Overview
Engagement Strategies are a user-defined list of fields that enables segmentation of a database for donor development and communication purposes. Unlike other user-defined fields used in profile segmentation, only one Engagement Strategy is applied per profile.
A single profile record may have multiple attributes applied from any of these user defined fields: Profile Types, Org Roles, Profile Fund Categories, Opportunities, and/or Grant Type Interest.
Engagement Strategies allow you to group profiles based on a variety of criteria determined by a user, and then assign them to a singular bucket for donor development and communication purposes - the singular bucket is the Engagement Strategy. This grouping allows you to easily prioritize and work with a defined group of people rather than having to repeatedly build custom lists based on a wide variety and combination of profile attributes.
Example
You can set up as many Engagement Strategies as you'd like (the example below lists five). The top tier is your most important constituents based on the criteria you choose. Criteria could include (but are not limited to) giving history, capacity, and service roles like board members. The next three tiers segment more constituents based on similar criteria with different thresholds. The bottom tier is everyone in your database who didn’t qualify for a higher tier.
You can develop Engagement Strategies that align with your annual communications plan, fundraising strategy, or other initiatives within your organization. By grouping your constituents into Engagement Strategies, you can pull communications lists and create opportunities based on one data point. A sample communications plan which uses Engagement Strategies is captured below:
Create & Assign Engagement Strategies
After you have created your Engagement Strategy buckets in the Profile Types setup area, there are two ways to assign profiles to Engagement Strategies:
- In Bulk: Create a list of profiles through filter reports in Profiles or Donors, or through custom reports. Then select ‘Add To Engagement Strategy’ from the left side-bar.
- Individually: Select ‘Edit Profile’ from the left side-bar when viewing a profile record. Select the preferred Engagement Strategy for this profile from the drop-down and Save.
The same methods used to assign Engagement Strategies can be used to remove Engagement Strategies from profiles.
Since a profile can only have one Engagement Strategy, when you bulk assign Engagement Strategies through filter lists or custom reports, any Engagement Strategies that were already applied to profiles from your list are overwritten with the Engagement Strategy you’re currently assigning.
After you’ve developed your tier criteria and set up your Engagement Strategy options, start assigning Engagement Strategies from your bottom, most inclusive tier and then work up tier by tier. This ensures that when a constituent meets criteria for more than one tier, they are in the highest tier they qualify for.