Avalon Launches VitalStats™ Benchmarking Dashboard
As an industry leader in analytics, Avalon makes benchmarking a priority and monitors industry benchmarking studies throughout the year. But analytically speaking, we’re always looking to dig deeper into the numbers.
So we recently compiled our new Avalon VitalStats™ Benchmarking Dashboard to provide our clients with more context for their data and measure how their metrics compare to industry and Avalon findings.
While this comprehensive Dashboard compares Avalon clients’ data to the nonprofit industry as a whole, it also provides an additional and potentially more relevant comparison than other public sources, as well as the opportunity to identify agency-wide trends.
We looked at data from ten clients on a rolling calendar-year basis, from January 1 to December 31, across multiple years and all sectors.
The results?
As you can see in the chart below, our clients’ performance generally followed industry trends, with some fluctuations along the way.
More takeaways from the Benchmarking Dashboard:
- Overall, the aggregate file size decreased as new joins and reinstatements declined, but multi-year donors remained relatively stable—a sign of healthy marketing programs.
- Similarly, more donors are giving more gifts per person as donor files condense. This is a typical trend, and growing monthly donor programs—which Avalon emphasizes—can also contribute to this increase.
- New joins declined over the four-year period we reviewed. This is not surprising, given that many organizations have cut back on acquisition funding. But average gifts are on the rise, indicating that those who do sign on are more committed to the nonprofits they support—a positive sign for long-term value.
- Multi-year and overall retention declined just slightly through 2013, but rebounded in 2014.
- First-year retention has been steady and right in the middle of the industry retention range for the past four years.
Overall, the aggregate data shows a smaller donor universe composed of higher-value donors—similar revenue totals, but higher income per donor from fewer donors. This reflects what the industry has seen over the past few years and is the result of many organizations strategically moving in the direction of a higher-value program.
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.