For me the Barn Find of 2010 happened while analyzing Network for Good's data. I was looking into the timing of giving. I knew online giving would be concentrated in the month of December, but didn't know how much. I also didn't know how concentrated giving was on December 31.
Further, the December 31st spike translates into online revenue that 24 times more than the average day of the year.
(Learn other important findings by downloading the Network for Good study. It's free!)
So what makes this finding more valuable than the vintage Duesenberg? If you're like many organizations, your website is a conflicted place. The organization tries to balance a list of goals for its website. This list includes things like PR, branding, education, advocacy, and so on. Fundraising often gets short shrift.
The December 31st spike means that even if the homepage can't be a fundraising engine year round, it should be on December 31st. Once you reap the rewards from focusing the homepage on giving for this day, you can then set your sights to the last week of December, or even the entire month.
