Cell phones. Broadband internet. Those little doodads that stretch across your shoes so you don’t slip on ice.
Every year, new technology introduces us to innovations we never dreamed of that we suddenly cannot live without. Add to that list Clarity, EverTrue’s revolutionary analytics and benchmarking product that you didn’t even know was essential to your fundraising program. Clarity is to fundraising what rear-view cameras are to driving. (Remember the neck strain you got trying to twist your head like an owl?)
If you’ve only heard a little about Clarity and think it’s just for teams that struggle with reporting, you’re in for a treat. Today, we’re breaking down eight reasons Clarity will soon be mission-critical to everyone’s fundraising success. Whether your shop has major data headaches or is already blessed with exceptional reporting, get ready to see why Clarity is a necessary part of your fundraising toolkit.
Reason 1: Everything is On-Demand
With Clarity, you can instantly access the data you need in a matter of seconds. Gone are the days when you had to complete a request form and wait several days only to receive a spreadsheet you needed to interpret. Gone is the need to manipulate your spreadsheet for hours just to answer your initial question. No more worries in your gut that the report you’re looking at might have mistakes or have been pulled using criteria you didn’t expect.
Data is critical to planning and executing an effective fundraising strategy. Why not put that data directly in everyone’s hands? With Clarity, even your most technophobic colleagues can join the fun, running their own analyses and finding actionable information they would otherwise miss. The end result is an empowered advancement team and an advancement services unit that has the time and bandwidth to focus on the complicated work they were born to do. Everybody wins.
Reason 2: It’s Easy for Everyone to Use, and We Mean Everyone
Say “hello” to visual data that is so easy to access that literally anyone can do it. If you know how to use a mouse and keyboard, you know how to uncover hidden fundraising opportunities with Clarity.
Want to see how much money you’ve raised in the campaign to date? Click. What if you just want to see scholarships? Click. Just the endowed ones? Click. What about just endowed scholarships for the College of Business that were given over the past ten years in gifts ranging from $135,000 – $852,000 and only from parents? Click. Click. Click. You no longer need to be a programmer to answer your questions, regardless of how unusual and granular they are. If you’re not used to accessing data this quickly and easily, you’ll feel like you’ve just received a magic wand. Remember: use those new powers for good!
Reason 3: If You’re in a Campaign, Clarity is a Must-Have
Even comprehensive campaigns that count “everything and the kitchen sink” present significant reporting challenges. Campaigns are defined by their goals, and comprehensive campaigns seem to have a million sub-goals that make up the whole. Often, campaigns are designed to have “pillars,” which are thematic groupings that only make sense when they’re in a campaign context. Pillars like “preparing students for global citizenship” might include contributions from various units and fund categories. How can you track your progress toward goals when all the gifts that count are spread across your whole campus?
It’s easy with Clarity. Developed for over a decade specifically for comprehensive campaigns, Clarity allows you to track campaign progress according to whatever pillars and themes you choose. Just tell EverTrue how you would like your campaign funds tracked, and you can use Clarity to filter giving reports that will show you exactly where you are with each of your campaign subgoals.
And if you’re nearing the end of the campaign and you change your mind about how funds are categorized—not that anyone ever does that!—we can accommodate that, too. We have your back, campaign managers!
Reason 4: You Can Tailor Clarity Just for You
If you’re a fundraiser for the athletics department, you only want to track athletics activity. It’s not that you don’t love your colleagues, but let’s face it—you want to be able to see each day how the gifts to athletics are performing, where the hidden athletics prospects might be lurking, and whether the athletics-related gift proposals are heading toward a successful close. The rest of the information is often just noise.
We get it—you’re busy! That’s why Clarity can be customized for you and every other user. You can create as many “custom views” of the reports as you like, and you can even change the default settings so that all of the dashboards appear as “athletics-only” by default.
And don’t worry—you can still access all the other data with just a few clicks, so you’re not giving up your ability to see the other information when needed.
Reason 5: You Can Rely on its Accuracy
This one goes out to the more data-minded among you. We know what you’re thinking: no reporting “product” could ever work for our institution due to the wacky way our data has been coded historically.
Trust us, yours is not the only institution with data protocols set years ago by someone who was either acting maliciously or very over-caffeinated. We have seen it all!
This is why EverTrue works hand-in-glove with advancement services to ensure that Clarity’s results match the ones at your organization. So even if an evil wizard coded all your college degree information years ago under “events,” Clarity can help you make sense of it. We promise.
Reason 6: You Can Download the Data
We’re big fans of visual data. Did you know that your brain processes visual data thousands of times faster than tables, reducing your cognitive load so that you can make faster decisions? Visual data helps you see trends more clearly so you can anticipate issues way earlier than you otherwise would.
But sometimes, you just want to cuddle up with a hot cocoa and a massive spreadsheet, right? We get it… sorta. So, for those of you who will only lose the spreadsheets when they’re pried out of your cold, dead hands, you’ll be happy to know Clarity’s beautiful dashboards can be downloaded into spreadsheets in a matter of clicks. And yes, if you filter the data seven ways from Sunday, the spreadsheet data will match the filter criteria. See? We really did think of everything!
Reason 7: It’s Integrated With Signal
Clarity is available on its own, but when you see how amazing Signal by EverTrue is, you’re going to want them both. Clarity and Signal are the best pairing since that one guy accidentally dropped his chocolate bar into another guy’s tub of peanut butter at the movies. (Remember that commercial? Did you wonder why the one guy was eating peanut butter in a movie theater? We did too!!)
So, if your organization already has Signal, we have great news: you’ll get the dashboards that come with the Clarity suite and more! And if you didn’t think anything could make Clarity cooler, just wait till you see it paired with Signal. Signal will allow you to transfer your filter results into EverTrue prospect lists instantly, and you can click through to the prospect profiles directly from the result set! Plus, Signal will make your fundraising team vastly more productive, making the Clarity dashboards much more fun to show to your board. (Dashboards are always better when they make you look good, right?)
So, if you’re getting Signal, be sure to schedule your dashboard implementation so you can take advantage of all that we have to offer!
Reason 8: One Word: Benchmarking!
Ever wonder if you’re normal? Don’t worry—wondering whether you’re normal is a sign of being normal.
Sometimes, it’s nice to look around and see whether other institutions have the same struggles yours does. Maybe you’re wondering if other places are seeing a decline in unrestricted giving, or maybe you’re wondering if all institutions are seeing an uptick in gift participation, or if yours is just uniquely fabulous. (Spoiler: it is!) It’s nice to see whether your portfolios are being managed similarly, whether your fundraising team is as understaffed as you suspect, or whether other places are seeing changes in how their major gift relationships are progressing.
For those times when you’re asking, “Am I normal?” Clarity has the answers. And because benchmarking isn’t just about what the other folks are doing, Clarity also allows you to see how you compare against yourself. You’ll be able to instantly uncover whether your fundraising progress is tracking above or below where it typically is at any point in the year, allowing you to either take corrective action or take a deep breath and remember that every other November feels the same way.
And there you have it—8 reasons why Clarity is even more useful than those umbrellas that close upside-down. (Have you seen those? Amazing!) Whether you’re looking to anticipate the future, find money that might be left on the table, or customize reports tailored just for you, Clarity is here to make your data dreams come true.
Ready to experience it for yourself? Schedule a Clarity demo today!