When nonprofits collect and analyze data, they help their organization succeed in both the long term and the short term. By collecting certain nonprofit data points, organizations can make informed decisions. And, they can scale up or scale back on programs and other initiatives. Or, plan for the future (among other things).
While there are many points of data that nonprofits can collect, we’ve outlined the top 5 nonprofit data points that all NPOs should be keeping track of, no matter their mission.
Top 5 Nonprofit Data Points You Should Be Tracking—And Why
1. Donor retention rate
In essence, donor retention refers to the number of donors that continue to donate to your organization over a set amount of time.
Donor retention rate allows your organization to assess how successful your fundraising is. And, it gives you a glimpse into your solicitation practices. A poor donor retention rate can spell disaster for a nonprofit—without funding, charities can go belly up. That’s why it’s crucial that organizations keep tabs on their retention rate—and get ahead of any pitfalls.
2. Supporter demographics
Knowing your audience is fundamental to donation solicitation, volunteer retention, and more.
Though every nonprofit is different, we recommend tracking a myriad of demographics about your stakeholders. Think age, places of residence, occupation, and more. All this information will allow your charity to better target new and existing supporters. Plus, it will help you create a personalized connection with them.
And, with this information on hand, you can identify trends in giving to help you gear up for new initiatives and campaigns.
3. Program efficiency
If your organization is funneling lots of donations to specific programs, it’s important to know whether those programs are yielding results. If they’re not, it might be the time that your charity reassesses your program strategy. Or, consider alternative initiatives.
Doing so helps you create as much impact as possible, and will showcase to supporters that their money is creating real change.
4. Giving rates
Most nonprofits are going digital and prioritizing mobile-friendly software to raise money. That’s why nonprofits should assess exactly where and how supporters are giving.
Track revenue from in-person fundraisers, online campaigns, or even clickable links from digital reports. This will allow you to either scale up or scale back on avenues that are yielding the most and the least amount of donations.
5. Marketing conversion
Marketing efforts are a huge way that nonprofits bring in new donations. So, it’s imperative that charities track their ROI on marketing materials.
Check out your social media, paid ads, and even your website—how much revenue are they bringing in? How much are those marketing efforts costing the organization?
This kind of data will allow your nonprofit to pivot if necessary, and be even more strategic with outreach efforts.
Once you’ve tracked and collected your nonprofit data points, share it! By using platforms like Yearly, you can easily contextualize and disseminate important metrics for a myriad of stakeholders.