Segmentation

The segmentation module in DonorPerfect will allow you to create a mailing plan with multiple segments to easily exclude constituents that you do not want to send mail to, and to create a mailing list that you can then export in an Excel format. The module is found in DonorPerfect underneath Read More

The segmentation module in DonorPerfect will allow you to create a mailing plan with multiple segments to easily exclude constituents that you do not want to send mail to, and to create a mailing list that you can then export in an Excel format. The module is found in DonorPerfect underneath the mailings menu, and it is called segmentation. Once you access the segmentation module, you are going to see a list of segmentation campaigns that have been created already. If it’s your first time accessing the module, you will want to go and review your settings over and the top right corner. You will also be able to access campaign reports once you have segmentation campaigns, and you can create a brand new segmentation from scratch or copy an existing segmentation campaign when you want to create a new one. Each segmentation is going to be connected to a unique solicitation code. I am copying a segmentation campaign, and I have to determine two things from the start. One, I am going to give my segmentation a name. 

And then I’m going to choose its unique solicitation code. This is going to give me a list of codes that are currently active in the solicitation field, and I’ve not yet been assigned a segmentation campaign. We’ll select the correct one and click save my segmentation now appears at the bottom of the list. It has been created as an exact replica of the previous one that I copied. I can edit it by clicking the Edit icon on the left side of the segmentation campaign, and I’m going to see a list of all of my segments. You can create segments that are either including donors, meaning the ones that you want to receive this rec mail to, and also exclude the constituents that you do not want to mail to. This is done with a checkbox. For example, the first line is an exclusion line, and I am excluding the records that have requested no mail, and this is done by clicking a small checkbox. The order of the segment is very important, because once a constituent is found in a segment, it can no longer be found in a follow up segment. What does this mean? It means that each constituent can only exist once in the entire segmentation campaign. So if, for example, the constituents fit the filter of segment one, then even though they might also fit the filter of segment four, they will not be in segment four because they were already found in segment one. You can move your different segments by using these arrows that are found on the right side, or you can edit them by clicking the Edit icon on the left side. Once all of your segments have been created, you can click on summary, to see an overview of your current segmentation campaign. On this screen, you’re going to get a breakdown of each segment and how many constituents the system found for you, including those that will not be included. There are two columns to take a look at. The donor count. Column is going to give you the total amount, as well as the breakdown per segment of the people that will be included in your segmentation campaign. If you looked at the split donor count, you’re going to see how many donors were found or constituents were found that fit the criteria, no matter if they’re included or excluded. For example, there were 72 donors that fit the criteria of my exclusion of no mail names, but zero are part of my direct mail. 13 fit the criteria of monthly donors, and then 13 will actually be included in the direct mail and so on. You can also see your mailing code. This is a mailing code that is unique to each segment that will be added in the contact transaction. And you can see your cost. You can do cost either per segment, if it’s going to be different for each segment based on what you are sending each group, or you could have created a cost for the overall segmentation and let the system break it down evenly for you. At the bottom, you’re going to be able to update the segmentation and lock it in place. Once you are finished updating a segmentation will create all the contact transaction and make it locked so that you can no longer. Change it. Export Options is going to give you the ability to export either one file per segment, one file per split, or one file for all of your segments. This export file will be an Excel file that you can use to create your actual mailing or you can send to a printer for them to create it for you. Once your segmentation is finished, you can review your results after you’ve received your donations by looking at campaign reports. You can also use a feature found in the advanced search for data entry purposes that is called segmentation, where you could use a specific contact ID code to enter GIF and save time on data entry. The following videos are going to show you more details on how to set up the segmentation module, how to create the different segments, how to export the data and how to enter those gifts, as well as a couple of reporting options.

Let’s review the setup options in the segmentation module and how to create a new segmentation campaign. The segmentation module is found under mailings segmentation, and we’re going to take a look at the settings first. This should be done once at the very beginning, when it’s your first time accessing the module. And it should it can be reviewed at any time if you want to make change to the way you’re building your segmentation campaigns, the first thing that you’re going to have to identify is these four fields that will be helpful in data entry. These four fields will be coded for each segment that you create, so that when the gifts are coming back, after your donors have received a direct mail and are sending you their gifts back, you’re going to be able to enter a very specific code, and then all of those four fields will be automatically filled in for you, for that donor, typically, you want to use the first two fields To identify more information about what segment this group is in, and then the second two fields would be more general data entry options. In this example, I have a field called segment list and a field called segment package. The list is to identify the segment and the package one is to identify what exactly am I sending this the package can also be helpful. If I wanted to break down a segment and do some testing. For example, I would like to send 50% of the constituents in a specific group an envelope with a picture and 50% a white envelope and see which one performs better from a from here, you can also determine what mailing code you’re going to use. You have to option. The first option is the system generated option. This is the easiest option, because the system will create the mailing code for you, so you do not have to create it yourself. It will take the unique solicitation code associated with your segmentation campaign and connect it with the first two fields from this field mapping section. So for example, if my solicitation code is DM 24 and my segment is a and my package is b, then it’s going to create a mailing code of DM 24 maybe, if for you create a direct mail list with a lot of segments, each segment has to be unique, and the sense that it has to have a unique mailing code. So one of the things that you’re going to need to make sure before you can build your first campaign is that all of those codes have been created in CO maintenance ahead of time. You also do not have to fill in all of these fields, and you can determine how many of these you will actually use. So for example, if I didn’t want to use the segment package, I could leave it blank, or I could pick a different field. Another common field to use here would be sub solicitation if you don’t have specific segmentation fields. The second part of the setup, which I kind of alluded to, is really decoding, so all your codes can be found in settings code maintenance, and you’re going to need to make sure that you have a code for each of the fields that you want to use in the settings, as well as a unique solicitation code for this particular direct mail each segmentation needs to be connected to a unique solicitation code to add a campaign, you can click here, add a campaign and. And then we are going to name our segmentation campaign. Once I have named it, I can go to the solicitation drop down menu and pick the solicitation code that I want to assign to it. This is going to show me all current active solicitation codes that have not yet been connected to a segmentation plan. I’m going to select it here in the description box, you can enter the description of what this mailing is for, if you want. You might notice that a lot of the fields are currently grayed out, and I cannot do anything with those. That’s because the module is making sure that you save before you can continue. If you do not save, you cannot continue. Once the segmentation has been saved, I will now have all my options that are no longer grayed out, and I will be able to start adding new segments.

Let’s review editing a segmentation campaign and adding segments. To add a segment to your segmentation campaign you’re going to click on add new segment. The first thing that the system is going to prompt you to do is to name your segment. I’m going to start by adding a simple segment to exclude the constituents I do not want to send mail to. I’m going to create my segment by adding a little ex at the beginning so I can quickly see visually that this will be the constituents that do not want mail. The second thing you’re going to click on Set Selection filter, and you’re going to apply a selection filter to this group. You could create a filter right here, or you can use an existing filter from your DonorPerfect system. I’m going to go ahead and grab this filter that is called no mail. What you’re doing here is you’re finding a very specific group of constituents, and then we are going to exclude them. So my filter is really looking for all of the records that have the no mail checkbox checked yes to be able to continue, I need to save. Once I have saved, I’m now going to have another option, which is adding a segment split. Every single segment that you create always need to have a split. A split could be a breakdown, but it could also be 400% of the segment, which is going to be the case here, I’m going to click Add a segment split, and it’s going to give me this little square I can name my split. So I like to specify that this is exclusion, just again for visual effect. And then I’m going to have to give it a unique code. So remember, the mailing code is always going to be the solicitation code followed by the segment list and the segment package, so the first two fields selected here. So for it to be unique, I just need to make sure that one of these option is different than the future segments I will create. I have built in codes that are for exclusions only so that I can do that easy. So I’m going to choose x1 as my first exclusion. However, I do not want to send any of these constituents any mail, so I will not be creating a contact transaction in DonorPerfect. So I will uncheck the update contact checkbox. I will also check the Exclude group checkbox so that I can make sure that this group is not going to be included in my direct mail. I will then click save and exit, and I would be completed with this segment.
I am now going to add another segment. This time I will include some people. So I’m going to add a new segment to include my active donors. This can be determined with any criteria, I’m just going to choose a criteria as an example, and I’m going to include my active donors that have made donations so far this current calendar year. I’m going to grab a selection filter, and I’m going to get a filter from my folder that I have already created active donors current year, and I am simply looking at donors that have donations this year, to be able to continue, I need to save my segment to get the option to add a segment split. When I add the segment split, I’m not going to be able to name my split in this this one is not. An exclusion. So I will include these donors. I do have a segment list code that is called active donors current year, and this is where I could be creative and decide to do some testing with my direct mail. I could decide that I would like to take 50% of my current donors and send them an envelope with a picture on it, and then take 50% the other 50% of those active donors, and send them a white envelope. And then I would like to verify, or I guess, analyze, if there is a difference, if it’s making a difference. So I can do that by saying I do not want 100% of this group, but only 50% and then I could specify that it would be with photo this group is going to have a different segment package than the group without the photo. So I’m going to choose here the option called premium. I can also preset already which receipt thank you letter they’re going to receive, and what general ledger is this donation going to go to and this is simply to make my data entry easier when all the donations are coming back.
And so let’s go with the general fund. Sorry, I can also include a mail date if I want this to be added at a specific date, the mail date is going to be the date of that contact transaction that gets created. So if I’m building it today, but I know I’m only sending it in the mail on November 1, then I can go ahead and change the date here and put November 1. If I leave it blank, it’s going to create the contacts as of today. Now I’m going to add a second split, because right now, I only have 50% of my active donors, and the second split, I’m going to call this one active donors still, but this one is white. They’re getting the white envelope, and I’m going to leave the percentage at 100% meaning that 100% of this group is going to be getting an envelope that is white. That is not 100% of the total, but that is 100% of the people that are left after the first 50% got the picture envelope here, I’m going to leave these segment list active donors current year, I’m going to choose the package of control. So my mailing code is unique. In both of these. I’m going to assign it to the general fund, and I’m not excluding I do want to create the contact transaction, and then I’ll be able to click Save and Exit. And now I have my two segment so remembering that the order is important, whoever is found in the first group will not be found in the second group, and whoever is found in the second group would not be found in any future group. I could keep adding segments as many as I would, once you’re finished adding all your segment, you can click on summary to get the breakdown. When reviewing the summary, you could decide that you need to now add more segments, because this is not enough. This is you would like to have more than just 189 donors that you are mailing to. You can also see in the summary our getting our split breakdown. So it found 189 here, and is giving me 50% which is 95 and then it’s giving me 100% of the 94 left. You can go on click back to edit the segmentation and add more segment to it, you would simply click add new segment and keep adding.
As you add all of the segments that you need, you want to make sure that you are adding these segments in the right order. If you create them out of order, you can use these little arrows to move it at the right place. For example, I wanted to exclude my monthly donors, but if I leave them at the bottom of the list it, they will not really be excluded, because anyone who’s a monthly donor has also made a donation this year, so they’re already you exist in the active donor line. So you would want to move the monthly donor exclusion higher up onto the list. So I’m going to do now. Once you finish adding all the segments, after you’ve decided to do your edits, you can click summary again. You might notice that no change are displayed immediately. That’s because the segmentation calculates itself only for the first time. Automatically, anytime you need to make any changes and you need to recalculate, you have to use this compile button down here to do a recalculation. So I’m going to click Compile to. And now I’m going to get everything recalculated. We can now see that I am excluding my monthly donors, and I have now added another segment of labs donors. So I have now a total of 282 donors that I will be sending this direct mail to at the top, you will see results shown of last compilation, and it’s going to tell you when it was last compiled. This is a very good visual indicator to know that this is up to date. If you start working on your direct mail list today, and you only export the data and finalize it in a few weeks, you would want to make sure to compile before doing that, so that you have the most up to date information captured.

Let’s review how to update the segmentation campaign once it’s finished and export the mailing list. Once you are finished with your direct mail list and you are ready to create the actual spreadsheet and send it to your printer, you can go ahead and access the module and then access the list by clicking the edit button on the left side. And I’m going to go to the summary so I can do one last compilation. I’m going to compile to make sure that all my data is the most up to date. And once I’m sure that this is good, this is a list that I want I’m going to click Update. When I click update, the segmentation is not locked, and I can make no more changes to it. It also created a contact transaction in all of the constituents records that are going to be receiving this particular direct mail is I then have two options left. I can now update the cost, and I can export the direct mail. I can update the cost, because cost is one of the things the or, I guess, the only thing left that I can edit after the fact. So I can either go add in a cost for each of my segments, or I can add in a total cost of the segmentation, and then come here to update it. To see the result, I’m going to click Export Options to export the mail list. I can export one file per for the whole direct mail. I could do one file per segment, or I could do one file per split. The most common option is to do one total file for the whole segmentation campaign. And then you’re going to have columns identify which segments people are in. In the Export template option, I can go ahead and specify which export template I want to use. Your export template are found in settings. Export templates and have to be created outside of the segmentation module. I’m going to choose my segmentation direct mail template and click download. I’m going to save it on my computer.

I’m going to open up the folder it went in, and it’s creating a zip file that I can now open up. And inside the zip file, I do have end of your mailing CSV file I’m uh, columns A until J were added by the segmentation module, columns K and everything after are columns that are added by the DonorPerfect user who created this Export template so any fields from DonorPerfect that you want to include can be added. And then the segmentation module will add these particular columns. The first columns are simply, when was this last compiled? Will compiled it last what is the numbers segmentation that you’ve created so far? What is the name of your campaign. Then in column E, you’re going to have the segment name, and then in column F, you’re going to have the split name. So I have here my active donors, and then I will see the difference between those with a photo and those that have the white envelope. The column G is the mailing code, so that is the unique per segment or split mailing code. I do not have a mail date because I did not fill it in. It created the contact as of today’s date, and then I have this very unique number, which is the contact ID. The contact ID is the number that you would want to put on your response device so that when the donations are coming back, you can use it for easy data entry. So.

I’m going to just scroll down and show you how we have the full list everybody that’s on it, and then I have my lap stoner group afterwards. Okay, let me show you how to update the cost. So I would have to go back and I can this. I can put in a total fixed cost here, and it’s one or the other. You cannot do both. So either you know the total that is costing you, and you put it in the total fixed cost square, and then you would hit save. You would then hit summary, and that is when you would use the Update cost button. And this is and then it’s going to break it down. But how much it actually cost per each of my groups? Another option would be you would leave the cost here at zero, and you would instead put in the cost for each of the groups. So, for example, if I know that my active donors with a photo are going to cost me, so I still have the the one that I it did on its own before, but I can say it did. It was 170 and the ones that are white, maybe those were a little cheaper, because I had no photo. So it was only 120 and then I can save and exit, and I can edit the lap stoner one, and this one was also 120 because there’s no photo, and I can save and exit, and then when I go to my summary, I can update the cost again, and it will give me a new breakdown. And this time, it’s adding up the total for me, instead of doing the reverse dividing the total by the whole group.

The system also created the contact for me. So it created a contact with today’s date, because I did not put in a mailing date. And it is added this little note in the contact notes to tell me exactly that this contact record as a result of the segmentation module. And here are the details of the segment. It also filled in here my segmentation field, so it has added here a mailing code, potentially that field would be at the top in the different system. And then here I’ve got which list and package this person has received. And all of that was done automatically when I hit that button that said update. The last thing I wanted to show you is that when you take a look at the segmentation module, you will now see the lock icon next to my end of year mailing segmentation campaign, because that’s now been locked in place and can no longer be modified. So let’s review how you can use the segmentation code to enter your GIFs and save time with D data entry.

Well, when the responses are coming back, you can click on Advanced Search, and by scrolling down, you’ll be able to find the segmentation section and open it up, and you can put in the contact ID. So the contact ID is a unique code that each donor was assigned that is basically connecting this specific gift to the contact transaction that the segmentation module created by putting this contact ID on the response device. When all the donations are coming back to you, you can use it for the data entry. So I’m going to do an example. I’m going to put in the contact ID, and then I’m going to hit Enter, and immediately I found a donor that is connected with this contact ID, and it is pre filled for me, the solicitation code, the general ledger and the thank you template. These are the fields that I had preset in each segment that I created, it also prefilled the other two fields that I had preset, which is, which package is this in, and which list from here I just simply need to add the amount of the donation, what kind of payment? It is, and any other fields I would want to fill in and click save, I would then go back to the advanced search and search for a different contact ID that I have on a different response device. Click Enter, and that’s going to take me to a different donor that is in a different segment completely, with everything still being prefilled, I would then be able to enter this donation and save.

Let’s review some of the reporting options that exist in the segmentation module. So if I go to mailings segmentation and I access campaign reports, I’m going to be able to see a couple of different reports. For example, the donor list would give you a list of all constituents found in each split of the segmentation, included, excluded ones. The linear list will let you choose a specific split for a specific segment for a specific segmentation, and look at that list with their names, addresses and phone numbers, for example, if I was to choose my end of your mailing and I wanted to see who my monthly donors are, and I can go ahead and click screen or print or PDF or Excel or Word, depending the format I would like to See, and see this particular group of donor from here, the system is going to show me who are the 13 people that were excluded from my mailing and their name and address. Again at the bottom, click back to campaign reports to continue looking at reports. The history list is a report that will give you a list of all donors with gifts to a selected segmentation campaign. You can also look at segmentation filters, if you wanted a breakdown of all the different filters that you’ve used. You can look at segmentation Details to see some details of each split and segments you’ve created, and the segmentation segments will be similar, but it will give you results of gifts for all of those. The other report I wanted to show you, and really, I think the most used report, is the segmentation gift by code analysis. The segmentation gift by code analysis is going to give you an overall analysis of your campaign. So if I was to select my end of year mailing and click Screen, view it on screen, I’m going to see the results so far so I have mailed to 282 people, and I have received two responses, and that is only 0.71% because of how much I’ve spent, I have not yet made money. Much money, I say so, but that’s coming. I’m not too worried yet. I also have a breakdown by segment. So I have my active donor current year, which was 182 and then I got one response, which was 0.5% and I have my laps donors, which was 100 people, and that is one response. So that is 1% and I also can do the breakdown with my split. So remember when I said I wanted to test this picture envelope versus the white envelope? This is how you’ll be able to verify your results. So the people that received the picture envelope, there was 91 of them, and there was 91 of them that received the white envelope. And here is where you could see how many responded to each and you can also get your net revenue because your costs are included your average gift and Your net revenue per 1000 mailed. The ratios basically so thank you for watching our segmentation videos. You can get more information by accessing our knowledge base in DonorPerfect or by contacting our support team.