Are We Focused on the Wrong Metrics for the Long Run?

• What portion of your constituents is only involved in one area of the organization (i.e., events, programs, direct mail, etc.), and what portion has engaged in multiple areas of the brand? Looking at engagement this way, it enables you to understand the difference in value based on the different scenarios. This type of information can inform strategies to help prioritize promotions for different types of engagements. Just be careful because your past marketing strategies might have created the engagement scenarios you have in place right now. Make sure you don't just re-create the past by accident.
• For many years we have looked at ROI — return on investment — but we typically look at ROI for a specific program. Organizations need to take a broader view and look at ROR — return on relationship. This requires two views that can be hard for the organization to gather but worth it. First, you need to look across all the areas of engagement and calculate the total value of a constituent's relationship for a specific period of time. Second, you need to understand the investment it took to achieve those interactions. As an example, you can claim that for specific segments of donors, direct mail positively not only raises money but it also creates an increase in revenue for another program. But to truly understand the ROR, you need to combine the costs associated with the direct mail AND the costs of the other revenue stream to understand the full picture. Be careful though, some marketing efforts can provide lifts in engagement in non-financial ways. As you know, not all engagement is measured by a check written or a credit card given — so the organization also needs to place some type of value metric on non-financial activity (i.e., volunteering, participating in an event, advocating, etc.)
• Retention is a metric that has been calculated for many, many years, but we have typically calculated retention related to a specific program or campaign. Since many constituents are involved in multiple ways across the organization, it's important to know the difference between someone not retaining to a program/campaign versus someone leaving your brand completely. Retention to the brand is something that should be understood not only for the actual metric, but it can lead to insight on experiences that are great for your constituents and those that aren't measuring up.
• Triggers have been misunderstood in our industry, but they can be very valuable if thought of correctly. For the purpose here, a trigger refers to engagement or activity that typically equates to increased value in the relationship. Triggers are different from one organization to another, but by analyzing the value of the overall relationship and how that engagement unfolds over time (say 24 months) you can identify triggers that can serve as a way for you to react and change your marketing strategy. Some years ago, Blackbaud's Target Analytics informed us about the long-term value of a person who self-reported a change in his or her contact information (change of address, phone, etc.) and how that aligned to a stronger relationship. That is an example of a trigger that could be easily monitored with the right data capture so that you can treat these individuals differently to see if they "step up" and show their loyalty and value officially.

Constituent data