How TntConnect Determines the Monthly Average for a Contact
Contacts in TntConnect have an AveMonthlyGift field that can be used to determine past giving performance and can also be used to estimate future expectations. This field is not necessarily a simple average. If you want a simple average, you can just divide the TwelveMonthTotal field by 12.
Special Partners
When a contact does not have a financial pledge, they are treated as a special partner and the AveMonthlyGift field does represent the simple average. This is the TwelveMonthTotal field divided by 12.
Financial Partners
When a contact does have a financial pledge, their MonthlyPledge (PledgeAmount / PledgeFrequency) is taken into consideration. First of all, the average is based upon (12 + PledgeFrequency) months. This means that a monthly giver has the average based on (12 + 1) 13 months. A quarterly giver is based on (12 + 3) 15 months, and an annual (12 + 12) 24 months. If no gifts have been received within this time frame, the average is zero. If there are no gifts before this range, the number of months is shortened to just include the first gift.
Once this range is established, the first month with gifts prior to the range and the last month with gifts within the range are treated uniquely. The first month with gifts prior to the range is spread out evenly to fill in all months without gifts up until right before the first month with gifts within the range. This is done because the donor probably intended for that gift to cover those months. The last month with gifts is spread out into the future based upon the MonthlyPledge. This is done because the donor probably intends for the gifts that month to count for future months if it is larger than the MonthlyPledge.
Examples
This donor has pledged $50/month of support.
Here is their giving history: (The current month is March)
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300
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100
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100
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50
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100
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150
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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First of all, their average will be based on (12 + 1) 13 months.
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300
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100
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100
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50
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100
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150
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|
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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The first month with gifts before this range will be spread out to fill in all the months up until the first month with gifts within the range.
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50
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50
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50
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50
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50
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50
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100
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100
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|
50
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100
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150
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|
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Now the last month with gifts is spread out into the future based upon the MonthlyPledge of $50. Notice this causes $50 from the last month’s total of $150 to not be counted. This $50 was probably intended to cover future months.
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50
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50
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50
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50
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50
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50
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100
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100
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|
50
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100
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50
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50
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50
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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The average can now be determined by adding all of the monthly totals within the range.
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50
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50
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50
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50
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100
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100
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50
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100
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50
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50
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Therefore, this partner’s average is $650/13 = $50 per month. This seems very reasonable because the partner occasionally gives a few months at a time to cover future months, and because this partner has done this consistently. If a simple mean were calculated for 12 months, the partner would have an average of about $42 (12 month total of $500), which in this case does not make sense since the partner has been faithful to their $50/mo pledge.