Email List Value
The Email List Value tab in the Fundraising Analytics dashboard our best estimate of the value of the selected email list(s) based on ActBlue donations. Specifically, we match ActBlue donations to phone numbers on a list by matching either:
- Using the token that we include in the ActBlue donation link (refcodeSB) when using a tracked link;
- Using the email that a donor provides ActBlue when they make a donation;
- Using contact links to associate donations from a phone number to an email address on the list.
Contact links indicate a relationship between that email and phone number, and Switchboard can use this to better understand donor behavior.
Using this feature
Choose a list in the drop down menu. Any list you’ve created on Switchboard will show up here, regardless of if you’ve send a blast to that list.
- New to Universe Only (toggle): When selected, the dashboard will only show data associated with any email addresses that were first seen in Switchboard, as part of the selected list.
- Via Switchboard Tracked Link (green bars) shows how much was raised by these phone numbers directly from Switchboard blasts via phone/email linkage (requires Switchboard shortlink + tracking).
- Via Phone Linkage (yellow bars) shows how much has been raised from phone number(s) associated with the email addresses on this list.
- Off Switchboard (not emailed) - light blue bars show the total amount raised from these numbers, even if you have not yet emailed them on Switchboard.
- Off Switchboard (emailed) - dark blue bars show how much has been raised from these numbers after they have individually received at least one email via Switchboard. This is beneficial if you’re trying to get a sense of what down-the-road donations can be attributed to this list, without including donations that these people already gave before you emailed them.
- Lifetime raised: total raised from all email addresses on the selected list for this ActBlue entity.
How We Match Donations to Emails
We match donations to your emails in one of two ways, a direct match or via contact link. In either case, we “winner pick” so that a donation is only matched once to an email address.
We also ensure that, if we are using contact links, that we use only the phone number most recently linked to a given email.
Direct Match
For a direct match, there are no steps between the donation and the email address. We match in these two cases:
- If the recipient donated via ActBlue after clicking a Switchboard tracked link in a message.
- The email on your Switchboard list matches the email provided when the donor fills out their personal information on the ActBlue contribution form.
Via Contact Link
For a match via contact link, there is one “step” between the donation and the email address — a phone number associated with both. Details on contact links can be found above, in this document. We match in these two cases:
- If the email on your list is linked to a phone number that donated via ActBlue after clicking a Switchboard tracked link.
- If the email on your list is contact-linked to a phone number that matches the phone number provided when the donor fills out their personal information on the ActBlue contribution form.
Examples
Example Scenario 1
You have two email contacts, K. Harris and J. Biden. When they were each uploaded, both of them were associated with the phone 555-123-2020 like so:
first_name | last_name | phone | uploaded | |
Kamala | Harris | 555-123-2020 | August 20, 2024 | |
Joe | Biden | 555-123-2020 | August 18, 2020 |
The Harris record was uploaded in 2024, and the Biden record was uploaded in 2020. When they were uploaded, a link was created to a phone number: 555-123-2020.
Later, each of them chooses to donate to your campaign. They both give, and include their phone number on the ActBlue contribution form.
donation_id | donor_first_name | donor_last_name | donor_phone | amount |
50242030 | Kamala | Harris | 555-123-2020 | $5 |
10362097 | Joe | Biden | 555-123-2020 | $5 |
Because the Harris record was most recently associated with the phone, we attribute the donation 50242030 to her email: kamala@dnc.org.
Example Scenario 2
An email address for Jan Smith is uploaded to Switchboard. Later, Smith donates via ActBlue. The donations from Smith would be associated with the email address, if and only if Smith provides their email address when they donate.
Example Scenario 3
An email address for Steph Jones is uploaded to Switchboard. They are sent a ****message containing a tracked link to an ActBlue contribution form. They donate! This donation is associated with Jones’ email addreess via a token in the ActBlue refcode (from the tracked link).
If, when they donated, Jones provided both an email and phone number as part of their donation, Switchboard will also created a contact link between the phone number and email.
In the future, if Jones donates without clicking on a tracked link, and provides a different email but the same phone number, we will also link that that donation to the email using the contact link.
