Latest / PGgrowth - Planned Giving podcast / NO 110: Overcoming Data Fatigue in Small, Medium, and Large Shops

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NO 110: Overcoming Data Fatigue in Small, Medium, and Large Shops · PGgrowth - Planned Giving podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: E G podcast.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the PG Growth Plan Giving Podcast, where you'll hear real and practical advice around your plan giving, legacy giving, and strategic philanthropy programs.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Our goal here is to bring you real and successful strategies to make your program thrive and be sustainable.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Ed Sluga.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the president and managing consultant of PG Growth.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: And whether you're an executive director, a CEO of a charitable foundation or charitable organization, whether you're the VP of development or advancement, whether you're someone who has as part of their work every day, plan giving, or whether you're an expert in the field of plan giving, working daily to engage with donors, we believe this podcast is the place for you to find strategies, ideas, and thoughts that will help you to form the best possible program you can.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get into today's episode.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: So in this episode, what we want to talk a little bit about is data.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: And in our previous episode with uh Goody Gibson from NFP Empower, we went into a deep dive about data.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, we that was from a previous podcast that we had um recorded with uh Goody.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: It was much longer, even in more depth about data.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: So what we want to do now is kind of pull way, way back because I do think that data can be overwhelming.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and sort of a data fatigue comes into play.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the fatigue is about simply talking about data, some of the other fatigue is this moment of wondering um the you know uh about the use of it and then the actual kind of diving into it.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and all of that, all of that anger, uh, shouldn't be anger really, but all of that upset, all of that feeling of fatigue, all of that frustration rather than anger.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I think part of that is feeling as though we are the only organization that has this issue that that we're the exception and not the rule.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you right now that the rule is that most organizations at least feel like their data is not in good position.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: For many of them, it is not, but at least that's the feeling.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: And this can breed within uh the users of the data and the organization itself, this feeling of it's all almost overwhelming.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, this is with small organizations, medium-sized, large, doesn't matter what area of work that you're in, uh, education, um, animal welfare, conservation, faith, uh, social service, hospital, you name it, there's this feeling about it.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and here's a little secret, too.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, those that talk about their data being in really good shape, chances are if you were to scratch at the service, it wasn't, it's not really in the great shape that they hope it is.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: So, for but that's okay.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: First and foremost, a lot of this feeling of being overwhelmed, this fatigue that comes from it of that feeling, is from a misunderstanding about data itself and where you sit with it.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, first and foremost, cut yourself and cut your organization, your colleagues within the organization, a little bit of slack here.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Be fair.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Data's really tough.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's tough and it's hard to get right, it's hard to keep right.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: And if yours isn't there, you're part of the rule.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: The most organizations are there.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a moment to kind of give yourself pause, give yourself a break, relax.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we have what we have.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what can we do with it?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think the other part of this is don't go looking, and I'm speaking specifically about plan giving.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Don't go looking for data points you don't need.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's really, really key.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, not every piece of data that's collected from uh you know donor interaction with the organization.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you have a whole data team.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Every organization is different.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Small organizations, it might be one person multiple uh taking on inputting data, larger organizations might have a team, might have somebody overseeing the CRM and that sort of thing.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: So um, you know, the those data points coming in, some of them are worthwhile, some of them aren't worthwhile when it comes to plan giving.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to talk about some items that are absolutely worthwhile for you.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, first, we need to look at when it comes to plan giving, who within your database is the most relevant for your initial outreach or at least for programs that are building.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the most relevant group of people are your current donors.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: So let's split up.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: How do we overcome the kind of overwhelming feeling that comes with the data?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Let's first and foremost split up your database, this big, big number with lots of information and even lots of records that are no longer relevant or not relevant to plan giving.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And your donor base, those people who are currently making donations to you.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: They're the most relevant group.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: And if you go in and you define what a donor is, you can make your own definition.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: They gave in the last full calendar year up until today, something like that.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: You can have your own definition, and just ask for that data to be pulled from the CRM.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that kind of just changes the size of the issue, and it can bring you down into um a much more uh comfortable area.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: So a typical hospital foundation will perhaps, uh let's call it a medium-sized hospital foundation anywhere in the in the country, will have anywhere between 25 and 50,000 records on their on their CRM.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Their data is made up of about 50,000 records.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's use the top end just for argument's sake.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: But if we do some deep dive into how many actually made a donation last year, it's close to 2,500 to 5,000.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's the group you want to talk uh about looking into.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Once you make that segmentation, suddenly the problem is not uh what you think it was, it's not as overwhelming and and quickly you're invigorated by this.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: There's not data fatigue, it's data excitement.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: I get it.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is my group, these are the people I want to talk to.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: So immediately at that point, the the difficulty of your data comes uh a little bit, uh it sheds that difficult moment and it becomes focused.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: You become focused on your your data, and you're focusing on your donors, your current donors.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, we've talked about this in previous pods.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Your donors, current donors, are your best prospects.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: So this is where we use the term donor and prospect synonymously.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: These people are your prospects for playing gifts.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's easy.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Then there are a bunch of other factors in there to either even further segment um that donor base into the best possible segmentation.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, those those are kind of well known.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want more information about what those segments or those additional criteria or determinants look like, reach out and we can provide you with some thoughts about that.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: But the reality is you've taken this big group, the 50,000 for that hospital foundation, you've quickly gotten it into about 5,000 names, let's call it that.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: And now you've uh because these are your current donors, and now with some of these other determinants, maybe you've gotten to 1,500 names.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Suddenly, this isn't overwhelming anymore.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't an issue of uh uh, you know, where do I begin?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's a quick two or three-step process to get very clearly into a segment that um isn't overwhelming, doesn't bring on this sense of almost desperation or depression about your data, and you start getting invigorated by your data and uh rather than fatigued by your data, you know, tired out from the sort of thoughts around it.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: And these are your best prospects, these are the people to talk to.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the same with larger organizations, you know, that 50,000 might turn into 500,000.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: That segment from from 50,000 to 5 would be 500 to 50.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Do some more of that initial segmentation, you're down to 15,000, 10,000 names.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Suddenly, that big, big group of people that seems overwhelming uh becomes a little bit smaller.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's an old adage about uh how do you eat an elephant?
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's one bite at a time.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: How do you deal with a big database with overwhelming situation?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Slowly, methodically, you get there.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and don't let it over uh overburden you with this.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, once you have that group, and we'll get back to our example of the 50,000 names or about 1,500 best prospects, that's who you're going to market to.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: And every year you're going to go through the same process, and every year you'll you're going to have another 1,500 people, but a lot of them will be the same from the previous year.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: You'll have reached out, some have said I'm not interested, some have said you're in my will, some have said I'm interested.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: You're starting to talk to them.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: You'll remove them from the list, but you'll be getting new donors, that criteria.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Those additional determinants will be run again against this process, and additional people will come in.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Some will leave for other reasons.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they've stopped being a donor uh or uh other other reasons they leave.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: They've passed away, they've moved away, something along these lines.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: So you're getting that it's refreshed all the time.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: You're focusing on this group all the time.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's a different group all the time.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: We do have issues sometimes when we go into organizations and uh we're talking to the IT people.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: These tend to be larger organizations, lots of data management people, IT people, and even the marketing side gets into it and they'll say, Well, last year we communicated with this 1500.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: To use those numbers again, we should look at a different 1500.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, this isn't donor acquisition.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: This is about prospect engagement.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Those prospects are already donors.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: So you don't have to convince them anything.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: You're not kind of flipping them over from one to the other, you're constantly inviting your best donors to think about different forms of giving.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and this is where the monthly giving analogy kind of fits and doesn't fit.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times on the monthly giving side, what we're looking at are people who have had longevity of giving, and we offer them the opportunity to turn their regular annual fund contributions into a monthly giving program.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: And we do get lots of people who do that, lots don't, but we do get a good basis of that.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: The problem is that we do acquisition activities on the monthly giving side, whether it's door-to-door or mall active uh activation, mailers, whatever it might be, we turn people who aren't currently donors into monthly giving donors.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's an anomaly.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to say it's not useful.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: It is, it's not it's not something that won't pay off.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: It will done properly.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but the easiest group, and even the the firms that are out there trying to convert those uh those public members, uh, the members of the public who are not currently your stakeholders into monthly donors, they'll even tell you converting somebody who's an annual fund donor currently into a monthly donor will pay off in greater degree.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's what we're doing here in plan giving.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: We are looking at people who are currently donors and we're providing them the opportunity to consider giving in a different way for different purposes uh at different levels, uh, of course.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, again, what we're trying to do is take this big issue, this 50,000 names and where do I start, and this database mining and all these things.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: And we're trying to be process-driven, regular in that process activity to bring this down into your best prospects, engage with them, and help them build your program.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you found this an interesting and thoughtful uh examination of how to use your data.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Don't get overwhelmed, don't get fatigued.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's just data.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: We can work with it.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for joining us today for another episode of the PG Growth Plan Giving Podcast.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed today's conversation, please make sure to subscribe and you'll get notifications of new podcasts in your inbox.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: You can also leave us a review, and if you'd like, share this episode with a colleague or fellow fundraiser who could find these insights useful to explore PG Gross' incredible and industry-leading resource library of free how-to guides, templates, and webinars, head over to our online community, the PG Commons.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: The Commons is set up for fundraisers to share ideas, to learn, and to get access to some of these incredible and one-of-a-kind resources.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Join us there through commons.pggrowth.com.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're ready to level up your legacy program with real experts in the field who have decades of experience, find prospects in your donor base using their incredible knowledge and the approaches that they take, or discuss how you might really move your plan-giving program to one that is proactive and bringing in the dollars that you feel they could for the important mission of your charity.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Reach out to anyone on our national team of consultants.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: They'd be happy to support your organization.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: We'd love to connect.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: Drop us an email anytime at info at pggrowth.com or check out our website and connect with us there.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: Again, thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time on the PG Growth Plan Giving Podcast.