Scorecard star ratings measure how each fundraising metric improved or declined versus the prior period, with extra weight when improvement is harder to achieve. Ratings are not a peer benchmark and not a simple read of how close two period values look.
Use this article when
- You want to know what the stars on Scorecard mean.
- Current and prior period values look similar, but the star rating is low or high.
- You need to explain Overall Rating versus a single metric rating.
- You are choosing a focus area from the Scorecard explanation panel.
Applies to and prerequisites
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Feature | Scorecard (Fundraising Scorecard) |
| Permission | Access to view Scorecard for your organization |
| Time period | Fiscal Year to Date or Trailing 12 Months (shown on the page) |
| Time to read | About 3 minutes |
What star ratings are
Each Scorecard metric receives a star rating from 0 to 4 stars.
Stars answer one question: how strong is this period's change versus the prior period, after adjusting for remaining room to improve?
Avid grades these four metrics:
- Retention (keeping existing donors)
- Acquisition (bringing in new donors)
- Reactivation (re-engaging lapsed donors)
- Upgrade (donors who increased their giving)
Note: The percent badge under each metric (for example, 2% increase or 1% decrease) is the raw period-over-period change. Stars use a weighted version of that change, so the badge and the stars will not always feel identical.
Why it matters
The same raw percent change is not equally hard at every starting point.
Raising retention from 60% to 66% (a 10% relative increase) is a larger lift than raising reactivation from 5% to 5.5% (also a 10% relative increase).
Scorecard weights the change so harder gains count more, and declines from a high base count more as well.
How ratings work
1. Compare the current period to the prior period
Open Scorecard in the left navigation.
Confirm the active time period in Time Period Data: Fiscal Year to Date or Trailing 12 Months.
For each metric, Avid compares the latest value to the value just before it.
You see the raw change on the metric tab badge as an increase, decrease, or no change.
2. Weight the change by remaining headroom
Avid converts that raw change into an improvement score.
For rate metrics (Retention, Reactivation, Upgrade), the score divides the percent change by how much room was left below 100% in the prior period, then scales the result.
For Acquisition, Avid uses new donors relative to active donors in the same way, so growth is judged against the size of the donor base.
You see the result as filled stars on the metric tab, not as the intermediate score.
3. Map the improvement score to stars
| Stars | What it means | Improvement score band |
|---|---|---|
| 4 stars | Strong improvement | 0.10 or higher |
| 3 stars | Solid improvement | 0.025 up to 0.10 |
| 2 stars | Steady performance (little meaningful change) | -0.075 up to 0.025 |
| 1 star | Noticeable decline | -0.15 up to -0.075 |
| 0 stars | Significant decline | Below -0.15 |
On screen, empty star outlines still appear so you can see the full 4-star scale.
4. Build the Overall Rating
Overall Rating combines the four metric improvement scores.
Avid caps very high and very low metric scores before averaging, so one extreme metric does not dominate the page.
The averaged result uses the same star bands as each individual metric.
The Overall Rating Explanation panel then highlights a focus metric, starting with the weakest star rating.
Why similar numbers can still earn a low (or high) rating
When current and prior values look close, the raw badge may show only a small increase or decrease.
The star rating still depends on the weighted improvement score.
- At a high starting rate, a small decline uses less remaining headroom and can drop into a 1-star or 0-star band.
- At a low starting rate, a modest gain can look stronger after weighting and earn 3 or 4 stars.
- Overall Rating can be lower than any single metric you are staring at, because it blends all four metrics.
LockStep insight: Treat stars as a signal for where to dig next, not as a verdict on program quality. Open the lowest-rated metric tab, check the period chart, then use filters or Insights reports to confirm the drivers.
Key terms
| Term | Meaning in Scorecard |
|---|---|
| Prior period | The period immediately before the current Scorecard time window |
| Raw percent change | The badge under each metric tab (increase or decrease) |
| Improvement score | The weighted change used to assign stars |
| Overall Rating | The capped average of the four metric improvement scores, shown as stars |
| What If tool | Optional projection controls on a metric tab that let you model a different change; stars update for planning and do not change your saved data |
For agency partners
Exact client-side formulas (current product behavior):
-
Raw percent change:
(current - prior) / prior
-
Rate metrics (Retention, Reactivation, Upgrade):
improvement_score = percent_change / (1 - prior_rate) / 2
-
Acquisition:
acquisition_rate = new_donors / active_donors improvement_score = percent_change / (1 - acquisition_rate) / 2
- Star mapping uses the bands in the table above (
getRating). - Overall Rating first maps each metric's improvement score into a capped contribution, averages those contributions across the four metrics, then runs the same star mapping again.
Example (Retention): prior rate 60%, 10% relative change → 0.10 / (1 - 0.60) / 2 = 0.125 → 4 stars.
Example (Acquisition): 100 active donors, 10 new donors, 50% relative change → 0.50 / (1 - 0.10) / 2 ≈ 0.278 → 4 stars.
When to contact LockStep Support
Contact LockStep Support if a rating still looks wrong after you confirm the time period and metric charts.
Include:
- Organization name and Scorecard URL
- Time period selected (Fiscal Year to Date or Trailing 12 Months)
- Metric name and star rating shown
- The percent increase or decrease badge text
- Screenshot of the metric tab and period chart
- Last successful data sync or last transaction date shown on Scorecard, if available
Related articles and next steps
- Scorecard: Understanding the State of Your Fundraising Program
- Scorecard: Filtering Your Scorecard to Your Area of Focus
- Scorecard: Forecasting and Planning Using the What If Tool
Next: open Scorecard, check each metric's stars against its badge, then start with the lowest-rated metric in the explanation panel.