Decoding Metrics: Rethinking What Success Looks Like in Public Fundraising
As we become more data-driven, how can fundraisers stay values-driven?
The modern fundraising landscape is driven by measurement. Open rates. Conversion rates. Lifetime value. Return on investment. Every campaign, every donor journey, every decision is accompanied by metrics.
And for good reason. Data is essential. It helps us understand our audiences, refine our strategies, and respond with precision. It has given fundraisers the tools to move from instinct to insight. But in our race to optimise, segment, and automate, a more difficult question often gets lost: what are we actually measuring and why?
The Illusion of Precision
It’s tempting to treat digital fundraising data as truth. Numbers offer clarity. They seem neutral, objective, and reliable. But metrics are only as meaningful as the values behind them. A 30% increase in donations might seem like a win. But what if it was driven by urgency messaging that eroded community dignity? What if the campaign performed well at the cost of reinforcing harmful narratives?
Data does not inherently account for ethics, for power dynamics, or for long-term community trust. And yet, these are the very things that define the quality and integrity of public fundraising.
We must be honest about the fact that not everything worth measuring is measurable and not everything measurable is worth pursuing.
What Gets Measured Gets Prioritised
Fundraisers are evaluated by performance indicators. Teams are rewarded for reaching targets. Campaigns are judged by what they generate. Over time, these metrics begin to shape the work itself. And when performance becomes the only compass, values can get sidelined.
This dynamic becomes particularly problematic in contexts where fundraising intersects with global inequality and structural injustice. We end up measuring success by financial outcomes, not by the quality of storytelling, the authenticity of partnerships, or the power of community voices.
For INGOs, the danger is that digital transformation becomes a numbers game. That fundraising is reduced to growth curves and dashboards, rather than a practice rooted in solidarity, consent, and care.
From Extraction to Engagement
At its worst, data-driven fundraising becomes extractive. We mine donor behaviour for insights, segment people by their giving habits, and automate touchpoints to maximise yield. The language of mining, targeting, and conversion is familiar in marketing, but it can sit uncomfortably in the nonprofit world, especially when paired with narratives about justice, equity, and empowerment.
There’s an inherent tension here. Ethical fundraising is not just about raising money. It’s about how we engage, what we communicate, and whose agency we honour. Metrics that fail to reflect this nuance risk rewarding the wrong things.
Do we measure the quality of consent in our storytelling?
Do we track how communities feel about being represented in campaigns?
Do we evaluate how empowered our donors feel after giving or whether they feel guilted, manipulated, or disconnected?
These questions are harder to quantify, but they are essential to building a fundraising practice rooted in dignity.
Building a Values-Based Metrics Framework
What would it look like to design a fundraising evaluation model that reflects our ethics as well as our goals?
It would mean creating space for qualitative evaluation alongside quantitative reporting. It would mean consulting with communities before launching campaigns, not just with funders. It would mean asking whether high-performing appeals align with our values, not just with our targets.
Some starting points:
1. Expand what success means.
Include measures of donor trust, community dignity, inclusive language, and ethical representation. These might not have simple numerical outputs, but they offer essential insight into the integrity of your campaigns.
2. Create a culture of reflective analysis.
Don’t just ask what worked. Ask why it worked, and what it cost. Did this campaign perpetuate a narrative of helplessness? Did it contribute to systemic understanding or simply drive immediate donations?
3. Embed community feedback loops.
Build mechanisms that allow affected communities to review, challenge, and shape how they are represented. This feedback is as important as donor behaviour data.
4. Track long-term donor relationships.
Rather than focusing solely on acquisition or immediate conversion, measure how donors evolve in their understanding, their engagement, and their relationship to your mission.
5. Celebrate internal learning, not just revenue.
Encourage your team to test ethically-grounded approaches, even if they don’t immediately outperform more traditional ones. Over time, this builds a culture of innovation with integrity.
A More Honest Approach
Data is not the enemy. It is a tool. But like any tool, it reflects the intentions of those who wield it. When we let metrics become the measure of all things, we lose sight of what really matters.
Public fundraising is not just a profession. It is a practice of mobilising solidarity. It sits at the intersection of stories, systems, and power. And in the age of AI and automation, it’s more important than ever that we define success in ways that honour people — not just performance.
Let’s not confuse optimisation with justice. Let’s build fundraising metrics that reflect who we are and what we stand for.