When working with Donor giving data across Virtuous CRM+ and Virtuous Analytics, you'll encounter similar information in two different places: Contact Statistics (available in the Query Tool and other key places throughout CRM+) and the ag_contact_giving_statistics Table (available in Virtuous Analytics). Both sets of data contain insights on giving trends from your Donors, but they have a few key differences in how they are built and what data they use to calculate statistics. In this guide, we walk through the two sets of data to understand how they are structured and what information you can expect to find in each.
Table of Contents:
- Contact Statistics Overview
- The ag_contact_giving_statistics Table Overview
- What’s Included in Both
- Structural Differences
- What if I Need Analytics Statistics to Include More Data?
Contact Statistics Overview
In Virtuous CRM+, each Contact has a set of Contact Statistics that can be referenced to see different milestones in their Giving history, qualify certain selections of records for actions, and more! These Contact Statistics are available as Query parameters and as exportable fields.
There is also a set of Contact Statistics that is focused on Passthrough Statistics.
Click here to learn more about Contact Statistics.
The ag_contact_giving_statistics Table Overview
In Virtuous Analytics, the ag_contact_giving_statistics Table is designed to provide similar insights for analysis and reporting within the Analytics tool.
And similar to the CRM+ Contact Statistics, the ag_contact_giving_statistics includes Passthrough Statistics.
What’s Included in Both
Both datasets are intended to give you big picture information about your Donor’s giving habits. Both Contact Statistics and the Ag_contact_giving_statistics Table share the same following data points:
Giving Timeframes and Milestones
Both datasets include standard timeframes for direct Giving or Passthrough Giving totals including:
- Lifetime Giving totals
- Calendar Year-to-Date
- Fiscal Year-to-Date
- Rolling Year Periods
- Previous Year Comparisons
Giving Calculations
Both datasets calculate core metrics for direct Giving or Passthrough Giving totals including:
- Sum, Count, Average Giving Amounts
- Largest (or Highest) Gift Amounts
- Median Gift Calculations
- Zero-Dollar Gift Tracking
Currency Conversion
Both datasets will convert Gift amounts to your organization’s base currency using current exchange rates.
Structural Differences
There are notable differences between these two sets of data in how they are structured which causes variations in how certain statistics are calculated. The differences include:
Direct Giving vs Passthrough Giving Data Structure
- Contact Statistics: CRM+ attributes any Gift directly from a Donor to the direct Giving statistics, regardless of if there is a Passthrough Giver on the Gift or not. And, in addition to direct Giving statistics and Passthrough Giving statistics, Contact Statistics include pre-calculated fields that combine both direct Gifts and Passthrough Gifts statistics.
- Ag_contact_giving_statistics Table: Virtuous Analytics attributes a Gift to the Donor who was the “origin” of the Gift. This means that any Gift that has a Passthrough Giver attributed will only be included in the statistics of the Passthrough Contact under the Passthrough statistic columns. The Gift will not be included in any of the statistics of the direct Giver.
For example, Donor Jane Doe has given a total of 3 direct Gifts reflected in CRM+ totaling $310 in Life to Date Giving.
Two of Jane Doe’s Gifts have Passthrough Givers connected to them.
Jane Doe’s Giving statistics in Analytics appear different because the 2 Gifts with Passthrough Givers are excluded from her giving. In Analytics, those 2 Gifts live on the record of the Passthrough Giver only. For this reason, you only see one Gift on Jane Doe’s record in the ag_contact_giving_statistics Table.
Zachary Williams, the Passthrough Giver of Jane Doe’s gifts, will have Giving statistics in Analytics that include these Gifts under the Passthrough Giving columns. This means that only Zachary Williams gets credit for the Gifts in Analytics, and the Gifts are not doubled across both Contacts.
- The ag_contact_giving_statistics Table also does not include the combination of direct and Passthrough Giving statistics as predefined fields. These combined stats can, however, be found by creating a calculation to combine direct and Passthrough Giving. Learn how to create statistics that combine Passthrough Giving here.
Reversing Transactions
A Reversing Transactions is a negative Gift entry used to counteract, or "reverse", a positive Gift entry that is no longer valid for any number of reasons.
- Contact Statistics: includes Reversing Transactions in statistics. Contact Statistics will subtract the Gift amount from the overall giving statistics if a Donor has any Reversing Transactions of Gifts on their record.
- Ag_contact_giving_statistics: ignores Reversing Transactions on a Donor’s record. The ag_contact_giving_statistics will not include the Reversed Gift, which can cause giving statistics to appear inflated.
For example, if a Gift entry error required a Gift to be “Reversed” creating a negative Gift on John Doe’s record, CRM+ will subtract the amount from all statistics.
His Life-to-Date Giving equals $22,252.
In Analytics, John Doe’s record will still include the $10,155 Gift. So, his lifetime giving statistics will equal $32,407.
Gift Details & Milestones
There is significant overlap in the Gift Details and Milestones in both Tables listed above, but there are a few additional data points specific to each:
- Contact Statistics: includes Raised Giving data (P2P) and Last Note Date data.
- ag_contact_giving_statistics: includes more comprehensive Campaign details, Lowest (smallest) Gift, and the Gift Mode, (e.g. First Gift Communication and Channel or Fiscal Year Mode Gift Amount)
Pledges as Receivable
By default, Pledges in Virtuous CRM+ are not tracked as receivable, but organizations have the option to set them as such. This means that amounts pledged are reported as "raised" at the time your Donor makes their Pledge commitment.
- Contact Statistics: if your organization counts Pledges as receivable, the statistics in CRM+ will calculate to include the Pledge amounts.
- Ag_contact_giving_statistics: only calculates statistics for Gifts received. This means that even if your organization counts Pledges as receivable, Analytics will not include those Pledge amounts in the Donor’s giving statistics. To create giving statistics when counting Pledges as receivable in Analytics, use this guidance here.
What if I Need Analytics Statistics to Include More Data?
If calculating Donor giving statistics proves challenging with the ag_contact_giving_statistics table due to these structural differences, you may consider using the ft_gifts table for more control over what data is included or excluded in your results. The ft_gifts table will be especially helpful if Donor giving histories include Passthrough Gifts, Reversing Transactions, or Receivable Pledges, as you will have more flexibility in building calculations to determine a more precise overall giving picture for your Donors. The ft_gifts table provides the raw data of all Gifts in your database which allows you more control in how you choose to build giving statistics.
Need More Help?
Ultimately, both Contact Statistics in CRM+ and the ag_contact_giving_statistics Table in Analytics provide insights into your Donor relationships and giving patterns, but understanding how each presents the data is crucial in appropriately analyzing Donor giving. If you need more help getting started with Virtuous BI, check out our Getting Started with Virtuous BI Tables guide here for a comprehensive overview of available data sets.