Corner Office: Big Data and Analytics for Nonprofits

How can we increase the usefulness of the data available to us?

Two examples:

In the increasingly challenging acquisition arena, it's crucial that we maximize data to refine Web attribution. Giving via the Web has grown dramatically, especially in the past three years. However, most online growth is not new growth, but likely channel migration from non-Web channels to the Web. You need to know how much and how that should drive decisions on allocating your next investments. So, if your radiothon or direct mail campaign lifts online giving, it would be a grievous and expensive mistake to credit the Web for raising the money and cut future radio and mail budgets in favor of digital — when, in this example, these offline vehicles are what drove the online contributions in the first place.