Frequently Asked Questions

DonorBureau creates a modeling database from your historical mailings and donations, then builds customized predictive models. DonorBureau evaluates an individual’s likelihood and capacity for giving based on hundreds of variables which describe behavior on previous campaigns, seasonal response patterns, and demographic information.

Precision Prospecting and the DonorCultivation Model work by assessing an individual’s propensity to donate to each client individually.

The lifetime value of a donor is the most important characteristic we take into account at DonorBureau. Both the short term and long term likelihood and capacity of donations are built into all of our products to ensure those most likely to improve overall net donations are selected for both prospect and house mailings.

DonorBureau’s Lifetime Value models use data mining to find similarities between responders from previous mail campaigns to predict who is likely or not likely to donate to a future campaign. The model is then scored against the prospects of the new campaign and an agency can choose to mail only those people that are most likely to donate. This increases conversions and decreases costs by only mailing to those most likely to respond.

RFM can identify good donors and provide a lift in response rates versus not using any targeting at all. It is also both simple and descriptive, so it is easily understood by people without a statistical background or who truly understand data science. Unfortunately, RFM doesn’t take into account life stage or seasonal donating and assumes that donors are likely to continue to respond the same way. The most attractive segments are likely to be over-mailed at the expense of other potential donors that could be invested in. This can destroy the life time value of a donor.

Lifetime Value models determine the correlation between hundreds of variables. Unlike RFM models, lifetime value takes into account that scores can quickly change when combined with other variables. It isn’t a one to one comparison. For instance, a donor that gives to a $5 package I/O is not the same type of donor that gives to a $.50  package I/O.  Someone that donates around the holidays, is not the same type of donor that donates in July. Lifetime Value models are built off of hundreds of variables that take all of that into account to give you the best, most predictive outcome.

In any given file being mailed for any given appeal, there are strong, average and weak candidates. We rely on years of historical data to segment these groups:

• Demographic data – Characteristics about individuals. E.g. – age, gender, ethnicity, income.
• Psychographic data – Measure of attitudes, values, lifestyles, and opinions.
• Behavioral data – Records of past actions by individuals.

When analyzed, patterns emerge. By constructing a 360-degree view of an individual, these patterns allow us to predict future behavior.
We are able to predict how receptive a prospect will be to an organization, to a specific appeal, at a specific time of the year, and to any given frequency of contact.

Prospecting for new Donors is an investment. The goal is to target prospects most likely to become loyal donors. Those with negative Lifetime Value should be avoided in the Donor Acquisition stage.

Because DonorBureau is able to predict the poorest performing names, cutting them saves you money. By saving money on the poorly performing names, more packages are successful, more mailing lists perform, and there is more available mail quantity. We don’t decrease the mail quantity you send – we increase the net income and ROI for any given mail quantity you choose. The end result is actually MORE mail quantity, more net income, and happier organizations since each piece is more profitable.

Acquisition mailing results are an incredibly important driver of financial performance for your program. But it’s important to identify donors who will remain loyal. Our model targets donors who will become longtime benefactors to your organization.

 You will notice that the donors we identify have a higher average gift than the average. The donors we target have significantly higher retention rates and value in Donor Programs.

When a firm partners with DonorBureau, historical data is collected for incorporation into our data warehouse. DonorBureau builds custom predictive models which are optimized for each specific client and integrated into our system. Using the system is as easy an uploading a file to an FTP server. You can upload your files for scoring from any computer with an internet connection.