Blackbaud Data Health Solutions

Data Enrichment Services

To ensure that your database is ready for any analytics, the first step is to optimize the information you already have: first and foremost, your donor contact information. Even for online-only fundraisers, donor names and addresses are critical—nearly all data sources require a name and address to match data to your donor records. Some data (like social media profiles or influence segments) are connected only via email address—but that’s an exception for the most part. You should consider it a hard-and-fast rule that if you don’t have a high-quality name and address for a donor, it will be nearly impossible to append or derive any kind of value-added insight about that person. There are a series of best-practice techniques, which are essentially considered “table stakes” for nonprofits; in other words, they are processes you need to implement before investing in analytics or even sending fundraising communications:

• Address Standardization: Validating addresses against USPS® standards ensures accurate matching and delivery

• National Change of Address (NCOA): The USPS requires mailers to process addresses through NCOA at least every 95 days to maintain postal discount rates

• Proprietary Change of Address (PCOA): Catching those that do not complete NCOA forms, this process gathers change-of-address notifications from banks, credit cards, and utility companies

• Address Appends: Make sure addresses are completely deliverable to your donors by adding specific sorting information, such as apartments, suites, and routing numbers

• Deceased Suppressions: This process removes supporters who have recently passed away

• Duplicate Removal: Once data has been standardized and updated, removing duplicates allows better donor management, segmentation, and campaign optimization