Tuesday Tips: So What's an E-mail Address Worth?

05:43 PM Feb 20, 2007

In this week's edition, we circle back to donations analysis to explore an oft-asked question.

A Word From Our Attorneys This entry is meant to aid ROI calculations for marketing, not for purchasing e-mail addresses. DIA users in particular should be aware that our opt-in policy prohibits mailing a purchased list from a DIA account.

Last month, the Tipsheet's three-part series (I, II, III) explored timing the release of your donations appeal. Today, we're getting a little bit more abstract. Using the entire year's collection of gift data from throughout the DIA universe, we're going to try to get at what a supporter might be expected to contribute ... and as a result, what they're worth to obtain in the first place. Numbers on the flip. To tackle this measurement, we're going to do basic arithmetic: (Number of Donations/Supporter) x (Amount Donated/Donation) = Amount Donated/Supporter Or in words, we're going to find out how many times the typical supporter donated over the course of a year, and how much such a donation was typically worth.

1. Donations Per Supporter

To get this number, we're going back to the same data set that generated the "propensity to donate" averages for our seasonal donation ratings. Those scores, you may recall, are a count of donations per 100,000 supporters among the organizations actually using our donations tools. I originally reported them as weekly and monthly medians to reduce day-to-day fluctuations to more representative scores, and I did so after removing some gravity-skewing major fundraising pushes by a couple of our largest organizations. In this version, we're going with the unadjusted original data, because rather than trying to get at some "underlying" seasonal propensity, we're trying to get an overall yearly propensity that would, of course, include donations made during fundraising pushes. So what we're doing here is simply adding the propensity scores for all 365 days.* A straight sum of all daily donations-per-100k-supporters gives us 1,990.72 expected donations for every 100,000 supporters -- or 1.99 per hundred. Since there's some interpolation on our supporter growth numbers, let's not pretend three significant digits of precision and just round it off to 2%, otherwise stated as a simple rule:

For every 50 people on a list for one calendar year, you will receive 1 online donation.

You could in principle reduce this to the idea of 1 donation for every 600 (50 * 12) supporter-months, but be careful: since the seasonal spike at the end of the year is so enormous, it's much more valuable to have people on your list in November and December than in July and August. More useful for our purposes will be to say that each supporter is worth .02 donations per year, on average.

2. Amount Per Donation

Now we need the second term in the equation -- the average donation. This is a very simple calculation: the mean gift of some 80,000 online donations we handled last year was $86.57. As with our previous number-crunching, these exclude paid event registrations, storefront purchases, instances of recurring gifts beyond the original payment, and offline donations loaded into the system, generally because they're much less easy to generalize as revenue streams from organization to organization. A true accounting of the value of a supporter cannot help but look at these other sources: an e-mail subscriber who sends a $50 check contributes no less than one who donates that amount online. But it's at this point that our general data will need to yield to each organization's assessment of the relative importance of online donations to its overall development picture.

3. The Calculator Says ...

That important caveat aside, our result is that in terms of online donations only, the average base value of a supporter is .02 x $86.57 = $1.73 per year. That's the floor, not the ceiling. Think about it that way the next time you're tempted to stuff the last event signup page into a desk drawer instead of typing in the names. For a more thorough calculation for people getting ready to wade into cost-per-click and conversion ratios, there are a lot of directions possible, but the obvious next steps to calculating a more complete ROI using an organization's own internal data are threefold:

• For the full value per year, add in the average value per e-mail supporter in offline donations, purchases, event registrations, and any other revenue stream;
• For lifetime value, find an attrition rate and/or average lifespan for an e-mail address, e.g., "the mean e-mail subscriber remains on our list for 8/18/48 months".
• Then, of course, find the cost per acquisition (expected or empirical) for whatever outreach program you're considering/judging.

Get out the slide rule and go to it, Poindexter. *The reason for using these propensity scores rather than straight donation counts is that they're already adjusted for the growth over the year of the burgeoning DIA universe.

Add a comment

information

— 02:19 AM Apr 25, 2024

Leveraging a comprehensive dataset spanning the entirety of the year's gift data across the DIA universe, the focus now shifts towards understanding supporter contribution expectations <a href="https://thefairplay.in/register/">Fairplay Register</a><br />

Great

Annette — 08:17 AM Nov 02, 2023

Thanks for sharing informative information.<a href="https://cricketbuzz.com.in/register/">cricketbuzz.com registration</a>

Good

— 02:20 AM Nov 01, 2023

Thank For the info Really Help me a lot hope can read more article from this blog. <a href="https://cricketbuzz.com.in/register/">Cricketbuzz com register id and password</a><br />

— 08:44 AM Jun 20, 2021

I've proper selected to build a blog, which I hold been deficient to do for a during. Acknowledges for this inform, it's really serviceable! <a href="https://www.northamericanbancard.pro">North American Bancard Sales</a><br />

— 03:58 PM Jun 16, 2021

On my website you'll see similar texts, write what you think. <a href="https://www.infusionbusiness.com/merchant_services_agents__iso__reseller__sales_partner_programs__credit_card_processing">how to start a payment gateway company</a><br />

— 06:02 AM Jun 07, 2021

Find the best essays on is my friend's profile page. <a href="https://www.decayeux.de/">Schaukästen</a><br />

do my assignment

Jason — 01:26 AM Jun 05, 2021

best <a href="https://www.assignmentdesk.co.uk/do-my-assignment">do my assignment</a> service in the UK!

— 03:03 PM May 29, 2021

Awesome dispatch! I am indeed getting apt to over this info, is truly neighborly my buddy. Likewise fantastic blog here among many of the costly info you acquire. Reserve up the beneficial process you are doing here. <a href="https://marsbahiscasino.org/">marsbahis kayıt</a><br />

— 02:59 PM May 29, 2021

It is very good, but look at the information at this address. <a href="https://ankarahurdam.com/tr/fiyat-listesi">güncel hurda fiyatları</a><br />

— 01:38 PM May 20, 2021

Interestingly you write, I will address you'll find exciting and interesting things on similar topics. <a href="https://fcasino.info/">온라이바카라</a><br />

— 05:14 AM May 04, 2021

I just thought it may be an idea to post incase anyone else was having problems researching but I am a little unsure if I am allowed to put names and addresses on here. <a href="https://repaircookers-kw.com/فني-طباخات">فني طباخات</a><br />

— 05:09 AM May 04, 2021

I like to recommend exclusively fine plus efficient information and facts, hence notice it: <a href="https://q8-garage.com/أخصائي-تكييف">اخصائي تعبئة غاز امام المنزل</a><br />

— 05:01 AM May 04, 2021

I propose merely very good along with reputable data, consequently visualize it: <a href="https://kwtsat.com/رسيفر">رسيفر</a><br />

— 04:51 AM May 04, 2021

Cool you write, the information is very good and interesting, I'll give you a link to my site. <a href="https://abubahor.site/رقم-تكييف">رقم تكييف</a><br />

— 04:41 AM May 04, 2021

This is helpful, nonetheless it can be crucial so that you can check out the following website: <a href="https://www.abubahor.com/مكافحة-حشرات">مكافحة حشرات</a><br />

— 08:07 AM Apr 29, 2021

I can give you the address Here you will learn how to do it correctly. Read and write something good. <a href="https://trueman75.co.kr/Manclinic/Impotence/Surgical">발기부전</a><br />

— 02:55 PM Apr 21, 2021

In this particular article, you will see a summary, satisfy browse this post. <a href="http://www.thefreeadforum.com/postclassifieds/for-sale/everything-else/glass-spoon-pipe-for-sale_i2828479">glass spoon pipe</a><br />

— 07:56 AM Apr 20, 2021

I can give you the address Here you will learn how to do it correctly. Read and write something good. <a href="http://vedadate.com/member/blog_post_view.php?postId=79693">dab rigs</a><br />

— 07:46 AM Apr 20, 2021

In this case you will begin it is important, it again produces a web site a strong significant internet site: <a href="http://vedadate.com/member/blog_post_view.php?postId=105058">dab rigs</a><br />

— 07:42 AM Apr 20, 2021

Thanks for writing such a good article, I stumbled onto your blog and read a few post. I like your style of writing... <a href="http://www.clubwww1.com/dating/member/blog_post_view.php?postId=93816">smoking pipes</a><br />

Notre Dame Rudy Jacket

Emma — 01:15 AM Feb 24, 2021

I'm glad by reading your fascinating article, also I love this <a href="https://www.thegenuineleather.com/product/notre-dame-rudy-irish-jacket/">Notre Dame Rudy Jacket</a>, Keep uploading more interesting articles.<br />

Taylor — 07:40 AM Feb 06, 2021

I found your post informative. I am associated with a <a href="https://www.diplomaassignments.com/childcare-assignment-help">diploma in childcare assignment help</a> and a social work organization and due to this reason I often visit places to collect donations to help hundreds of people who suffer due to poverty.

camila — 02:45 AM Dec 31, 2020

Students are usually searching for someone to write their most typical assignments. In this regard I want to suggest you the best writing services in the UK - <a href="https://www.urgentessayhelp.co.uk/">Online Essay Writing agency in UK</a> . Just get yourself registered and access the amazing writing services t affordable rates.

Quick Plumbing Omaha

— 04:18 AM Jul 29, 2020

Plumbing services means the planning , installation, construction, replacement, service, repair, alteration, or modification of the pipes, fixtures, and other apparatus used for bringing the water system into a building and removing liquid and water-carried wastes from a building. Plumbing services also includes the installation and connection of gas piping. for more info visit: <a href="https://quickplumbingomaha.com/">plumbing services omaha</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />

Ipayzz improvement

Kian — 08:56 AM May 27, 2020

Ipayzz is an internet platform about online gambling. <a href="https://ipayzz.com/">On the website</a> you can find a detailed list of online casinos with rules and reviews. It can help you to understand online gambling better.

cheap logo design

— 05:18 AM May 02, 2020

A <a href="https://www.logodesigner.ae/">affordable logo design uae</a> is a company that offers you various approaches to work with proficient originators and have them plan your logo for you. The best way to design a logo that communicates this information is to work with a logo designer

Essay writing service

Eunice — 11:43 AM Jan 29, 2020

So many nonprofit organizations are working to facilitate the needy people. Their efforts are admirable and get <a href="https://www.rushanessay.com/">rush essay service</a> to find out unique info. As they have mentioned the schedule of giving donations according to the set standards. We are with them in this noble act.