3 Top Analytics Techniques Every Fundraiser Should Know, Part 3

• Six-month time increments
• All different dollar ranges
• Frequency, single vs. two-plus gifts or two and three-plus gifts
• Lifetime worth
• Source of getting on your file

However, Terpstra said the best approach is either lapsed modeling or employing a "hits" strategy.

Cooperative model
The cooperative model is very effective for lapsed donors. There are several large co-op databases in the industry, such as Target Analytics, Wiland Direct, Abacus, etc. Each database is typically a huge transactional database built from information from many participating organizations. Some are nonprofits-only, while some are nonprofits plus other participants. They have tons of information about consumer or donor behavior across many organizations.