Data Mining

Budget management and budget cuts are never easy, but becoming stagnant and not trying to change is not the answer.

The term "Big Data" gets tossed around an awful lot these days, no matter if you're talking the business sector or nonprofit fundraising sector. But "big data is really about the small data," said David Acup, managing director of interactive marketing and membership at the Environmental Defense Fund.

The term "Big Data" gets tossed around an awful lot these days, no matter if you're talking the business sector or nonprofit fundraising sector. But "big data is really about the small data," said David Acup, managing director of interactive marketing and membership at the Environmental Defense Fund.

Managing a donor database is difficult no matter the size of an organization or its donor base. However, when you are a large, international nonprofit organization, particularly one with chapters across the U.S. in addition to six international affiliates, managing data in a uniform, centralized fashion is even more complex. JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes research, is one of those large, international nonprofits handling data across different chapters spanning the globe.

Believe it or not, your donors actually have expectations based on specific character traits.

With the help of WealthEngine, JDRF has cleaned up its big-data business processes and enhanced its fundraising. Here, Megan Martin, former director of data analysis at JDRF (now at American Cancer Society), and Sally Boucher, director of research at WealthEngine, share some data insights.

Learn how liberal arts institution Vassar College executed a crowdfunding campaign for its annual fund and how JDRF cleaned up its donor database management to enhance targeting and fundraising.

Listen to Blackbaud's Page Bullington discuss the importance of breaking down silos when it comes to donor data in this excerpt from the Engage Virtual Workshop, "Driving Donations With Data."

You hear it time and time again at conferences, in articles and books, during webinars, and in trainings — fundraising is all about relationships. And in this era of big data, there are few things more valuable for fundraisers than unearthing actionable data points that can help build stronger relationships with prospects and donors.

The world of nonprofit data is full of buzzwords and jargon that gets tossed around a lot, often indiscriminately. Some of those words have specific definitions that are subtly — and sometimes completely — different from how they’re being used, while others are vague to the extent that they become almost meaningless.

What do we mean when we talk about measuring “impact” or using “big data”? Both those words have clear definitions but are often used ambiguously.