Question 1

Accepted Answer

Step 1: Map out the current fiscal year so far
Ensure that each initiative can be calculated separately on both the revenue and expense sides. For example, acquisition mail, lapsed mail, and renewal mail should all be accounted for separately because both the response metrics and associated expenses for each initiative are different. It is essential to know how each element measures up, not just how your mail program as a whole is doing.

Step 2: Assess your results
Where did you see increases or decreases, compared to the past? Is there anything you can do to shore up any decreases in the coming year? What performed better or worse than expected? What expenses surprised you?

Step 3: Make note of trends v. anomalies in your results

Trend: renewal mail response shrinking as more people migrate to online giving.
Anomaly: the low-performing mailing that was sent out right before the big storm.

Trends should be included in future budget scenarios, anomalies simply remembered and, where appropriate, learned from.

Step 4: Build an annual plan
Using the background information you’ve compiled and the forward-thinking you’ve done, map out your annual plan of initiatives to ensure that each one is properly accounted for and reflected in both the revenue and expense budgets.

Step 5: Predict what you think will happen next year.
This is a line-by-line exercise based on your work in steps one through three. Will the trends continue? Do you expect anything new or different to occur? Will expenses remain the same or change?

Download a sample year-to-year tracking spreadsheet >>

For sustainers, budget tools can be found in the Greater Public Next Level Sustainer Toolkit.

Question 2

Accepted Answer

Here are the essential revenue-centered must-tracks for a variety of traditional membership techniques.

Direct Mail:

Number solicited and segmentation
Response rate
Average gift

It’s essential to segment your direct mail tracking in a number of detailed ways. Renewal mail should be tracked separately from lapsed and acquisition mail, as these cohorts of donors respond differently and bundling them all together will give you less-than-useful information.

When soliciting lapsed supporters, each cohort (one-year lapsed, two-years lapsed, etc.) should be tracked separately so that you can assess which cohorts are most valuable and efficient to solicit. The same goes for additional gift mail: previous additional gift givers should be tracked separately from those who haven’t given this way yet.

Email:

Number solicited and segmentation
Open rate
Click-through rate
Response rate
Average gift
Unsubscribe rate
Testing segmentation

In email fundraising, it’s important to make note of the environment that the email was launched in. Was it a standalone campaign, a follow-up to a direct mail piece, or launched in conjunction with an on-air campaign? Your results will definitely vary; with emails launched in on-air campaigns typically deliver by far the best results.

On-air:

Overall number of days, total revenue, and total donors
Revenue and donors by hour, daypart, or program (or all of the above)
Percentages of new, renewed, re-joined, and additional donations
Percentage of sustainer participation
Percentage of donors selecting thank-you gifts (plus a list of most popular)

It’s also essential to keep a narrative record of external happenings that may have impacted the outcome of each particular campaign. These may include:

Breaking news events (locally or elsewhere)
Local weather, especially highs, lows, and other extremes
Difficult program content
On-air hosts

Sustainers:

Total active donors on a month-by-month basis (mapping growth trends)
Bad credit card/payment rate on a month-by-month basis
Cancellation rate on a month-by-month basis
Recapture rate
Average gift

Question 3

Accepted Answer

Step 1: Map out the current fiscal year so far
Ensure that each initiative can be calculated separately on both the revenue and expense sides. For example, acquisition mail, lapsed mail, and renewal mail should all be accounted for separately because both the response metrics and associated expenses for each initiative are different. It is essential to know how each element measures up, not just how your mail program as a whole is doing.

Step 2: Assess your results
Where did you see increases or decreases, compared to the past? Is there anything you can do to shore up any decreases in the coming year? What performed better or worse than expected? What expenses surprised you?

Step 3: Make note of trends v. anomalies in your results

Trend: renewal mail response shrinking as more people migrate to online giving.
Anomaly: the low-performing mailing that was sent out right before the big storm.

Trends should be included in future budget scenarios, anomalies simply remembered and, where appropriate, learned from.

Step 4: Build an annual plan
Using the background information you’ve compiled and the forward-thinking you’ve done, map out your annual plan of initiatives to ensure that each one is properly accounted for and reflected in both the revenue and expense budgets.

Step 5: Predict what you think will happen next year.
This is a line-by-line exercise based on your work in steps one through three. Will the trends continue? Do you expect anything new or different to occur? Will expenses remain the same or change?

Download a sample year-to-year tracking spreadsheet >>

For sustainers, budget tools can be found in the Greater Public Next Level Sustainer Toolkit.

Question 4

Accepted Answer

Here are the essential revenue-centered must-tracks for a variety of traditional membership techniques.

Direct Mail:

Number solicited and segmentation
Response rate
Average gift

It’s essential to segment your direct mail tracking in a number of detailed ways. Renewal mail should be tracked separately from lapsed and acquisition mail, as these cohorts of donors respond differently and bundling them all together will give you less-than-useful information.

When soliciting lapsed supporters, each cohort (one-year lapsed, two-years lapsed, etc.) should be tracked separately so that you can assess which cohorts are most valuable and efficient to solicit. The same goes for additional gift mail: previous additional gift givers should be tracked separately from those who haven’t given this way yet.

Email:

Number solicited and segmentation
Open rate
Click-through rate
Response rate
Average gift
Unsubscribe rate
Testing segmentation

In email fundraising, it’s important to make note of the environment that the email was launched in. Was it a standalone campaign, a follow-up to a direct mail piece, or launched in conjunction with an on-air campaign? Your results will definitely vary; with emails launched in on-air campaigns typically deliver by far the best results.

On-air:

Overall number of days, total revenue, and total donors
Revenue and donors by hour, daypart, or program (or all of the above)
Percentages of new, renewed, re-joined, and additional donations
Percentage of sustainer participation
Percentage of donors selecting thank-you gifts (plus a list of most popular)

It’s also essential to keep a narrative record of external happenings that may have impacted the outcome of each particular campaign. These may include:

Breaking news events (locally or elsewhere)
Local weather, especially highs, lows, and other extremes
Difficult program content
On-air hosts

Sustainers:

Total active donors on a month-by-month basis (mapping growth trends)
Bad credit card/payment rate on a month-by-month basis
Cancellation rate on a month-by-month basis
Recapture rate
Average gift

Building a Membership Revenue Budget

Jay Clayton

PMDMC 2025

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