Learn more about analytics and research best practices, as well as real world examples and solutions for nonprofits.

Optimizing the Demise (Part 2)

Yesterday we posted the first of our five part series on Optimizing the Demise, if you missed it, click here to read. Today we offer you the second practical idea for how to optimize the decline in your direct mail fundraising program:

Stop direct mail testing – at least in acquisition. Look, even if you test something that doubles response (which is rarer than a supermodel on a Metro bus), lifting response rates from a 0.44% to a 0.88% isn’t going to save your organization. Better to redirect the budget and ideas set aside for testing to try new things that might have a longer payoff.

This idea won’t change the course of the direct mail trend. But it will buy you some time while we are all figuring out the next big thing.

Right Tools for the Right Job

by Bill Jacobs | Oct 5, 2020

Goodness gracious. Are you serious? Apparently in UK, COVID19 cases were under reported due to an Excel limitation on the number of cases in a database. Lives are at stake people! Use the right tools of the trade. And even when lives are not at stake, use the right...

Fall Forecast 2020

by Bill Jacobs | Aug 13, 2020

I’ll start with the obvious: No one knows how this fall’s fundraising campaigns will do. We are at in a turbulent time. Global pandemic. Rising unemployment. Stimulus checks. Divisive election. World powers butting heads. Us analyst rely heavily on past data to give...

The People Behind Nonprofits: Part Three

by Andi Jacobs | Aug 10, 2020

Interested in pursuing a career in nonprofit operations management? Here’s what experts in the field think you should know: It’s not enough to just be passionate about the cause. The nonprofit sector also needs business-minded people who excel at their jobs and are...