CRM spring cleaning to drive community investment

Watch the case study and testimonial videos

SVP was using an industry-leading CRM as its donor database but due to staffing constraints, the tool had become severely outdated and was not providing value to the development efforts of the organization. SVP was also leveraging a newsletter service integrated into the donor database, but the donor list in the CRM was more than twice the size of the newsletter subscription list. SVP's Executive Director shared her vision of wanting to look forward to new partnerships, rather than trying to revive stale donors:

"I needed to figure out who was part of our community, and who it was maybe time to let go of."

Together, Dept.1 and SVP set out to "remove the noise" from the donor database. The project began by identifying contacts which could be deleted outright - this exercise included identifying criteria such as last gift date, total lifetime gifts, newsletter subscription status, and more. According to those criteria, about half of SVP's donor database was cleared out. A previous mailer campaign yielded large batches of returned letters which were then manually processed to validate alternative contact information or to queue for deletion. After a data-driven and objective deletion process the donor list was nearly 1:1 with the newsletter list.

After the data had been cleaned, the team identified similar criteria to those used in the deletion process to create highly-targeted donor segments based on giving history. This resulted in several contact lists worth millions of dollars in lifetime gifts, but only spanning handfuls of donors. These lists will improve SVP's ability to craft specific asks for targeted audiences in the future.

"Now I have a tight list of people - I know how they've been involved with the organization... Now when I go out to do a campaign or encourage people to get involved I have an accurate and helpful list versus just calling people from the phonebook."

To ensure that SVP had the tools to make use of this data in the future, the team collaborated to create a set of custom user guides which demonstrated how to use the new contact lists, how to integrate them into the newsletter service for targeted campaigns, and how to create new lists as donor segments shift.

"I'm able to find a list of 300 people that have given to the organization in the last five years and get them excited about what we're doing today."

In just a few weeks, Dept.1 and SVP cleaned up years of stale data in the CRM. The team now has a donor database with only relevant data, a targeted set of high-value donor segments for future campaigns, and the knowledge of how to operate it effectively.

"At first I was like 'Oh god, I don't have time for this' but he just impressed me. This is someone who has a hard work ethic and obviously cares about what he does. He delivered."

Follow Dept.1 Solutions on the following platforms to stay updated on future projects and outcomes:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-b/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dept1.dylan

If you'd like to give to Social Venture Partners, you can do so through the following link:

https://svpmn.org/donate/

SVP Minnesota is a tax exempt 501(c)3 non-profit organization that contributes time, talent, and resources to build the capacity of youth-serving organizations in the Twin Cities through a combination of financial grants and human capital. If you'd like to learn more about Social Venture Partners, please visit their website: https://www.svpmn.org