So You're Saying There's A Chance?

Yeah, I know it's a cliched joke.

Here's a very involved idea that might not pay off. There's some risk and some uncertainty. A lot of people won't like it, won't buy into it, and might end up scorning it even though it may have seemed rational at one point.

Create a system that measures a caller's chance of getting a particular pledge. No, not for the caller, for the prospect. Call it the GPR: the gift probability rating. It will be the primary measure of how well a caller is doing, how tough the caller's assignments are, and which callers are getting the short end of the stick. It may also aid in group specialization for callers and individual training.

It must first be said that this system would require a huge investment. I mean, HUGE. Like REALLY HUGE!!! Did you get that? Good, because here it goes. Calling will take longer initially, as will every other job going up the ladder. There will be some numbers that help but there will also have to be some guessing. And a lot of those guesses will be wrong: too high or too low. Wrong when you think they're right. Right when you think they're wrong. The system is not likely to mesh with CampusCall. You probably won't even realize until the burden of the system starts to kick in how tough this is going to be.

I haven't quite worked this out yet. I'm not good enough. A CIS major might have a shot at it. But the GPR's can't be made arbitrarily, so here are some inputs, some easy and some tough:

• percent of years given (times given over years since graduation)
• number of activities involved on campus
• number of activities involved post-graduation (think small on this one)
  
• current career/income
• Times gift amount has increased
• Toughest part: someone has to put a figure on how "happy" the student was on campus and how much she generally liked the university experience
• Addendum: if there is any reasonable circumstance during which a caller can ask a prospect for this kind of number, go for it!

Obviously, this isn't the complete formula. This isn't the complete equation. Some of these ideas may not even work or be correct. It will take some trial and error. There is no exact science of getting into the heads of alums. (Well, there is but we need their consent.) But callers need to know their chances and Annual Giving needs to know that callers are measuring up. This system is NOT an excuse, but rather an opportunity. But it's an investment...and something to talk about.