How many data points would it take to prove to your CEO, your board, your major donors – anyone, for that matter – that your fundraising program is healthy and growing?
If you think it would take at least 5 data points and probably 10 or more, you might not be using data as effectively as you could.
We can create a compelling story of development program progress with 3 data points:
- Total dollars raised year to date;
- Total number of donors year to date;
- Total number of annual giving leadership-level donors year to date.
Not that you couldn’t (or wouldn’t) share more than these 3 points of data, but these 3 create a strong foundation for answering the question: “How are we doing?”
While these 3 metrics wouldn’t answer all questions, they would address the most important ones:
- Are we raising more money for our mission?
- Are we broadening the base of supporters for our mission?
- Are we creating more major giving prospects for the future?
A few observations about how best to share data:
First, the data doesn’t matter as much as the story we use to connect the data to our work. Our stories help people make sense of the data and put it into context. Without our stories, the data can easily be misunderstood or dismissed as unimportant.
Second, we tend to provide way too much data. We give too many numbers, too many percentages, too many averages. Sometimes we provide multiple pages of data. More data usually isn’t what is needed to make our case. In fact, too much data can be puzzling and overwhelming. Helpful data is like a rich-tasting dessert. A bite or two is wonderfully satisfying. Too much and we end up feeling bad.
Finally, consistency with sharing data matters tremendously. If our aim is to have people walk away with a clear and lasting understanding that we are doing good work and making a positive impact on the mission, sharing the same data, in the same format, over and over again is critically important. People learn about our work and our program through repetition. When we change the data we share or we change the format we share it in, everyone stays confused.
It is tempting to throw more and more data at the questions people ask about our work and progress. But data, itself, is rarely the best response.
The best responses to the most important progress-related questions emerge from how we share data.
