including—What data should I be collecting? Where do I get it? What do I do with it once I have it?
Data is simply defined as “facts and statistics collected for reference or analysis.”
As a fundraiser, there is a constant influx of this type of information coming your way. However, where the greatest disconnect lies is not having the ability to track, process, and present this information in meaningful ways—turning it into data.
Once you have a strong understanding of the impact data can have, and how easy it is to acquire, you’ll begin to discover creative ways to use this information to drive growth for your Giving Day and help further your mission.
First, let us break it down a bit!
What Giving Day Data Should I Be Collecting?
Take a moment to consider all the information surrounding your Giving Day that can be tracked and quantified. This can include a multitude of things based on your specific strategies and efforts. It is important to have a clear picture of the information you will have access to before, during, and after your big event.
Having a solid foundation around the type of information you want to collect will allow you to set your Giving Day goals and metrics more easily, track your progress, and report on your results.
Common Giving Day Data Points Include
- Number of participating causes/funds
- Total dollars and donors for the day
- Click-through performance from Giving Day outreach
- Impact from peer-to-peer fundraisers
- Number of “likes” tied to Giving Day specific social media posts
- Traffic to your Giving Day site
- Types of questions asked by Giving Day affiliates—participants, fundraisers, donors
- Year-over-year comparisons of key fundraising metrics
While this is by no means an exhaustive list, it shows the breadth of information that you may want to track during your Giving Day. Once you have a general idea of the types of data points that would prove most useful for your Giving Day, the next step is to determine where these points can be accessed.
Action Item: Make a list of key data points that would be important to measure your Giving Day success. Break it down into categories based on your specific strategies and efforts.
Where Can I Get Giving Day Data?
Meet GiveGab’s Advanced Analytics Data Dashboard
Over the years we have seen many Giving Day partners harness their data to inspire fundraising. Knowing the power data can have, we invested time into building an Advanced Analytics Data Dashboard to visually represent powerful analytics that can spark fundraising growth.
Within GiveGab’s Advanced Analytics tab, both Giving Day hosts and participating groups and organizations have access to high-level and in-depth data. Accessible data includes, but is not limited to, general dollars raised and total donors, average donation amounts, new donor count, organization performance, site traffic, and year-over-year comparisons. As your Giving Day grows and you enable more premium features, you’ll even be able to see breakdowns of payment methods, which will show how much is raised within mobile pay, text-to-give, donor-advised funds, Tip the Host, and more!
Action Item: Take your list of proposed Giving Day data points and compare it with the analytics tools you have available. We think you will be pleasantly surprised by the amount of data you currently have at your disposal.
What Can I do with Giving Day Data?
5 Ways Data Powers Your Giving Day
- Track Year-Over-Year Progress to Set Giving Day Goals
- It’s important to have a clear idea of how your Giving Day has grown throughout the years. By having a consistent set of metrics to follow every year you can see the direct results of your efforts and can better determine future Giving Day goals based on expected results.
- Rally Supporters Around Milestones in Realtime
- Having access to near real-time analytics allows you to coordinate announcements and celebrations around specific milestones throughout the Giving Day—keeping your donors more engaged and eager to give!
- Attract Key Stakeholders
- Use data collected around prizes, donor behavior, site traffic (logo exposure), etc. to attract support from media partners, prize pool sponsors, business fundraisers, and influencers. These stakeholders will be interested in understanding how their investment in your Giving Day will also benefit their own initiatives.
- Educate Your Participants & Community on Giving Day Impact to Promote Growth
- Fill your board, participants, and ambassadors in on relevant data from your Giving Day. Use this data to help them set goals and strategically interact with your Giving Day incentives such as prizes, challenges, and match minutes.
- Segment Your Data for Stewardship Growth
- Switch up your communication outreach to donors based on their behavior on your Giving Day. Use your donation report to segment outreach based on if they are a first-time donor, came in from peer-to-peer fundraising, or gave more than they had in the previous year.
Action Item: Create a plan of your own to determine how you’ll use your collected data to help grow your Giving Day and communicate your successes to participants, donors, and key stakeholders.
There is no shortage of information available to you as a Giving Day host. The key is to understand how to use that information and turn it into meaningful data that you can use to inspire action from others and influence your goals. At GiveGab, we strive to show you that making data-driven decisions and goals around your Giving Day is attainable, so remember to leverage your Advanced Analytics Dashboard and the knowledge of your Project Managers to get started.
Interested in talking more to an expert to learn how you can track your Giving Day success more effectively with GiveGab?
