The Slow and Boring Path

Do the math

Do you know your response rates down to the second decimal point? Do you track average gift, net income per thousand, ROI? Can you see how the numbers interact with each other like an intricate ballet?

Good fundraising decisions come from staring at spreadsheets, asking pedestrian questions and internalizing a mass of quantitative facts. I doubt a spreadsheet will ever win an award — spreadsheets are just too slow and boring. But there's a lot of good stuff hiding in those little cells. The more you know and understand the math, the more good things you'll be able to make happen.