Mid-Level Giving Playbook

How can you use Dataro's Mid-Level ranks to grow your mid-level program?

What is Dataro's Mid-Level Propensity

• Objective: Identify which donors are most likely to give at the mid-level in the next 12 months? 
• Output: Mid-Level Rank (1 = most likely)

Basic Mid-Level Giving Use Cases with Dataro

• Build a ‘Mid-Level Prospects’ pipeline of donors ready to become mid-level givers
• Replace 'one-size-fits-all' donor journeys and communications with a personalized approach for your mid-value donors
• Identify active mid-level givers likely to continue in the mid-level cohort or likely to drop out of the mid-level cohort

Understanding Mid-level donors

Every organization has a different definition of ‘mid-level’. Dataro let’s you set your own thresholds, but most organizations class mid-level giving as either $500 - $4999 total giving in a 12 month period or $1000 - $9999 in a 12 month period. 

Mid-level giving is about cumulative gifts. A donor might give one big lump sum amount, or frequent smaller gifts that place them in the ‘mid-level’ range. These donors are very valuable in their own right and sometimes go on to become major donors as well. 

Dataro’s data shows that for many charities mid-level donors may only make up 2-3% of their donor base but contribute 12% or more of fundraising income. 

Building your campaign

Here's how you'll do it step by step:

1. Log into the Dataro app
2. Go to Donors & Audiences > Audience Builder
3. Click "Filter" in the top right corner
4. Add a filter for "Mid-Level Donor Rank” [insert your planned campaign size]."
5. Add any other filters you require (e.g. age, contactability, etc).
   1. For example: exclude “Active Mid-Level” donors if you only want a list of mid-level prospects, not existing mid-level donors. 
6. Click "Save filters." Now you have a list of the best qualified donors.
   
   
7. Update the columns to include Mid-Level Donor Rank, along with any other helpful attributes, like last gift date, total giving, future giving, etc.
   
8. Click "Save audience" and name it something recognizable
   1. If you’re planning to run a 6-12 months journey to the same set of donors, save the audience as a static audience.

Dataro's Mid-level donor program summary

To find more information about your mid-level donors, do the following: 

• Go to Reports
• Select the ‘Reports’ drop down
• Scroll down to Mid-Level Donor Program Summary 

The Mid-level donor program summary uses your definition of mid-level donor. The report showcases the health of your current program and identifies your top prospects.

Building a mid-level giving pipeline with Dataro

The Mid-level donor model identifies donors who are likely to donate a mid-value gift within the next 12 months. Here’s how to get more mid-level upgrades during that time: 

• Use Audience Builder to identify your top mid-level prospects
  • Select your desired volume using the Mid-Level Donor Rank
  • Remove ‘Active’ mid-level donors to isolate prospects only
  • Save this group as a static audience
• Design a 6 -12 month conversion journey for this group of donors
  • An easy tactic is to simply send these ‘prospects’ the same journey you were planning for your existing mid-level donors. 
  • Personalized outreach is recommended to make mid-value donors feel more involved and valued. 
  • Omni-channel campaigns work best. Plan a journey that includes email, mail, calls, SMS, impact reporting or even event invitations.
  • Additionally, small gifts, like a coffee voucher or branded swag, can be given to further enhance the donor's experience. 
• Test your outreach methods and cadence
  • The cadence for outreach is flexible but should treat mid-value donor prospects like they are already mid-level donors. 
  • Try to maintain a consistent message across the entire journey. A great tactic is to educate prospects about a mid-level product before asking them to join!
  • Don’t leap straight to the big ask! This is a multi-step journey - you want to focus on education and relationship-building first and then make your ask.
  • The best teams might randomize their list of prospects and test two different upgrade strategies, such as: 
    • Strategy A: no change to messaging, only increase ask amount
    • Strategy B: ask mid-level prospects to fund a special product/program
  • Our clients have seen success with the following tactics:
    • Asking mid-level prospects to give to a restricted fund
    • Simply increasing their base ask amounts to mid-level donors
    • Adding thank you post-cards, calls and event invites to journeys
    • Asking mid-level prospects to contribute to a Matched Giving Fund. The "Matched Giving Fund" would then be deployed on a "Matched Giving Day". A matched giving day is a fundraising event where a sponsor or organization (or group of donors in this case) pledges to match donations made by supporters up to a certain amount. This means that for every dollar donated by an individual, the sponsor will contribute an equal amount, effectively doubling the impact of each donation. Matched giving days are designed to incentivize donors to give more by offering them the opportunity to have their contributions matched, thereby increasing the total funds raised for a cause or organization.
  • Timing and Strategy for Making Asks
    • For prospects, make asks towards the lower end of the Mid-Level range for prospects and leverage the Dataro Ask amount to identify the best ask for your donor. 
    • For existing mid-level donors, use Dataro’s Future Giving model & ask amount to help determine the best ask strategy.  
    • Tie your asks to something specific, related to a cause the donor has given to or shown interest in before. 

Reviewing and Updating Mid-Level Ranks - Create ‘flow-in’ & ‘flow-out’ groups

Each donor’s mid-level rank will change over time as they engage with you. That means a donor might increase or decrease in their likelihood to become mid-level. 

Here’s some best practice tips for handling changes in rankings:

1. If you select a segment of mid-level donors for a 6- 12 months journey, save it as a Static Audience. Keep these donors on that journey for the full journey, regardless of whether or not their ranking changes. At the end of the journey, you want to see which donors do become mid-level and which donors don’t. 
2. During the journey, some new donors will get higher mid-level rankings. This is your next batch of mid-level prospects. At least once per quarter (but ideally every time you run an appeal), create a new batch of mid-level prospects by selecting the top Mid-level donor ranks who aren’t already in one of your mid-level audiences. This is your ‘flow-in’ group. 
3. At the end of each journey, review which donors are not giving at mid-level and remove them from your mid-level segments. You’re wasting money continuing to send this group premium materials. This is your ‘flow-out’ group.