Powering Fundraising with Data Analytics

Understanding your data is the gift that keeps on giving. Nonprofits are increasingly using the power of data to better engage with their donor communities and become more efficient. Central to any fundraising data analytics program is the ability to find meaning in this data, and use it in the right way to meet your organization’s current needs.

In the early development of a data analytics program, a fundraising organization must first be able to answer some basic questions such as: what issue am I trying to solve, and how will I measure success? By laying this fundamental groundwork, your organization has taken an important first step forward to better understanding your donors and their giving patterns.

Once you have started to collect your data, it’s important to spend the necessary time and resources to interpret it so your organization can maximize its return on investment and drive its strategic planning process. After mastering the ability to understand quality descriptive data, the analytics program can then shift towards predictive data, which is the process of using existing data to identify patterns and correlations to predict what is likely to happen with your donors.

By using prior years’ information, in conjunction with current year activity, your organization can begin to forecast what additional gifts are likely to be realized in the current fiscal year. Predictive analytics enables your nonprofit organization to gain a more comprehensive picture of your prospects and donor base so you can target your fundraising efforts in more efficient and effective ways. The ultimate goal for any data analytics program is to be able to prescribe what your fundraising goals should be and what additional goals, besides dollars raised, should be used to measure success.

Technology continues to drive change and nonprofit organizations are harnessing the power of data analytics programs. Whether you are planning your next capital campaign or looking to give your annual program a boost, using your data to its full potential will help you raise more funds and make an even bigger impact.

No matter what stage of data analytics your organization is currently at, S. Sutton and Associates Inc. can assist you in taking your program to the next level. Contact us today so we can be your guides and provide you with the right roadmap and the right experts!