[jedili]

Hello
I was wondering whether you can share your views on use of Appeal ID coding.
Benefits, issues?

We have been using RE for about 1year and have adopted a fixed structure like:
<3 chars: Appeal Channel>
Although this structure facilitate the finding of appeals (as they tend to grow exponentially),
there are quite some drawbacks e.g. the structure doesn't fit very well with what
Marketing and Fundraising would like to capture in the code.

Thanks
--Philippe
WWF Hong Kong

[asnoah]

We keep our appeal codes fairly simple. The structure is A0508, where the first letter says what kind of appeal, the next two numbers are the month and the last two numbers are the year. The first letter code could be:

A = appeal through mail
T = telemarketing
N = newsletter
Q = acquisition
FA = follow-up appeal

Once we start email appeals I'll probably create one with an E.

We also use packages. We code those with the appeal id followed by a number (A0508-01). Our packages are by total giving ranges, churches, businesses, EFT donors, etc. That's how we further track what "type" of donors is giving to which appeals.

[DrewAllen]

Appeal codes are for ease of data entry. Period. If you want to analyze a particular piece of information, it should be stored in its own field/attribute. It should not be embedded in the appeal code.

Drew

[Harriet]

Our Appeals repeat the name each fiscal year, with a date change ie CRISIS 07 08, CRISIS 08 09,
PAW 07 08, PAW 08 09. These codes match the Finance office budget codes.

[Melissa Siobhan]

my structure for appeal codes is as follows:

first 2 digits are the year
then a dash
then the next 2 digits are the month
then a 2 digit appeal category code (EV for event, DR, for Donor Renewal, AQ for acquisition, CH for Champions Newsletter, etc.)
For some mailings that is it but if It needs more then I leave a space
then I enter a 3-9 digit code with meaning

For example:
08-03DR was our March 2008 Donor renewal Mailing
08-09EV GALA INV is our September 2008 Gala Invitation
08-09EV GALA SPON is the September 2008 Gala Sponsorship packet

I use this approach so that I can more easily report on my appeals in chronological order. At my previous place I used a similar system but I started with the appeal category code so they were grouped by category first then chronological. I actually think I like that better.