Appeals & Segmentation Altru Miniseries 4 th Quarter: Episode 1 October 30 th, 2013
Introduction to Segmentation http://www.benefitfocusmedia.com/messages/ blackbaud_segmentation/
What is segmentation? The process of segmentation is identifying characteristics for each person in your database. People with similar characteristics become a segment. Segments allow you to personalize communications. Like knowing which members to ask to upgrade or which constituents to donate The main reason to use segmentation is that different groups of constituents will have different responses to marketing efforts. The same group of constituents who attended the Annual Oyster Roast may not be the same constituents who donate and pledge to the annual fund.
What are selections? Selections are the backbone of your segments. When you create a selection, you specify who should be included in the mailing. You might have selections for Board Members, LYBUNTs, constituents who ve attended events, etc.
What are selections? (cont.) There are several ways to create selections: An ad-hoc query can be used to create a selection A smart query can be used to create a selection Throughout the program, a business process may prompt you to create a selection You can merge two selections of the same type together to get one selection to be used in a communication
What are selections? (cont.) To create a selection from a query, the query record type must be Constituent. Appeal Mailings require Constituent based queries while Acknowledgment Mailings require Revenue based queries. On the Set Save Options tab of the query, mark to create a selection:
End of Year Mailings Depending on the type of communication being sent, you will gather different groups of constituents Here are 3 examples of appeals that we will talk about today: 1. Donor Thank You Notes (perhaps you want to send a thank you note for any donation taken in 2013 around Thanksgiving) Segment: Donors who have given in the past calendar year 2. Annual Fund Drive(this would be your big end of the year push for donations and pledged gifts) Segment 1: Constituents who have never given & LYBUNTS Segment 2: Active Members & Constituents who have given between $100-$500 last year Segment 3: Major Donors-Constituents who ve given greater than $5,000 in the last year 3. Membership Drive (Encourage lapse members to renew/rejoin) Segment: Members that have lapsed and not renewed in the past calendar year
Donor Thank You Notes The quickest and easiest way to get a list of donors in the past year is to run the Donor List Smart Query and create a selection from this query. Steps: 1. From Analysis, click Query 2. Click Add Smart Query 3. Select Record Type of Constituent, select Donor List, click ok 4. Filter on Designation, Appeal or a group of constituents 5. Enter the calendar year date range 6. On the set save options, enter a name 7. Mark to create a selection and show in query designer 8. Click Save Note: This will include donations given at the POS
Annual Fund Drive Segment 1: Constituents who have never given at all 1. From Analysis, click Query, click Add Ad-hoc query 2. Select Constituent as the record type 3. Expand Revenue, drag Revenue Record to include records where select blank 4. Use an ask ladder for suggested giving amounts. Keep them low!
Annual Fund Drive Segment 1: LYBUNTS-Constituents who gave Last Year But Unfortunately Not This Year LYBUNT Smart query Define what dates make up last year and this year Each segment is going to be a separate mailing under the Annual Fund Drive Appeal record. Remember by separating by mailing, it helps us to report and analyze each segment easier.
Annual Fund Drive Segment 2-Constituents who have given between $100 & $500 last calendar year Create a donor list smart query or constituent based query. Use constituent based if you want membership revenue included
Annual Fund Drive Segment 2-Active Members Create a constituent based ad hoc query
Annual Fund Drive (cont) Segment 3: Constituents who have given $5,000 or more last year Create a donor list OR ad hoc Constituent query: The only difference is we will insert an ask ladder based on $ given in the last calendar year and the messaging will be different. Ask ladders can be based on smart fields
Membership Drive Segment: Members that have lapsed and not renewed in the past calendar year Query Type: Constituents Filters: Expand Member, Membership, drag Status is equal to Lapsed Drag Expiration date is equal to This calendar year (or perhaps if you send renewal notices you may just want to send to people who expired anywhere from January to August). You can select expiration date is between (01/01/13 to 08/31/2013)
Membership Drive (cont.) Segment: People that have visited the museum but have never become a member Query Type: Constituent Filters: 1. Expand Member, highlight Membership, drag Membership ID to include records where select Membership ID is blank. This is going to pull anyone who has NEVER been a member 2. Expand Sales Orders, drag Transaction Date is between Select a date range and click OK This is what your query filters/output should look like: In this case you may end up with 2 mailings, one for each segment. That way, you can report on how many people you convert to members versus rejoins.
Reporting on Appeal Responses Appeal Performance Report Filter on the Appeal Record On the Display options tab, mark to breakdown revenue by mailing Appeal Mailing Record Response Information tab Direct responses are from those constituents who were included in the mailing and gave a donation that was tagged with the appeal and mailing. Indirect responses are from those constituents who were not included in the mailing but gave a donation associated with the appeal and mailing. Unresolved responses are from those constituents who were not part of the mailing and gave a donation toward the appeal but whose donation can t be tied to a specific mailing.
Additional Resources How to run an appeal mailing (includes video) Appeals Appeal Mailings Previously recorded query miniseries Appeal Reports Industry Segmentation Report