4.97 Release - Capacity Formula Q&A Follow Up
Published
A few weeks ago, I held a webinar to walk through our updates to the Capacity Formula - our newest feature in ResearchPoint 4.97. If you didn't have a chance to attend the webinar, you view a recording of that HERE.
I didn't have a chance to respond to all of the questions so I wanted to do a Q&A post and provide some answers.
I missed the webinar - what is this update about?
In this version of RP, we added Philanthropic Giving, Political Giving, and Giving to My Org as fields to include in the Capacity Formula. The formula was previously only pulling Assets.
Are the new fields available now?
Yes - the new formula fields are available to everyone now as all databases are now on version 4.97 of RP.
Are the new fields turned on by default?
We did not turn on Philanthropic Giving, Political Giving, and Giving to My Org fields in the formula by default as we didn't want to change your capacity numbers without you knowing. They are all optional and can be checked to be included by navigating to Prospects > Capacity Formula Management.
Who has permission to update the formula?
Any user who has access to Prospects > Capacity Formula Management will be able to add the new fields and save the formula.
I added one of the new options but nothing changed on a record - what do I do?
This is a great question. If Assets is still larger than any of the new fields, your record may not change. We added a new field called "Major Giving Capacity Basis" that is intended to tell you which source is being used to calculate.
You can also make changes to the formula without recalculating the values in the database. When you add the fields to the formula and click "Save", there is a pop up asking if you wish to recalculate your records based on the changes. Click Yes and the new formula will run through everyone. You can also
Can manually added data in these areas be included in the formula?
Yes - when you open the formula and go to the Giving tab, you choose which new options you want to include. If you choose Philanthropic Gifts, NOZA is defaulted but you may see other Sources in here if you've manually added any while using RP. Simply check the box next to ANY source you wish to include.
If you have additional questions I didn't cover above, please comment or post in the forum so we can respond!!
I'm also looking for feedback on these additional fields and if they are helping to generate a more accurate capacity.
In this version of RP, we added Philanthropic Giving, Political Giving, and Giving to My Org as fields to include in the Capacity Formula. The formula was previously only pulling Assets.
- Philanthropic gifts – Uses giving data from NOZA
- Political donations – Uses giving data from Federal Election Commission (FEC)
- Giving to my organization – Uses giving data synchronized from Raiser's Edge or manually entered in the Giving to my Organization section on the Wealth and Ratings page
Are the new fields available now?
Yes - the new formula fields are available to everyone now as all databases are now on version 4.97 of RP.
Are the new fields turned on by default?
We did not turn on Philanthropic Giving, Political Giving, and Giving to My Org fields in the formula by default as we didn't want to change your capacity numbers without you knowing. They are all optional and can be checked to be included by navigating to Prospects > Capacity Formula Management.
Who has permission to update the formula?
Any user who has access to Prospects > Capacity Formula Management will be able to add the new fields and save the formula.
I added one of the new options but nothing changed on a record - what do I do?
This is a great question. If Assets is still larger than any of the new fields, your record may not change. We added a new field called "Major Giving Capacity Basis" that is intended to tell you which source is being used to calculate.
You can also make changes to the formula without recalculating the values in the database. When you add the fields to the formula and click "Save", there is a pop up asking if you wish to recalculate your records based on the changes. Click Yes and the new formula will run through everyone. You can also
Can manually added data in these areas be included in the formula?
Yes - when you open the formula and go to the Giving tab, you choose which new options you want to include. If you choose Philanthropic Gifts, NOZA is defaulted but you may see other Sources in here if you've manually added any while using RP. Simply check the box next to ANY source you wish to include.
If you have additional questions I didn't cover above, please comment or post in the forum so we can respond!!
I'm also looking for feedback on these additional fields and if they are helping to generate a more accurate capacity.
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ARCHIVED | Blackbaud Target Analytics® Tips and Tricks
09/15/2017 3:14pm EDT
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1. Those individuals who purchased property post recession are possibly in a different situation than those pre recession. I remember qualifying for a ridculous high mortgage back in early 2007. After the recession with so many properties going back to lenders due to defaulting on the loan was at an alarming high rate. So the last thing a lending institution wants back is another property. With that in mind, if I purchase a $5M home I would assume that the lender would ensure that I have the income and assets to maintain that property. Yes, they may have a high mortgage but they qualified for that. So for those where the only asset is a single property but was purchased post recession, consider keeping it at 5% or possibly thinking about 4%. Remember on average 60% of a person's assets are privately held. So if I have a $5M home, could it mean that my total assets are closer to $30M? Something to think about.
2. I would think about creating a capacity formula for those where only single property asset was found and purchased pre recession. I think maybe starting with 2% or 2.5% might be advisable. You can always edit to a lower amount based on your analysis.
3. For those that have more than one property, is a different story. You can determine the type of property it is based on the county description field found in the real estate record. I remember working with a client where all that was found was $8M in real estate. When you took a deeper dive into the real estate we discovered that the donor owned (7) 100 unit apartment buildings in the greater Los Angeles area and appeared to have owned them since the 1980s. This $8M now looks incredibly more valuable based on additional analysis and if anything the 5% default formula would be undermining the donor's true capacity.
I would be interested to hear what others feel and are doing around valuing real estate.