Skip to main content

Analyze giving behavior with Audience Analysis

Updated

Use the Analysis Audience Giving Report in Insights (often called Audience Analysis) to compare giving across Analysis Audiences. Days Since Start counts days after each audience’s start date. It is not a calendar date range and not a donor’s first gift date.

Use this article when

  • You opened Audience Analysis and are unsure what Days Since Start means.
  • You see both a Start Date range and Days Since Start, and you do not know which to fill in.
  • You want to compare campaigns that ran in different years on the same response window (for example, the first 30 days).
  • You need a quick path through the report tabs after you create Analysis Audiences in Pathways.
  • Your Analysis Audience does not appear under Name in the filters.

This article is about the Insights report. Creating an Analysis Audience happens in Pathways. If you still need to build one, start with How to Create an Analysis Audience.

Applies to and prerequisites

Requirement Details
Product area Insights > Appeal Analysis > Analysis Audience Giving Report
Plan A plan that includes Insights (Intelligence or OS, or an active trial of one)
Permission Permission to view Insights
Data At least one Analysis Audience created in Pathways, with an appeal code
Time About 5 minutes once your Analysis Audiences exist

What Days Since Start means

Days Since Start answers: “How many days after this Analysis Audience’s start date did the gift happen?”

Avid calculates it from the gift date and the audience start date stored on the activity:

  • Day 0 is the audience start date.
  • Day 15 is a gift 15 days after that start date.
  • The filter defaults to gifts between day 0 and day 45.

What it is not

  • It is not your fiscal year or calendar date range.
  • It is not the donor’s first gift date.
  • It is not the day the campaign ends.

The “start” is the Start Date you set when you created the Analysis Audience in Pathways (a static date, the date a person entered the audience, or the minimum gift date of the audience).

Start Date vs Days Since Start

These filters do different jobs. You can use one or both. You can also leave Start Date blank and only adjust Days Since Start.

Filter What it controls When to use it
Name Which Analysis Audience(s) appear in the report You want one campaign, or a short list of campaigns, side by side
Start Date (date range) Which audiences are included based on each audience’s start date You want audiences that started in a calendar window (for example, all May 2025 starts)
Days Since Start (slider) Which gifts count, based on days after each audience’s own start date You want the same response window across campaigns (for example, first 30 days)

Simple rule

  • Use Name (and optionally Start Date) to choose which campaigns.
  • Use Days Since Start to choose how far into each campaign you look.
  • You do not need to fill every filter. Leave unused filters blank.

Example: You compare June 2024 and June 2025 appeals. Select both audience names. Set Days Since Start to 0–30. Avid compares the first 30 days of each campaign, even though the calendar years differ.

Steps

1. Open the report

  1. From the left navigation, click Insights.
  2. Scroll to All Available Reports.
  3. In the Appeal Analysis group, open Analysis Audience Giving Report.

You see the report with section tabs such as Overall Results, Donor Breakdown, and Day-by-Day Analysis.

2. Set your filters

  1. Click Filters at the top of the report.
  2. Under Audience Attributes, open Name and select the Analysis Audience(s) you want.
  3. Leave Start Date blank unless you need to limit audiences by when they started.
  4. Review Days Since Start. The report often starts with Days Since Start between 0 and 45. Drag the slider if you need a shorter or longer response window.
  5. Optional: add Donor Details or Transaction Details filters (for example, Channel or Giving Level).
  6. Click Apply, then close the panel.

You see chips under Filters Applied: for the active filters.

If Reset does not clear Days Since Start

Click the X on the Days Since Start chip in the Filters Applied: row. That clears the slider more reliably than Reset alone.

3. Review Overall Results

  1. Stay on (or open) the Overall Results tab.
  2. Review charts such as Revenue, Donors, and Revenue per Donor.
  3. Scroll to the Results table for audience-level donors, gifts, response rate, and revenue.

You see side-by-side performance for the audiences you selected.

4. Review Donor Breakdown

  1. Click the Donor Breakdown tab.
  2. Review acquisition, reactivation, and upgrade charts for the selected audiences.

Use this tab when you care who gave (new, reactivated, or upgraded), not only totals.

5. Review Day-by-Day Analysis

  1. Click the Day-by-Day Analysis tab.
  2. Review Cumulative Daily Revenue, Cumulative Daily Gifts, and Average Gift by Day.

The day axis follows Days Since Start, so day 10 means 10 days after each audience’s start date.

What you will see

  • Report title Analysis Audience Giving Report under Appeal Analysis.
  • A default response window of days 0 to 45 unless you change or clear it.
  • Charts and a results table scoped to Analysis Audiences (not mailed matchback lists).
  • Empty charts may show no data when no gifts match your filters.

Common mistakes

Symptom Likely cause Fix
Numbers look “too low” for the full campaign Days Since Start is still limited to 0–45 Widen the slider, or clear the chip with X
You expected a calendar month of gifts You used Days Since Start as if it were a date range Use Start Date (and audience Name) for calendar selection; use Days Since Start only for response windows
Your audience does not appear under Name It has no appeal code, or none of its members gave on or after its start date. Other filters you selected can also hide it. In Pathways, add an appeal code or adjust the start date, then clear other Audience Attributes filters. See If your Analysis Audience is missing from the report.
Your audience appears under Name, but charts show no revenue or donors The appeal code on the Analysis Audience does not match the appeal code on the gifts. The report counts only gifts with a matching code. In Pathways, enter the exact appeal code your CRM puts on those gifts, or choose Transaction Appeal Code
Your audience shows few or no gifts, and its Start Date keeps moving to a recent date It uses Date Constituent is Added to Audience with the retain box unticked. Each data refresh then resets the start date. In Pathways, open the Analysis Audience. Select Date Constituent is Added to Audience again from the Start Date menu, then click Save.
Year-over-year comparison looks uneven Different response windows, or different audience start dates Select both audiences under Name and set the same Days Since Start range

When to contact LockStep Support

If the checks in If your Analysis Audience is missing from the report do not help, contact LockStep Support. Also contact support if filter results look wrong after you clear and reapply them.

Include:

  • The Analysis Audience name(s)
  • The report name Analysis Audience Giving Report
  • The Days Since Start range and any Start Date values you used
  • A screenshot of Filters Applied:
  • When you last saved the Analysis Audience, plus its Start Date and Appeal Code settings

Next steps

For agency partners
  • In-product page name is always Analysis Audience Giving Report under group Appeal Analysis. Help Center and customers often say Audience Analysis.
  • Days Since Start filters on DATE_DIFF(transactions.date, activities.start_date, DAY), capped at 120 days. The report default is [0, 45].
  • Start Date filters activities.start_date. Dimensional filters combine with AND.
  • Built-in page filters apply to every chart and to the Name list. They are activities.type = 'Audience', activities.appeal_code IS NOT NULL, activities.start_date <= transactions.date, and Current FYTD and All Closed. Giving metrics also require activities.appeal_code = transactions.appeal_code.
  • Audience start date options in Pathways: Static Date, Date Constituent is Added to Audience, Minimum Gift Date of Audience.

Notes and warnings

Default response window: Opening the report often applies Days Since Start between 0 and 45. Widen or clear that filter before you treat the page as full-campaign performance.

Related to

Related articles