When hosting a fundraising event, such as a Math-A-Thon, silent auction, or charity gala, closely tracking data and adapting your event based on that data can drive higher engagement, participation, and donations. Let's explore how data analytics can be strategically applied to crucial components of your fundraising event, helping guide you towards making more informed decisions and impactful outcomes.

Email Outreach

Before your event begins, building excitement and driving participation is crucial to your success. One way to achieve this is by implementing an email strategy where you send a series of emails that educate and inspire your target audience and provide them with a clear call-to-action. Here are some metrics to watch for that can be tracked through most professional email delivery services:

• Open Rate. The open rate is the percentage of emails opened out of the total number of emails sent. The average nonprofit email open rate is around 25%. A low open rate, falling below 10%, signals potential issues with the clarity or urgency of your subject line. If this occurs, try experimenting with different subject lines and injecting a sense of immediacy to ensure your email content receives the attention it deserves.

• Click-Through Rate. The click-through rate is the total number of clicks on the links in your emails divided by the total number of emails sent. The average nonprofit email click-through rate is about 3%. If your click-through rate dips below 1%, it suggests that your call-to-action may be buried or unclear within your email. Repositioning the call-to-action to a more prominent place in your email can help address this issue.

• Bounce Rate. The bounce rate is the percentage of emails that are returned to the sender. An acceptable bounce rate is around 2%. Anything above 5% indicates challenges with lead quality and sender reputation. If this happens, review your email lists and remove emails with misspellings or consistent bounces. A high bounce rate can hurt your sender reputation (the score attributed by mailbox providers to the domain of your email address), which can negatively impact the deliverability of your future emails.

• Spam Rate. The spam rate is the percentage of email recipients that mark your emails as spam. The average allowable spam rate is 0.1%. Anything above 0.3% can pose risks to sender reputation and email deliverability. Revisiting your targeting criteria and refining your messaging can help ensure that your content is as relevant as possible to the people you are reaching.

Event Activity

If your event spans multiple days or weeks, maintaining high interest and keeping it top of mind with your supporters is key to maximizing your fundraising potential. Each event may have different activities that you will want to track, so the following are general metrics that you may want to consider:

• Number of Sign-ups. High email open and click-through rates, but a low number of event sign-ups may indicate that your registration messaging is unclear or your event goals and prizes are unappealing. Encouraging community involvement or introducing previously unannounced prizes can help incentivize sign-ups. For instance, if all the prizes you previously advertised involved tangible items, try incorporating experience-based prizes (e.g. the head of your school or organization will shave their head if you reach your goal).

• Participation Rate. Expect a spike in excitement and activity when your event begins, such as the number of problems solved for a Math-A-Thon, or bids submitted for a silent auction, followed by a gradual decrease in activity until the end. If the decrease is too precipitous, it could indicate that your event isn’t maintaining a high enough level of interest. Increasing the frequency of your communication or introducing weekly prizes can help sustain momentum and drive continued participation.

• Donor Outreach Per Participant. For events involving participants soliciting donations, such as a Read-A-Thon or Math-A-Thon, the number of emails participants send to donors tends to correlate with the total amount of donations received. If the average number of emails sent per person is low, try emphasizing the significance of donation solicitation efforts or adding special prizes based on the number of donor emails sent.

• Median Donation Amount. If the median donation amount is lower than expected, updating your donation page to include a higher default donation amount or adjusting your total donation goal can positively influence donor behavior. You can also try incorporating different options on your donation pages, such as stocks or cryptocurrency, to engage more donors and encourage higher value donations.

Post-Event Feedback

Within 3 days after your event ends, begin the process of collecting feedback from participants and administrators. These can include surveys, one-on-one conversations, or anonymous comment cards. Unbiased questions and open-ended prompts can offer valuable insights into event success and areas for improvement.

• Response Rate. A low number of responses to feedback requests may indicate that you are not effectively expressing the importance of their feedback and the amount you value their time. If you are using a survey, try updating your messaging to clarify the time commitment expected or offer a small reward that survey respondents will be eligible to receive through a random drawing.

• Positive-to-Negative Ratio. There will always be some people that love and support your event and some people that don’t, but the ratio you see between praise and criticism can provide a key indicator of overall event satisfaction and effectiveness. If negative feedback outweighs positive feedback, try to pinpoint the areas for improvement and incorporate new ideas for future events.