Easter Eggs in Your Donor Database

Every year I organize our neighborhood Easter egg hunt. I stuff and hide more than 600 eggs, and love watching kids run through the field searching for them. The excitement they feel when finding an egg is the same rush I get when I discover something actionable in a client data file. It got me thinking about some data eggs that often are hidden. For some, you have to look a little harder, but the answers always are in the data.

• When evaluating list performance, look past initial response metrics and assess long-term value at an individual list level. We often find that lists that look bad upfront may show life when looking at 12-month or 18-month payback periods or retention rates.