The University of Oregon just wrapped up a historic campaign. Telling the story of our $3.24 billion campaign through data has been a blast! Knowing how all the data puzzle pieces fit together was exhilarating. The building blocks for all of this were data, stories, and partnerships.
Here are 7 steps to have in place for nimble campaign end reporting. Depending on where your advancement team is on the digital transformation continuum, reporting, analytics, communication, and staffing are all relevant considerations as you think about all of these ideas. Then check out how we did with our honest assessment.
Step 1: Assemble a small campaign end reporting team
Campaign storytelling requires campaign data and donor information to come together to create compelling narratives. Campaign end reporting teams include: the campaign strategists and directors accessing data from analytics and reporting colleagues; they are the stewardship and principal gifts directors collating and collecting years of donor experiences and stories. Communications partners must weave this information together for compelling, inspiring campaign storytelling.
Campaign fundraising data and donor information are two buckets of information collection and analysis and must be effectively funneled to the communications partners. Consider this:
- Assign a campaign fundraising data lead who knows the data inside and out.
- Assign a donor story/information lead who knows the big gifts, impact stories, and narratives.
- These leads must funnel the right information to the communications team to create the collateral for press releases, social media content, interview notes, and website updates.
- These leads work to validate the data and information in draft documents.
- Communications partners coordinate rollout plans and timelines with stakeholders.
Step 2: Establish the communications and rollout timeline
Set up a timeline with an “order of operations” that includes stakeholder groups and by-whens, such as:
- what reports need to be run when;
- who needs to know what by when;
- what emails should be sent by what date.
Ideally, all of this would be in a workflow/project management software with assigned staff. Consider the timing of campaign press releases with units and DOs wanting to communicate with their donors and alumni. Where does your alumni association fit in? Partner along the way with this well-connected, dynamic team.
Step 3: Determine campaign data points for storytelling
Invite stakeholders into the discussion about what campaign data points will be important to convey to your audiences. Don’t make it too complicated and keep new analytics to a minimum. Start with the data sources that already exist.
Define with your stakeholders who your audiences are. The data will be different for boards, deans, staff, etc. The ideal scenario is to establish a common dataset that serves as many audiences as possible.
Pro Tip: Create a common dataset for all the data that you’ll need for campaign-end reporting.
- Test it out for a few months before your campaign end date.
- Stick to the data points that you have reported on for years. Everyone is used to these, they’re familiar.
- Include new data points and analysis as questions arise and consult with others about how they’ll serve the campaign storytelling.
- Keep new analytics to a minimum.
- The common dataset should be accessible to your entire campaign reporting team.
- Build charts and interpretations that are accessible and easy to roll out to colleagues.
Use the comprehensive campaign reporting framework to inform your unit campaign reporting framework. The big campaign picture should inform the unit pictures.
- Similar data points for unit campaign reporting allow for cohesive storytelling.
- Prepare data requests in tandem at the unit level.
- The common dataset is a framework that’s updated at the unit level.
Step 4: Seek feedback to create the most effective information packets
Your goal is to create information packets that help them understand how their area performed in the campaign. So ask some colleagues, What do you want to know? What do you need to know? Invite colleagues to be sounding boards and testers for an effective rollout of campaign information. This feedback is especially useful when gaining insights into how the information will be used, which feeds into the most effective way to package data and information.
Partner with development assistants, stewardship (unit and central), prospect management, communications, and colleagues interacting with an advisory board. You might just learn information that causes you to head back to steps 1, 2 or 3.
If you create it in a silo, you may as well keep it in a silo.
Step 5: Streamline unit campaign information packets
Approach unit campaign reporting in a streamlined and unified process. Once you have your feedback from stakeholders and partners, be transparent about what units and stakeholders can expect: packets of data and reports prepared for them; a level of self-service options that they can conduct on their own; as well as ad hoc analysis as needed.
Pro Tip: For unit campaign reporting, we called this the “90-10” approach, where 90% of unit campaign reporting was delivered to the units as a streamlined and uniform approach. All units received the same reporting packet tailored with their data, reports, and slide deck, and we expected that it met 90% of their needs. There was an expectation that units would use self-serve reporting and analysis for additional data points beyond what was delivered. This approach helped units hit the ground running, and saved a lot of time for the campaign reporting team.
Some units may not meet their campaign dollar goal. As mentioned in the “how’d we do” section below, there’s an opportunity to help provide storytelling for both sets of units.
Step 6: Implement a thoughtful rollout plan
Implement a transparent communication process for your stakeholders and colleagues to keep informed. Communicate to colleagues regarding campaign end reporting telling them what they can expect, by when, how it will be shared, and what to do if they have questions. Do this a month ahead of the campaign end date, then a week ahead of the delivery date.
Pro Tip: Asking DOs for their donor and gift stories along the way may alleviate the mad dash for communications “call for stories” post-campaign.
Where will you store and share reporting? Establish file sharing processes well ahead of time. Using OneDrive or shared file systems removes the confusion of multiple versions of documents. Don’t overlook file security and donor privacy.
Pro Tip: Create a OneNote document guide that walks your users through packet contents, FAQs, expectations and next steps, self-serve reporting instructions, and who to contact for help.
Step 7: Activate your plan and expect the unexpected
It’s time to place your faith in your plan. Remind partners and stakeholders of the timelines, deliverables, and expectations. Activate the plan and expect unexpected and ad hoc requests. For us, we received several unexpected data requests. Fortunately, these were all easy to answer as a result of our common dataset.
Pro Tip: Alert colleagues that they must not share totals (grand total or unit totals) before the public release. You don’t want anyone to spill the beans before the big reveal, including the president.
We implemented a clear decision-making protocol to handle unexpected requests for campaign data before we were ready to go public. Because of our protocol, we weren’t confused or uncertain about what to do.
As we geared up for the public announcement, be ready for press organizations asking for fact-checking and backup data. Carve out time, be responsive, and be patient.
How did we do? An honest assessment
The bulk of the feedback from the reporting roll-out was supportive and constructive, with ideas for future and ongoing applications. Here are a few things that didn’t go perfectly:
- The timing of our press release was delayed placing the public rollout on hold. We did not keep colleagues updated on the delay, causing some confusion about when they could update their stakeholders and share reports.
- The campaign packets were geared more so for units who hit their dollar goals, therefore helping to convey those success stories. A few units did not meet their campaign dollar goals. Units not hitting their dollar goals have a different, yet equally compelling story to tell. The unit campaign reporting packets could have been proactive in helping both sets of units tell different stories.
- We used OneDrive file sharing, but the accessibility glitched along the way for some colleagues.
- A unit director decided to not use the campaign packets and so used their shadow dataset instead. (note: apparently shadow datasets continue to exist)
Preplanning means a stress-free campaign end
Campaign end reporting and storytelling is one of the best campaign phases. It’s a blip of time not recognized on that timeline the campaign consultant gives you when an organization starts a campaign. Implementing these steps will give you confidence in this reporting phase. Make this your favorite campaign phase, and one that is mostly stress-free with planning, preparation, and partnering. It will result in compelling storytelling and memorable narratives.
By Maureen Procopio
Senior Director, Campaign Strategy and Institutional Benchmarking
University of Oregon Advancement
541-346-2061