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There are just a few days left before the April 11 deadline to sign up for this spring’s data co-op. We don’t want you to miss this chance to understand your file and build your audience. Sign up here! 

The cool thing about a co-op is that it’s a co-op — a group of organizations that come together to share knowledge and information. It works because of the participants — and we are happy to share that we already have a great pool of participants this year. Which means… a great pool of data that allows everyone to do that much better in reaching and inspiring people to give to good causes.

If you haven’t signed up yet, chances are it’s because you still have questions. (Or because you lost the link? It’s right here.) And, good news, we’ve got answers! Read on!

Let’s start with the easiest question: What exactly is Scout Quest?
Scout Quest is M+R’s new data co-op where participants share email deliverability indicators, fundraising data, and advertising audiences. The result for participating organizations is a deeper understanding of donor and prospect behavior that allows them to better target — and reactivate — important segments of their list. 

In other words… you might be staring at an email file with a hefty number of lapsed folks and/or folks that aren’t responding to all your amazing campaigns anymore. It can be concerning. And demoralizing. Is it you? Or is it your marketing? Scout Quest answers that question, and allows you to separate the wheat from the chaff on your file. Then you can focus your efforts on those who hold the most promise. 

What Scout Quest isn’t:
The Scout Quest data co-op is NOT a name or email sharing program. Participating organizations don’t receive new names, nor do they share names with others. Participants do receive data about the names on their list and what they can expect from them (and others like them).

How can my organization use this data?
In our beta rounds last year, participating organizations were able to: 

  • Use the “clicked for other orgs but not you” file for reactivation
  • Launch a monthly default or monthly acquisition effort to subscribers who give monthly to other orgs
  • Create custom audiences for ad targeting (monthly donors to others but not you; donors to others but not you; donors with high previous contributions to other orgs but not you)
  • Try/test custom messaging for subscribers that are active with specific types of orgs (environmental, rights, animal welfare, etc)
  • Create custom highest previous contribution offers for donors with much higher highest previous contribution for other orgs
  • Develop mid-level prospecting for subscribers with high previous contributions

The results for these organizations’ efforts generated a highly competitive return on investment! Check out more results right here!

What does it cost?
The initial investment is free for M+R clients (Hi! You’re the best!) and $2,000 for non-clients. You’ll receive a dashboard with each kind of match we find, and then you pay for just the data you choose — ranging from $0.03 per record to $0.15 per record depending on the value of the data category you choose. 

Yes, but does this make sense for *my* organization?
It depends! If your organization is spending money on acquisition online or in direct mail, yes. Or, if you’re putting your resources towards reactivating lapsed donors in any channel, yes, again.

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We’re pretty excited about Scout Quest, and for good reason. We know how hard it is to get folks onto your lists… and seeing them go inactive is no fun. Scout Quest is a real, useful, meaningful solution. We hope you want to be a part of it. Still not sure? Drop us a line. We’ll do our best to help you figure out your options. But, seriously, don’t wait — the deadline is April 11. Sign up now.