Metrics and Evaluation

Towards a New Paradigm of Success

Perry T. Hammock, CFRE

copyright 2012

John Kotter Said it

“Every institution is uniquely structured for the results it is experiencing.”

You are here to change resultsHow do you sort through all the possible

choices to make positive change?How do you know if those changes work?

How Do You Measure Success? Audience participation

Traditional Measures Dollars raised, year to year Number of donors Increase Endowment Investment returns Cost to raise a dollar

Ours – Take One Increase contributions 20% per year Double Assets Increase # donors 15% per year Build Endowment to $12 million Investment returns in top 20% of

foundations

Pretty corporate in style and flavor

The Problems with – Take One Increase contributions 20% per year

Rewards Slackers – encourages small gifts – discourages cultivation, planned giving

Double Assets Rewards Hoarding

Increase # donors 15% per year To what end? – discourages stewardship

Build Endowment to $12 million Investments vs contributions – changing needs

Investment returns in top 20% of foundations Varied portfolios and needs make comparisons hollow

Take Two Dollars raised by product line with different

annual expectations for each Major gifts – up 20 % Annual Gifts – Up 15% Planned Gifts – up 20% Events – up 10% Investment returns based on

dollar averaging Grants – 10% Add 400 major gift prospects

And ROI measureCost to Raise a Dollar

Fundraising Activity/Method Cost to Raise $1.00Direct Mail Acquisition $1.00 to $1.25Direct Mail Renewal $0.20 Benefit Events $0.50 Capital Campaign/Major Gifts $0.05 to $0.10Planned Gifts $0.25Corporation and Foundation Grants $0.20

Greenfield, James; Fund-Raising: Evaluating and Managing the Fund Development Process

(1999)

Problems with Take Two Burnout – trying to increase too much at

once Competing priorities – major gift and PG

lose out Tyranny of the urgent

Towards a New ParadigmEikenberry and Kulver in Public Administration Review coined 3 things we need to measure Financial Return on Investment Social Return on Investment Emotional Return on Investment

Donors want to know that their gift is invested wisely to meet community needs and in a way

that makes them feel good for participating

Fast Company MagazineSocial Capitalist Awards

Social Impact and ongoing analysis Entrepreneurship – vision compelling enough to

attract investment and product important enough to leverage this investment

Innovation – lead follow or get out of the way Sustainability – Repeat Business based on a

sound business plan

Givens for New Measures Complex enough to stand up to our

charges and timelines Relatively easy to measure and explain

and also robust over time

Let’s explore some categorical measurement yardsticks:

Outcome Measures Dollars and number of gifts per year Donors by Category – with separate

expectations by category Throughput – how long do expendable

dollars stay in the system before spending. Major stewardship issue.

ROI – cost per dollar raised trending down. A sign of maturity & strength

Process Measures Number of meetings with faculty to

develop fundable proposals Prospective funding dossiers prepared Cultivation moves – individually & events Solicitation calls – and average ask Recognition events – numbers and

attendance % of time on task – what is an FTE in

development?

Strategic MeasuresVISION

# of fundable projects Size of fundable proposals Average size of first gifts Conversion rates –

calls or submissions per gift

INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT % of funds generated – restricted to big 5 projects Donor Satisfaction Measures – surveys, phone calls,

visits Staffing per fundable proposal/ROI

Vitality Donor Retention # and trends in threshhold donors ( giving levels )

Efficiency Turnaround time – Tys, reports, checks Admin expenses – downward trend line Reporting – accurate, clear, concise,

timely. Measure by survey, board review ROI by category trends as investment

increases

Effectiveness # of compelling stories to tell Compelling evidence of lives changed Business and community testimonials Growth in volunteer hours and FR calls Growth institutionally in scope, vision

staffing and dollars

The Product CycleLatency period before repeating Short for events, annual fund Medium long for grants Long for major gifts Really long for planned gifts

Put numbers on each and then measure shortening of the cycle

Bottom Line Study what % of time your staff really devote to

FR ( cultivation, solicitation, stewardship) Develop reasonable expectations for these Then divide time between product lines Plug volunteers, staff, faculty into equation Then measure success by product line by time

measure Can you report by donor type? You cannot make a prospect give, but you can

measure activity and see what increases results

THANK YOU