How to use the Global Revenue Bridge Waterfall

The Global Revenue Bridge Waterfall analysis provides a comprehensive view of your nonprofit's revenue changes over multiple fiscal years, without segmenting donors into categories. By examining donor contributions year over year, you gain clarity on overall revenue performance trends and can verify the accuracy of segmented analyses, where donors may move between categories.

This analysis uses data from your Gifts table, focusing on the "Gift Amount" and "Gift Date" for each donor, identified by "Constituent ID". It calculates the total funds received from each donor within defined fiscal years, which run from July 1 to June 30. By comparing donor contributions over consecutive fiscal years, the analysis classifies donors into categories: New, Lapsed, Recaptured, Increased, Decreased, and Same, based on their giving patterns.

Key metrics include the total revenue from the prior year, and the gains or losses from each donor category, such as revenue gained from new donors or lost from lapsed donors. These metrics are crucial because they help you understand where your revenue is coming from and where it is potentially being lost, allowing you to pinpoint areas for growth or improvement.

Strategically, this analysis helps identify trends in donor behavior and revenue flow, providing a high-level view of your organization's financial health. By understanding these trends, you can develop targeted strategies to retain donors, re-engage lapsed donors, and attract new ones. This holistic view supports budgeting, forecasting, and strategic planning efforts.

You should run this analysis at the end of each fiscal year to assess overall performance and identify key drivers of revenue change. Leadership teams, including fundraising directors and development officers, should review it to align strategic initiatives with identified trends. Applying insights from this analysis can enhance donor retention efforts, optimize fundraising campaigns, and improve your organization's financial stability.

To measure success, track the variance check, ensuring it remains consistently near zero, which indicates an accurate and balanced financial overview. Additionally, monitor changes in donor categories over time to assess the effectiveness of engagement strategies and adjust them as necessary. By regularly using this analysis, you can foster stronger donor relationships and drive sustainable growth for your organization.