I’ve long been an advocate for fundraisers to be better partners with our database colleagues because they can make or break your success. And after decades of working closely with our data buddies, I can say that they often get frustrated with us because we send emails like this:

“Can you pull a list of major donors?”

That’s it. No timeline. No parameters. No context.

When data requests go off the rails, it’s usually not because anyone’s trying to be difficult. It’s because we’re talking past each other.

Fundraisers are focused on goals. Database folks are focused on parameters. You’re thinking: “I need a list of lapsed donors for a postcard.” They’re thinking: “Define lapsed. Which years? Which exclusions? What fields? What format?”

When those details don’t get nailed down up front, your request sits in the queue. Or it bounces back with more questions. Or worse – it gets filled, but it’s wrong, and now you’re scrambling.

That back-and-forth burns time and goodwill. And in fundraising, timing matters.

But – there’s no judgment here. Most fundraisers aren’t trained in how to “speak database.” You know what you need, you just might not know how to say it in a way your CRM or advancement services team can use.

That’s what this post is about. Whether you’re a frontline fundraiser, a VP, or a one-person shop trying to wear all the hats – if you rely on data to do your job (and you do), you need to know how to make a clean, effective request.

​I can help you there.

Taking five extra minutes to complete a thoughtful data request could save you five days of email ping-pong – or five weeks of waiting for a fix when something gets pulled incorrectly.

And if your project is time-sensitive? It could cost you five big gifts. Or more.

Maybe a solicitation gets delayed because someone forgot to specify an exclusion. An important donor gets left out of an event invite because the list was pulled in a rush. The details matter.

You don’t have to become a database expert. But you do need to learn how to frame your request clearly. That means giving enough context for your advancement services or CRM colleagues to:

• Understand the goal
• Identify the correct records
• Exclude the ones you don’t want
• Deliver it in a useful format
• Hit your timeline without a panic button

That’s why I created a Data Request Template, and it’s all at the end of this post. But before you copy and paste, let me walk you through the thinking behind it.

Here’s what should go into every data request you make:

Date Needed
Start with the date you want to review the file. If you have a final send date – like to a printer, email platform, or gift officer – include that too. Build in review time and ask for it at least a week ahead.

Purpose
Be specific. Are you mailing a solicitation? Sending a digital campaign? Calling for event follow-up? This helps determine the right segments and delivery method.

Overview
Write two or three sentences describing the project. This gives your colleague a mental model of what you're aiming to do and why it matters.

Prior Pull
Have you asked for a similar file before? If yes, when? If it went well, that helps them repeat the success. If it didn’t, they’ll know how to make adjustments.

Report Criteria
This is where you define who should be in the file. What makes someone eligible? Think about giving history, affiliation, geography, or whatever criteria match your goal. Think of this as a net you are throwing around the prospects you want to see.

Exclusions
Who should not be in this file? Don’t assume standard exclusions. Spell them out: Deceased, Do Not Contact, Current Students, Faculty/Staff, Current Year Donors – whatever applies. Be clear. Think of this as a boundary keeping records out that you don’t want to see.

Format
Excel, CSV, PDF? Match your needs. If you’re importing into an email platform or using it for a mail merge, say so.

Fields Needed
Don’t just say “name and address.” Think through what you actually need: email, phone number, last gift date, last gift amount, salutation lines, grad year, etc. The more precise you are, the fewer follow-ups you’ll have later.

For instance, when I request a file and I want to see giving information, I ask for the file to include: last gift date, last gift amount, last gift fund, greatest gift date, greatest gift amount, greatest gift fund, and sometimes first gift date, first gift amount, and first gift fund. Sometimes I also like to see total lifetime giving and total number of lifetime gifts too. That list is a far cry from “giving history.”

Notes
If you’re estimating 5,000 records, say so. If this is part of a campaign with other moving pieces, mention that too. Context helps your colleagues prioritize and prepare. If you already have a draft of the specific message, you can attach that. Data folks love having the whole vision.

Want to copy it straight into your next email? Here’s a quick version:
​
Date Needed:
Purpose:
Overview:
Prior Pull?:
Report Criteria:
Exclusions:
Format:
Fields:
Notes:

Clear requests build better relationships. When you send thoughtful, complete data requests, you become someone your CRM team can trust. And when they trust you, they’re faster. More responsive. More likely to go the extra mile when you’re in a crunch.

This isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being respectful of their time – and protecting your outcomes.

​So yes, it might take five extra minutes on the front end. But that could save you five days of delays or five missed opportunities.

And those gifts? They’re worth it.

Want smoother workflows and faster data pulls? Or just want a second set of eyes on your advancement strategy? Let’s connect.

Cheers!

P.S. Like this kind of insight?
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If you liked this…

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• Culture of Philanthropy Check Up
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Building and maintaining a culture of philanthropy is hard work. It is deep work that takes years to build and moments to destroy. But having a healthy culture of philanthropy makes work more fun and makes fundraising easier. It’s worth having a periodic check-up to assess how your institution is doing.

Answer these questions for your institution:

Board Support

• Does your board of directors (or board of trustees) support the organization as current year donors at 100% participation?
• Board support is a sign of stakeholder investment. It also shows that your closest advocates are current with their support. The level of the support doesn't matter so much as the consistency and recency of that support. PS - It's easier to ask for others to give if you are a current donor.

Staff Support

• Does your fundraising staff support the organization as current year donors at 100% participation?
• Does at least 50% of your organization’s overall staff (and faculty) support the organization as current year donors?
• Again, staff support is a measurement of stakeholder investment. Does your staff (especially your fundraising staff, believe in the mission enough to back it with their personal funds? The level doesn't mean as much as the participation.

Alumni support (or Grateful Patient support)

• This category assesses whether those served by your organization’s mission give back to the organization later. This is a sign of institutional effectiveness.
• What is your alumni (or similar) participation rate? You’ll know whether this is good for your organization or not. The level at which this metric is outstanding varies widely from institution to institution.

Fun Factor

• Does your organization frequently have concrete signs that fundraising is seen as an enjoyable community endeavor? (For example, an annual gala, a stewardship picnic, a “Dancing with the Deans” competition, etc.)
• List what you currently do to put the “fun” in fundraising.
• Write down three new ideas to improve your fun factor.

Communications

• How often do your constituents hear from the organization without a fundraising pitch?
• Do these communications include stories of impact?
• Are you communicating in different media? Email, print, video, etc?

Stewardship and Donor Relations

• Do you have meaningful giving societies?
• Do you have a person designated to assist donors with any “customer service” type issues? 
• How is your data management and data integrity? Nothing kills a philanthropic feeling like your name being wrong on an invitation.
• Stewardship is not just the purview of the staff member with "donor relations" in his or her title. It is an office-wide perspective of service and connection. From your front desk associates to student workers/interns to your accountants on staff to gift officers and especially advancement services and gift processing staff, improving donor relations should be everyone's primary objective.

Other questions to think about:

• Does your organization show the impact of giving clearly and broadly?
• For major donors, do you create unique reports and experiences that connect for them their gift to the impact in the world?
• Do you see expressions of gratitude at all levels of the organization? Where could your organization do better?
• Are the needs of the institution are clearly expressed for donors of all levels using different media?
• Does the institution set expectations for giving through specific asks, giving society thresholds and endowment minimums?
• Are fundraising goals embraced by both fundraising staff and program staff/faculty?

How did you feel about the assessment? Where are you doing well? Where should you improve? 

As always, comments and questions are welcome and encouraged!

Cheers,

Jessica

PS - If you liked this post, you might also like these: 

• Goals versus projections
• What should a strategic plan contain?
• Planning for the Unexpected
• Conducting a Benchmarking Study
• My Exhaustive Event Planning Checklist

PPS - If you found this article helpful, please comment and let me know. Also subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising so you don't miss a post! You'll get my  guide to Call Center Games for Free!​​

So, this weekend my debit card/checking account was hacked for over $1,100! Lucky for us, we have a great credit union that helped me get the issue fixed immediately Monday morning and all of it (including the overdraft fees that it caused) will be fully refunded.

My mother asked me who actually ends up paying for these issues since the culprits are rarely caught. Strangely, I knew the answer because I have been trained on PCI compliance. The credit card companies end up eating the cost of fraudulent charges.
 
If you aren’t familiar with the term, PCI or PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and it is an effort on the part of credit card companies to prevent fraud and protect their bottom line. Anyone who charges credit or debit card is responsible for handling cards in a PCI compliant way.

As fundraisers (and more specifically phonathon managers), if you aren’t sure what PCI is or whether you are PCI compliant, you probably aren’t doing it right. Check with your Advancement Services staff and ask about this. Educate yourself, your student supervisors and your callers. The standards were updated in April 2016 and you can download them for review by visiting www.pcisecuritystandards.org/.

This happened to me at the University of South Carolina. We utilized every standard and precaution and took it very seriously. However, over a six week period, we started to get a string of complaints about rogue charges a few days after the alumni had made gifts via phonathon. There was no traceable pattern to the issues. Although we never identified the offending caller, we did isolate through analysis of our nightly seating charts that it must have been a caller who was overhearing other callers read out the number to the prospect for verification. We changed that part of the script and never had a problem again.

I talk about training our student callers about donor confidentiality and PCI compliance as often as I can because it impacts donor confidence in our organizations but also it impacts families. Most donors are not multi-millionaires, they are well meaning folks whose monthly budget can be wrecked by fraudulent charges and the time it takes to clean them up.
​
So, review the policies and start asking questions about how data and credit/debit cards are handled in your shop. Train your employees about properly taking care of the data, which is really taking care of people. It’s part of stewardship and it’s super-important.

If you found this article helpful, you may also be interested in my e-book How to Staff Your Phonathon Super-Fast: Seven Secrets to Fill the Seats. It's on sale now for $40 with the coupon code fillseats (valid through 9/1/16). This book guides you through innovative ideas and practices to turbo-charge your phonathon staffing efforts and break free from the hamster wheel of turnover. It also includes an appendix full of templates and samples to get you started implementing this system fast. ​

Advancement Services, Information Services, the database folks: whatever you call them, the partnership between fundraisers and this team is crucial. Make or break. Critical.

Usually, this group includes prospect research, gift processing, and those that do the demographic updates. Sometimes it includes those that maintain your website and other tech resources. These professionals create the reports and files that drive the work of fundraisers. These professionals go out and get the information you need to succeed. If you trust them, you trust the data you see in the database. If you trust them, you know they will take care of your donor’s gifts just as you would.

I’ve seen great partnerships between the development staff and advancement services. I’ve also seen departmental relationships which could best be characterized as Shakespearean (meaning you aren’t sure how many people might be dead before the meeting is over). Would you place a bet on which shop raised money more easily? Which group had a better time at work?

It’s a strange thing. The more successful a fundraiser is (in any area of development) the more work it is for these  staffers. You need them to be fully invested in your success, despite the fact that they will end up doing more work.

Reach out to these folks. Start by making an effort to fully understand their policies and processes. Show an interest in how they want you to request things and why. Bring back useful information that enriches the database. You make the first move by being a truly valuable partner. Make them love working with and for you.
​
Then be a friend. Acknowledge when you are making more work for them. Bring them cupcakes after you past milestones or significant deadlines. The effort you put into making this departmental relationship into a true partnership will be worth it. I promise.

Your phonathon contact rate is a metric that measures your data integrity. It answers the question: How often does a completed call result in a solicitation of the correct individual?

Contact rate is defined as the percentage of your completed calls that are actual contacts. The formula is number of contacts divided by number of completes. As previously stated, all contacts (pledges, refusals, etc.) are completes but there are also other non-contact completes including deceased, wrong numbers, do not calls, disconnected, etc. 

If your contact rate is 36%, this means that out of 100 completed calls, you are only asking 36 people for a gift. The other 64 calls are marked as wrong numbers, do not calls, etc. It is difficult to raise money in this data environment. A strong contact rate would be in the 60-70% range. The more times that you talk to the correct person, the more chances you have to raise money.

When contact rate improves, it becomes easier for the callers to raise money because they are making more solicitations per hour of work. When contact rate improves (even when call technique and caller performance does not improve), raising money becomes magically easier.

So, if you have a contact rate problem, what are some inexpensive ways that you can begin to improve this metric?

My first recommendation is always, begin with basic research.

Basic level research is a two-step process:​

1. National Change of Address (NCOA) research through the post office and,
   
2. A general phone append process.
   

Essentially, this process looks for people who have recently moved and then searches for whether there is a phone number at the new address. These two services are very inexpensive to undertake but are the foundation of a strong research program for phonathon fundraising.

You should check with your advancement services staff to see if NCOA is being done regularly. Oftentimes this is standard procedure for advancement services to run an NCOA but a regular phone append process is less common. If your shop doesn’t already do this, begin lobbying for this to take place. I would recommend NCOA be done quarterly and a phone append annually or once per semester.

Another thing to keep in mind as you inquire about this with advancement service staff is timing. Ideally, you would like NCOA and a phone append run in the summer as close as possible to the time that you begin you phone program for the new fiscal year. (Just make sure the results are incorporated into the database before the calling data is pulled and loaded.)

Your effort will be rewarded. Any time spent on data integrity and research is like giving your callers a magical head-start on your fundraising goals.