As a fundraiser — or any type of marketer, for that matter — you can't more than two minutes without coming across some article, email or other communication talking about "Big Data."

Database marketing, of course, is nothing new. However, with the sophistication of today's technology tools along with the sophistication of today's donors, the entire concept of data can be a bit overwhelming. What do you measure? What do you track? What should you collect? How do you use the data?

In last week's Engage Virtual Workshop, "Driving Donations With Data," three fundraising data experts tackled the topic of big data and donor databases.

Kicking things off was Roger Hiyama, senior vice president and managing director of Russ Reid, who discussed six key performance indicators (KPIs) that fundraisers should most definitely track. In this excerpt, Roger examines the first KPI, coverage ratio, which is essentially the metric that looks at an organization's leaky bucket — how many donors it is acquiring and renewing compared to how many donors it is losing.

Take a listen, and to learn more and hear about the other five KPIs and more, sign up for the full Engage Virtual Workshop — complete with a study guide and additional resources — here.