Taking measure of your events - what the heck does all that data tell you?

• Fri, March 05 2010
• Filed under: Events

photo by undoneclothing via flickr

We in the nonprofit marketing world spend a lot of time planning and holding events.  We should spend an equal amount of time assessing the mountain of data they generate - and using that information to inform our future strategies.  More measuring to learn and plan, please!

That’s the point made in a new eBook sent to me by Jono Smith of Event360 (and formerly of Network for Good - we miss you, Jono!).  It’s called Analyze This: A Nonprofit’s Guide to Event Fundraising Analytics.  You can download your free copy here.

This 18-page guide is designed to help event fundraisers move beyond only reporting the past and start using analytics to predict the future. A case study featuring the Komen Global Race for the Cure highlights how analytics helped formulate the steps the organization took to transform their highly attended event into a strong fundraising event.

For example, the guide explains that if you are struggling to build a reliable analytics program, start by looking at these key questions:

• What metrics are most important to your nonprofit?
• How does event fundraising impact those metrics?
• What are you currently measuring?
• How can you change those to take advantage of more information for more insight?
• What decisions will you make as a result of those metrics?
• What behavioral change is required?

I urge you to read it, because as I explained in my last post, knowing what worked and learning from what worked should be an approach we take much more often.  Seriously.