Aryeh Zev Narrow (Spring Valley, NY) helps non-profits make more money by communicating better with their donors. Aryeh Zev works with small-to-mid-sized charities that want world-class marketing communications, but might not be able to afford (or prefer not to work with) big-dollar marketing agencies. Learn more about non-profit marketing and fundraising messages on Aryeh Zev’s blog: The Spark*. You can contact him at  az at aznarrow dot com.

 

Was your last fundraising campaign a winner or loser? And how did it compare to the one before?

When you test new mailing lists, how do you figure out which ones really paid off?

For direct mail (and email) campaigns, the answers lie in the numbers. For fundraisers, there are a few key metrics to focus on. My free Fundraising ROI Calulator for Direct Mail makes it irresistibly easy to analyze the results from any direct mail (or email) fundraising campaign.

Use the Fundraising ROI Calulator for Direct Mail to contrast year-on-year campaign results, or analyze the results from split tests. View results from your house list against acquisition (rented/borrowed) lists at a glance in one convenient table. The spreadsheet does all the work for you. I made it with the lay user in mind, so it’s gleefully easy to use… and just might make you a hero in the development office!

Punch in just four key points of data and the calculator does the rest. It calculates six essential direct marketing stats that make it as-easy-as-pie-chart to analyze your fundraising results:

  • Compare the response rate across multiple lists or segments.
  • See each list’s or segment’s net profit.
  • See at a glance which lists or segments had the highest average donation.
  • Compare each list’s or segment’s ROI.
  • Finally! The cost to raise $1 stat provides an apples-to-apples comparison across ALL your fundraising activities.
  • Measure the cost to acquire a new donor for another perspective on your campaign’s effectiveness.

This spreadsheet is adapted from one I made to help an organization understand its direct mail results. I hope the results will help you, too. If you’re having trouble understanding your results, feel free to send me your completed spreadsheet.

Send your friends to bit.ly/fundraisingcalculator

Photo Credit: Dave Dugdale 

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