The Matchback report ties your mailed or emailed audience to actual giving. Use it to answer questions like “How did this appeal perform?” and “Which donor segments responded?”
Use this article when…
- You uploaded a direct mail file and want to measure results.
- You want a single view of revenue, gifts, and response rate for one or more appeals.
- You need to compare performance by package or by donor lifecycle and giving level.
- You want to include or exclude “whitemail” donors who were not on the original list.
Applies to / prerequisites
| Product area | Insights > Matchback Report |
| Data requirements | Recent activity file uploaded and gifts synced from your CRM. |
| IDs | Constituent IDs from your CRM mapped correctly (Account ID or Contact ID). |
| Permissions | Access to Insights and permission to view Matchback reports for your organization. |
| Time to complete | 5 minutes once your data is loaded. |
What the Matchback report includes
The report uses the activities feed and associated transactions to calculate revenue, gifts, response rate, and indirect revenue in defined windows after your drop date.
Steps
1. Open the Matchback report
From the left navigation, click the Insights icon.
The Insights overview opens, showing your dashboards and report tiles.
Scroll to All Available Reports.
You see grouped report cards such as How did my recent campaign perform?
In the How did my recent campaign perform? group, click the Matchback Report card.
The Matchback Report page opens with three tabs: Results, Package Results, and Donor Breakdown.
2. Set your filters
At the top-right of the report, click Filters.
The Filters panel opens on the right with Static Page Filters and User-Defined Filters.
Under Static Page Filters, confirm the Activity filter matches the channel you want (for example, direct mail or email send).
This limits the report to the type of activity you are analyzing.
Use User-Defined Filters to narrow the audience:
- Donor Details for lifecycle, giving level, or other constituent traits.
- Mailing Attributes for specific packages or creative versions.
- Transaction Details for time period, amounts, or appeal codes.
The preview under each section updates to show your selected criteria.
Find the Include Avid Generated Records filter.
- Choose to include Avid Generated Records to count donors who gave to the appeal but were not on the original file (“whitemail”).
- Choose to exclude them to view results only for people on your uploaded list.
Your choice controls whether “whitemail” gifts are counted in the metrics.
Close the Filters panel.
The report refreshes using your selected filters. You see updated metrics and charts on the active tab.
LockStep insight
For most campaign reporting, include Avid Generated Records. This gives you a truer picture of total appeal performance, including donors who responded without being on the original list.
3. Review the Results tab
Confirm you are on the Results tab.
The top bar shows scorecards: Total Revenue, Total Gifts, and Average Response Rate.
Review the scorecards to confirm overall performance.
These numbers reflect your filters and whether Avid Generated Records are included.
Scroll to the charts:
- Response Rate by Available Audience – how each mailing’s response compares to the audience size.
- Donors (Most Recent Mailings) – number of donors for each recent mailing.
- Revenue (Most Recent Mailings) – revenue raised from each mailing.
- Revenue per Donor by Mailing – average gift per donor by mailing.
Use these visualizations to spot top- and low-performing mailings.
At the bottom, review the tables:
- Results – overall results by mailing, including audience, donors, gifts, and revenue.
- Indirect Revenue and Donors – gifts received in windows after your drop date (0–15, 16–30, 31–45 days, and total).
These tables provide a detailed numeric view you can export or screenshot.
4. Review the Package Results tab
Click the Package Results tab.
You see a warning panel reminding you to select an individual appeal to avoid merged data.
If needed, refine your Filters to focus on one appeal and its packages.
This ensures each package’s performance is shown cleanly.
Review the charts:
- Response Rate by Package
- Donors by Package
- Revenue by Package
These charts help you compare creative packages, offers, or versions within the same appeal.
Scroll to the Package Results table.
The table summarizes key metrics for each package so you can see which combinations work best.
5. Review the Donor Breakdown tab
Click the Donor Breakdown tab.
You see a similar warning about selecting an individual appeal.
Review the lifecycle charts:
- Response Rate by Current Lifecycle
- Audience Size by Current Lifecycle
- Results by Current Lifecycle table.
These show how new, retained, and reactivated donors responded to the appeal.
Review the giving level charts:
- Audience Size by Giving Level
- Response Rate by Giving Level
- Results by Giving Level table.
Use these to identify which giving levels over- or under-performed.
6. Export or share your insights
At the top-right of the page, click Generate Slides.
Avid builds a slide deck using the charts and key numbers from your active filters.
Download or share the slides with your internal stakeholders.
They see the same results you see on the Matchback report at the time of export.
What you’ll see
- Scorecards showing total revenue, total gifts, and average response rate for your selected activity or appeal.
- Charts comparing response, donors, and revenue across recent mailings and packages.
- Tables for indirect revenue by time window, lifecycle, and giving level.
- A Last Transaction Date stamp at the bottom of the page indicating how current your data is.
Notes, limits, and common questions
How does Avid match donors and gifts to my file?
- Avid compares the IDs in your upload to IDs in your CRM-synced data.
- The system automatically chooses between
Account IDandContact IDbased on which matches more records. - Gifts with appeal codes that match your selected activity are linked and shown in the report.
What are “Avid Generated” records?
Sometimes donors give to an appeal but were not on the original activity file. To report on these “whitemail” responses:
- Avid scans transactions for gifts tied to the appeal code in your upload.
- If a donor has a qualifying gift but no matching activity record, Avid creates an Avid Generated activity.
- The Include Avid Generated Records filter lets you include or exclude these constructed records.
Including them gives a complete view of appeal performance. Excluding them replicates legacy matchback behavior based only on the uploaded file.
Why do I see “N/A” or “No Data” in the report?
- No qualifying activities exist for your selected filters.
- Your upload does not contain IDs that map to CRM constituents.
- The appeal has no gifts in the selected transaction date range.
Try widening your date range, checking the appeal code, or confirming that the activity file uploaded successfully.
Why are my expected donors missing?
- Confirm that your activity file includes a valid
Account IDorContact ID. - Verify that those ID fields are mapped correctly in your CRM integration settings.
- If you recently changed ID mappings, re-upload the matchback file so activities re-link using the new mapping.
If you are unsure which ID is mapped, contact Avid Support so they can review your instance.
Get help
If you still cannot reconcile your Matchback results with your internal reporting, contact LockStep Support.
Include:
- A description of the appeal or campaign you are analyzing.
- The name and date of the activity file you uploaded.
- Screenshots of your Filters panel and any “Avid Generated” rows you have questions about.
- The expected counts or revenue totals from your internal report.
A LockStep Specialist can then help you confirm mappings, review file structure, and adjust your strategy if needed.