Data Mining

Like with most things in life, the key to generating solid data that will make a difference in your donor relationships and, subsequently, your fundraising is to go for quality over quantity.

You know you need to gather donor data. But why? And more importantly, how? And what do you do with it once you've gathered it? Are you gathering too much? Or the wrong kind?

Guest post by Donna Mehr, editor of Smart Annual Giving: Individual fundraising can be segmented and measured in countless ways. This is where things can become overwhelming with donor data. 

You need to start small, determine your most important questions and figure out how to answer them. Break it down into these five steps to start: 1. Identify and collect your most important information. 2. Calculate and measure. 3. Analyze. 4. Strategize. 5. Document.

If there’s a link, we can track it. But digital fundraising isn’t bound by links. It may surprise you, but the future of digital is actually offline. It encompasses all forms of marketing, video, advertising, direct response, social, branded websites, maps, search, third-party review platforms, brick-and-mortar locations, events, etc.

How the right data can help you look beyond the numbers and figure out how and why donors connect — and stay — with you.

I’m just back from the SXSW Interactive Festival, where I was on a panel called “What Social Media Analytics Can’t Tell You” moderated by Alexandra Samuel of Vision Critical, Jeremiah Owyang of Crowd Companies and Colby Flint of Discovery Channel. We discussed how social-media analytics can provide some great information on your existing social media followers, but at the same time, there are gaps that need to be filled through other techniques.

It takes 10 touches to move someone through the buying process. Why don't we look at donor prospect lists the same way?

We fundraisers say we are ready to embrace insight, but the signs are not really there. If you are ready, email me now! If you are not ready, here are some recommendations.

Data management can be a challenging task. As this survey conducted by NTEN shows, many nonprofit organizations struggle to collect data and many organizations also struggle to find meaning in the data they collect. Data management requires discipline, focus and organization. When data management is done right, it can help you improve the way your organization operates. Good data management practices can help your organization make more informed decisions and take smarter actions.

Never trust the weather man? That's OK — but you should trust your modeling experts!