Tools
CONTENTS:
Here's a useful mail tool from Melissa Data, a well-known company that provides mail lists and other services to marketers. You can use it to get free counts for your mailings in a particular zip code. You can also buy the list from them if you append your selections during the process.
For instance, if you want to find zips or buy lists for planned giving mailings, you could choose:
- people with income over $50,000;
- who are over 45 (new average planned giving age is 49 according to statistics presented by Lawrence Henze at the recent APRA conference);
- and have owned their homes at least 5 years (since planned givers generally don't trade up much in the home area. Thanks Lawrence.);
- and have a limited number of adults and children in the household;
- who have gas, travel and specialty credit cards (planned givers use credit conservatively and usually when they get an advantage like miles or savings. Lawrence, take a bow!).
Using these selects, I got a count of 359 for one Oregon zip but, in comparison, only 23 for another. So the zip with the larger count is better for planned gift prospecting and mailings.
There are other ways to limit the select, such as lifestyle. For instance, conservation nonprofits might be interested in people whose lifestyles include the great outdoors. You could also use the tool to identify zips in your area that have high incomes for prospecting in your database or wealth screenings.
https://www.melissadata.com/lists/consumerlist/selectlist.aspx
Peter is passionate about data mining. I think he must dream of chi-square tables and bar charts. I am a comparative newcomer to statistical analysis. So when I read one of Peter's data mining articles, I had to e-mail him to ask for more. Ever eager to stand on the pulpit of statistically significant, valid and reliable donor data mining, he immediately shared the links to some of his articles with me.
These articles present some interesting ideas and approaches and, for the most part, they are easily understood by the lay person. He does throw in a few statistics buzz words, particularly in the last article listed, so http://dictionary.com is your friend. For more technical explanations, see
http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/~stark/SticiGui/Text/gloss.htm.
Getting To Know Your Online Donors Can Pay Off
http://www.datadesk.com/products/mediadx/keydonor/Getting%20to%20Know%20
Your%20Online%20Donors.pdf
Deep Pockets: Where the Alumni Money Is
http://www.datadesk.com/products/mediadx/keydonor/Deep%20Pockets.pdf
Sports, Fund Raising, and the 80/20 Rule
http://www.datadesk.com/products/mediadx/keydonor/The%2080-20%20Myth.pdf
A Simple Score
http://www.datadesk.com/products/mediadx/keydonor/Simple_Score.pdf
Are Donor Dollars Related To How Long Their Names Are?
http://www.datadesk.com/products/mediadx/keydonor/Length_of_Name.pdf
If you need to convert any type of file to a .pdf file, here's a freeware utility that lets you do so in one easy step. After installing the software, open your document and select the CutePDF Writer as your printer. Name and save the document and presto change-o, you have an instant file that can be opened by anyone with the Adobe Acrobat Reader. I use this little tool to send things like family trees to development officers so they don't have to have the Family Tree Maker software (and it's easier to use than the Family Tree Maker .pdf conversion process). Use it to make .pdf files to add to your organization's Web page or database or to send Word-processed files in a format that will prevent the reader from making changes.
http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
Chris Mildner
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