Run a Matchback report – Avid

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 best?"

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 see indirect revenue from donors who gave after receiving your mailing but through a different channel.
You want to calculate ROI for your campaigns (requires cost data).

Applies to and prerequisites

Product area	Insights > Matchback Report
Data requirements	Recent direct mail or 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.
Time to complete	5 minutes once your data is loaded.
Optional	Cost data uploaded for ROI calculations.

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.
Scroll to All Available Reports.
In the How did my recent campaign perform? group, click the Matchback Report card.

2. Set your filters

At the top-right of the report, click Filters.
Under 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.
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.

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

The Results tab shows direct response metrics—donations where the appeal code on the gift matches the appeal code from your activity file.

Confirm you are on the Results tab.
Review the scorecards to confirm overall performance.
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.
Review the Results table at the bottom.
The table shows overall results by mailing, including audience, donors, gifts, revenue, response rate, and revenue per donor.
If you have uploaded cost data, review the ROI column in the table.
ROI shows the return on investment: (Revenue − Cost) ÷ Cost × 100.

4. Review the Package Results tab

Click the Package Results tab.
You may 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, including ROI if cost data is available.

5. Review the Donor Breakdown tab

Click the Donor Breakdown tab.
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.
Review the additional breakdown charts:
- Response Rate by Acquisition Channel – compare how donors respond based on how they were originally acquired.
- Audience by Acquisition Channel – see the mix of acquisition sources in your mailing.
- Response Rate by Recurring Status – compare one-time vs. recurring donor response rates.
- Audience by Recurring Status – see the proportion of recurring vs. one-time donors.
- Response Rate by Giving Level Range – expanded giving level breakdown with more granular tiers.
These charts help you understand which donor segments respond best to your appeals.

6. Review the Indirect Revenue tab

The Indirect Revenue tab tracks donations that occurred after your mailing but without a matching appeal code. These are donors who were influenced by your mailing but gave through a different channel (online, phone, etc.).

Click the Indirect Revenue tab.

Review the time-window metrics:

Window	What it measures
0–15 Days	Donors and revenue within 15 days of activity start date
0–30 Days	Donors and revenue within 30 days of activity start date
0–45 Days	Donors and revenue within 45 days of activity start date
Total Indirect	All indirect donors and revenue (unbounded)

Review the Indirect Results table.

The Indirect Revenue tab shows only activities with start dates in the past to ensure meaningful indirect attribution windows.

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 direct response results by mailing.
A dedicated Indirect Revenue tab showing gifts received in time windows after your drop date.
Donor breakdown charts for acquisition channel, recurring status, and expanded giving level ranges.
ROI and Net Revenue metrics when cost data is uploaded.
A Last Transaction Date stamp at the bottom of the page indicating how current your data is.

Upload cost data for ROI calculations

To see ROI metrics in the Matchback report, upload cost data using one of two methods.

Method 1: Standalone cost file upload

Upload a dedicated cost file with these columns:

Column	Required	Notes
`appeal_code`	Yes	Must match appeal codes in your transaction data
`audience_size`	Optional	Number of constituents mailed
`cost`	One required	Total campaign cost
`cost_per_piece`	One required	Cost divided by audience

If you provide audience_size + cost, the system calculates cost_per_piece.
If you provide audience_size + cost_per_piece, the system calculates total cost.
The appeal code is validated against your transaction file; a warning appears if no match is found.

Method 2: Package cost via Direct Mail Select tool

When creating a list via the Direct Mail Select tool, you can save package costs with the export. This automatically includes cost data in your reporting.

Direct Mail Select package costs take priority over standalone cost uploads for the same appeal code.

Historical lists created before this feature do not carry package cost data. You'll need to do a historical cost file upload to backfill costs for past campaigns.

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 ID and Contact ID based on which matches more records.
Gifts with appeal codes that match your selected activity are linked and shown in the report.

What is direct response vs. indirect response?

Direct response: The gift has an appeal code that matches the appeal code from your activity file. These appear on the Results tab.
Indirect response: The donor was on your activity file and gave within your time window, but their gift does not have a matching appeal code (they gave through a different channel). These appear on the Indirect Revenue tab.

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 direct mail/activity file includes a valid Account ID or Contact 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.

Why don't I see ROI metrics?

ROI metrics only appear when cost data is available for the selected appeals. To add cost data:

Upload a standalone cost file with appeal codes and costs, OR
Include package costs when creating lists via the Direct Mail Select tool.

After uploading, wait for the data blend to refresh (typically within a few hours).

What time windows are available for indirect revenue?

The Indirect Revenue tab shows four windows:

0–15 days – Gifts within 15 days of the activity start date
0–30 days – Gifts within 30 days of the activity start date
0–45 days – Gifts within 45 days of the activity start date
Total – All indirect gifts regardless of timing

Get help

If you 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 direct mail/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 help you confirm mappings, review file structure, and adjust your strategy if needed.

Related to