Digging Deeper: Avalon’s VitalStats™ All-Client Dashboard

At Avalon, we’re always looking for new ways to give context to our data. Using our own internal benchmarking tool—Avalon’s VitalStats™ All-Client Dashboard—is especially important, because our mix of clients tends to be different than the Target Index. 

So throughout the year, we compare Avalon client fundraising results to industry results as a whole. This gives us a more detailed benchmarking perspective for our clients and makes for a more relevant point of comparison than other public sources. It also helps us identify trends for Avalon clients across the board. For example, Avalon saw positive change in many key performance indicators by the end of 2015, and outperformed the Target index in terms of change in metrics like retention.

Here are some of the main takeaways from our most recent All-Client Dashboard analysis at the end of 2015:

• We’re showing fewer new joins (either due to softening response rates in acquisition or strategic decisions to scale back on acquisition) but stronger retention.
• Avalon clients are moving toward smaller, higher-value files. This is borne out by the condensed file sizes and corresponding increases in overall revenue and in revenue per donor.
• As file counts decrease, donors are giving more gifts per person—a typical trend. Our focus on growing monthly giving programs contributed to this increase.
• Multi-year and overall retention had declined slightly during 2013 and 2014, but both increased in 2015.
• First-year retention is around the 30 percent mark—well within the industry range of 20-40 percent.
• Average member gifts are rising across the board—especially among new joins and first-year donors.

These results confirm the wisdom of our focus on building relationships with supporters—keeping them engaged and educated, and offering them a variety of ways to give through fully integrated multi-channel campaigns. The result? A file of more committed, valuable donors.

Interested in digging deeper into your program’s metrics to see how your numbers stack up?

Contact Avalon today about setting up a VitalStats™ dashboard for your program to keep tabs on key performance metrics and emerging trends.