The benefits of a data analysis deep dive to shake up your fundraising programme strategy (even when your programme is already a success)
With the current economic situation, it’s becoming increasingly important for charities to make their fundraising programmes work even harder. A data analysis deep-dive can help your programme work smarter, harder and more effectively – even when it’s already a success!
That’s exactly what Battersea Dogs & Cats Home was looking for when they partnered with Woods Valldata. The data analysis deep-dive of their raffle was initiated to see if they could improve their raffle programme strategy even more!
Developing and growing a successful raffle programme with Battersea
Raffle is a successful fundraising product at Battersea. It has a strong heritage, a good response rate and healthy average gift. Even over the summer of 2022, when the cost of living was soaring, the response to their raffle campaign remained strong.
It would have been easy to sit back and let the programme coast, but Woods Valldata and Battersea wanted to keep the momentum going.
"The Battersea Raffle is a successful programme with strong growth, but it is important to me that we don’t stagnate and sit on our hands. The data analysis project means that had a chance to look at the big-picture stuff and come up with more strategic plans based on solid insight.” Kat Townsend, Digital Marketing Manager, Battersea Cats & Dogs Home.
Data analysis deep-dive stages
Woods Valldata proposed a 4-stage data analysis project programme based on their data strategy expertise to deliver the new raffle programme strategy.
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Data deep-dive to explore Battersea raffle trends and audience behaviours using historic player data to understand what’s happening in the programme
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Raffle benchmarking and best practice across the sector to see where Battersea are performing above average and where they could develop further
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Collaborative idea generation working session involving key stakeholders from Woods Valldata and Battersea to whittle down the top priorities which will make the biggest impact
- Strategic planning including testing plan for next 12-24 months to apply chosen ideas for maximum impact in the short and longer terms
Battersea's 4 main benefits of the raffle data analysis deep-dive
We asked Kat Townsend, Direct Marketing Manager and raffle project lead at Battersea, what she thought the benefits of the raffle data analysis deep dive was for her charity. “There were probably four main benefits to the project” she explains...:
1. The insights that came out of the data analysis deep-dive
Our internal database team are incredibly busy. It’s a relatively small team within a large organisation and there isn’t always capacity for bigger analysis projects like this one. So, it’s great to have an expert partner like Woods Valldata who are able to take on data work like this for us.
Quite often with data analysis, the report and presentation can feel overwhelming. But the Woods Valldata team brought it to life in a clear and relevant way for everyone in the meeting, from senior leaders to campaign officers.
I know that we got a great deal of value with the expertise and knowledge we got from this data project that we can apply now and into the future.
2. The team being excited about raffle
One of the biggest benefits of working with Woods Valldata on this project was the idea generation away-day where we workshopped what the data analysis deep-dive meant and what that looked like in reality.
At the end of the day, we all left knowing where the programme is going. Woods Valldata completed the project with a clear strategic pathway broken down by campaign with segments, ask strategies and tests. There’s a good mix of tangible, tactical things we can do now that will make an immediate difference and things that are longer term projects.
As a result, we’re all more excited about raffle. Some fundraisers see raffle as outdated – but it’s still a massive income stream for us and I’m confident that with our new approach it will continue to perform well into the future.
3. Building an even stronger relationship with Woods Valldata
It’s easy when a programme is successful to keep going and do the things you’ve always done. That’s the difference between working with Woods Valldata as a partner and other third-party suppliers.
Woods Valldata keep the conversation going around the top-line strategy stuff. It’s about building that strategic relationship. I really feel Woods Valldata is an extension of the team at Battersea and I’m excited to grow our relationship going forwards.
4. Boosting and future proofing the raffle programme
We really wanted to get a grip on how we improve things further as part of this project. We’re lucky to have an extremely loyal supporter base and we wanted to make sure their supporter experience was exceptional.
As part of the project, we looked at additional engagement pieces for core segments, second gifts on new players from cold, increasing life-time value and diversifying the testing plan.
We also wanted to explore ways to make raffle more relevant to a more diverse audience and this was included in the programme strategy as part of a longer-term project.
The structured testing plan focuses on areas that will make a big difference for us. We’ll continue to review the results both in the timeframe of the test and longer term so that we can see the ongoing impact.
Make your data work smarter, harder, and more effectively for you.
Woods Valldata have experience and expertise in data analysis to support your fundraising programme. Contact the team today to set up a free initial consultation to see where we can help you reach your ambitions.
