Using Fundraising Data to Increase Giving Case Study: Oakland Museum of California

Sarah Kimmerle, Individual Giving Managerskimmerle@museumca.org

Contextual Advertising

Does Google know your donor better or as well as your fundraising team?

Targeted Advertising

Targeted Advertising

• Targeted advertising is the strategic placements of ads based upon a consumer's demographics, psychographics, and consumer habits

• Major Gift Officers always provided “concierge” service--remembering donors interests and matching them to funding opportunities

• Technologies record consumer interests creating efficiencies in this process

• Permanent record of donor-museum relationship

What is Market Segmentation?

Market segmentation is the term used for a marketing strategy which involves dividing a broad market into subsets of visitors or potential audience members who have, or are perceived to have, common needs, interests, and priorities, and then designing and implementing strategies to target them.

OMCA Audience Model

An OMCA Loyalist is:1. Already “sold” on the importance of going to the Museum2. Very active participant at cultural institutions including serving as

volunteer, member, guild member, etc.3. Very likely to be a woman with high household income & highly

educated4. Age 60+ with discretionary time for visiting cultural destination,

participating in continuing education, & volunteering5. Active in the outdoors as well (gardener, hiker, etc.)6. Active reader and news follower (especially NPR)7. Someone who finds messaging about a specific exhibition or program

(especially in a field of particular interest) appealing

“Nancy”

Loyalist Archetype

Ways to Use Donor Data

• Conditional Mail Merge• personalized salutations• volunteer service (insert first name when addressing a

household)• total year’s giving• last year’s renewal amount

• Don’t forget to personalize reply forms

Ways to Use Donor Data

Ways to Use Donor Data

• Incremental ask strategy

Last year at this time, you renewed your Donor Forum membership with a gift of $1,250. This year, I hope you will consider increasing your contribution at this crucial time with a gift of $1,500.

• 26% of donors responded to incremental increase

• Raised average gift by $250• New income totaled $45,000

Ways to Use Donor Data

• Integrated Ticketing & Donor Systems• Pull visitations reports monthly/quarterly

• Segmented case statements• transaction vs. philanthropic motivations• highlight core interest in your museum’s

mission

• “Smart” invitations• What public programs should you invite

donors to attend?

Where to Store Data

• Take full advantage of your database

• Raiser’s Edge is often underused. Interests can be stored in multiple fields: • Attributes• Prospect Tab/Proposal Notes• Notes• Prospect Tab/Philanthropic Interests

Storing & Retrieving Data

Pitfalls & Hazards

Pitfalls & Hazards• Forgetting ethical fundraising and research

practices○ Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement

(www.aprahome.org) is a professional organization, like the Association of Fundraising Professionals, that helps set sector-wide ethical guidelines

○ Integrity: Members shall be truthful with respect to their identities and purpose and the identity of their institutions during the course of their work. They shall continually strive to increase the recognition and respect of the profession.

○ Accountability: Members shall respect the privacy of donors and prospects and conduct their work with the highest level of discretion. They shall adhere to the spirit as well as the letter of all applicable laws and all policies of their organization. They shall conduct themselves in the utmost professional manner in accordance with the standards of their organization.

○ Practice: Members shall take the necessary care to ensure that their work is as accurate as possible. They shall only record data that is appropriate to the fundraising process and protect the confidentiality of all personal information at all times.

Pitfalls & Hazards

• Not scheduling time for data entry & maintenance

• Stereotyping or creating caricature of donor segment

• Reassess as your donor community grows

• Relying solely on data and forgetting to maintain personal connection

○ Don’t underestimate the power of a handwritten note, pre-mail phone call, or coffee date