How Victor Chang helped existing donors keep heart

Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute saved an estimated 296 donors from churning over 3 months using Dataro’s software. With Dataro’s AI-powered donor scores, VCCRI was able to identify which regular givers were most ‘at risk’ of churn and funnel them into a rolling fortnightly telemarketing program to thank them for their support. Assuming each retained donor gave 6 further gifts, the program raised an estimated $57,311 and counting.

Key Results

  • 296 estimated regular givers saved
  • $57,311 estimated campaign return
  • 3.19 estimated campaign ROI

Donors at high risk of churn who received ‘thank you’ calls from VCCRI churned at a much lower rate than similar donors who did not receive a call. This graph shows how donors who did not receive the calls (black line) churned at the predicted rates. The donors who received the calls (orange line) had much better retention rates.

How We Did It

Dataro used machine learning to generate ‘propensity scores’ for all of VCCRI’s active regular givers. These scores told VCCRI how likely each donor was to miss three gifts in a row in the next 6 months. This broad definition captures both active churn (donors calling up to cancel) and passive churn (missed payments).

Dataro loaded the donor scores and ranks directly into VCCRI’s CRM (Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT) using our CRM integration.. This allowed VCCRI to select about 200 regular givers to call each fortnight, based on those who were the most at risk of churning. 

Some donors with high churn scores were excluded. For example, if they were marked Do Not Call or had received another call recently they were removed from the campaign. This gave us a de facto control group. Dataro’s predictions turned out to be highly accurate. By comparing donors who received the calls with excluded donors that had a similar propensity to churn, we calculated that VCCRI ‘saved’ 296 donors over three months.

Find out more about working with Dataro 

What they said

“The thing that stood out for me the most was that we are able to be proactive in our retention strategies instead of reactive. I don’t know a simpler and more accurate way than Dataro propensity scores to determine who and when to contact RGs for better retention.”

Andrew Jung

F2F & Telemarketing Manager

Want to see what Dataro can do for you?

More Case Studies

Testing Dataro across Australia for UNHCR direct mail appeals

Testing Dataro across Australia for UNHCR direct mail appeals

Australia for UNHCR is the UN Refugee Agency’s national partner in Australia, raising funds and awareness to support displaced people across the globe.  Direct mail appeals form a core part of Australia for UNHCR’s fundraising calendar. So in September 2021 the team embarked on a partnership with Dataro

Read more
How UNICEF Australia use AI to raise more for children in need

How UNICEF Australia use AI to raise more for children in need

UNICEF is a leading global non-profit working to improve the lives of children in need. As an organization that is 100% donor-funded, UNICEF Australia relies on the generosity of individual donors to fund their work. In 2020 UNICEF Australia partnered with Dataro to improve their direct mail appeal

Read more
Erskine donors leave a lasting legacy for Scottish veterans

Erskine donors leave a lasting legacy for Scottish veterans

Charitable income from legacies has quadrupled over the past 30 years and was forecast to top £4 billion per annum by the end of last year, experts say. It is little wonder that legacies (Gifts in Will) have become a key focus for charities that have one eye

Read more
Red Cross uses AI to find mid-value donors that help support communities in times of need

Red Cross uses AI to find mid-value donors that help support communities in times of need

Australian Red Cross have a bold objective to increase their mid-value program income from $7 million to $9 million by FY26/27 to help them improve lives and build resilient communities in times of need. In 2021 the charity launched a new mid-value strategy and communications plan, including a

Read more