Yesterday, we introduced you to two special people that a traditional RFM analysis would group as 4-6 month $25-49.99 multis.  To wit:

Since Sandy first donated to your organization in 1992, she’s given over 100 gifts.  Nothing exorbitant – she’s now giving $30 every three or four months – but she also has volunteered, come to three walks, signed up for emails, and taken almost every advocacy action you offer.

On the other hand, you acquired Miriam from an outside list in 2012.  She gave $25, but nothing since then.  You don’t have her email or phone number, but a last chance lapsed package piqued her interest four months ago and she gave another $25.

We talked about how their donation history can and should differentiate them.  There are additional indicators here, however, that can also enhance your messaging and segmentation:

Online interactions.  If someone is active online, it’s relatively simple to group their interests by their activity – what they click on, look at, and interact with.  (Actually, technically, interact with is the easiest, click on is slightly harder, and look at can be a bear with some online tools.)

With Sandy, she is an advocate for you and doesn’t seem to require premiums to donate – perhaps you can replace the labels in that upcoming package with a paper version of an action alert – cheaper, and likely more effective.

Other organizational interactions.  Sandy has been a walker – do you want to mention that your walk is coming up in 90 days in the PS or in a buckslip?  Similarly, you should probably customize the messaging to acknowledge that she has given her time as well as her donations.  Making her feel known will only help her loyalty.

Outside data.  Getting outside data on your donors can help you adapt your tactics.  If you find out that Miriam does all of her banking online, perhaps she’s a better target for an EFT-based monthly gift than you thought (with the right messaging).

List co-operative data may indicate that that she gives to nine other charities far more often and more generously than to you.  Perhaps she’s just not that into you and you might want to cut your losses soon than you might have thought.

You may find out she does a lot of business on the telephone and find that it isn’t your organization that wasn’t lighting her up; it was the means by which you were approaching her.

All this and more can come from data appends.  And you can try to get that email address and engage her online, so hopefully you can learn more about her.

All of this – donor and non-donor interactions – are masked by an overarching RFM category.  But what if we could dispense with RFM categories altogether?  We’ll talk about that Friday; if you don’t want to miss it, or any of our Direct to Donor posts, please sign up for our free weekly newsletter.