Slides from my session with Azadi Sheridan on data in philanthropy.

1. Will Bigger & Better Data Help
Deliver More Major Donors?
Ben Rymer & Azadi
Sheridan
Blackbaud Higher
Education Summit
June/July 2016

2. A Huge Opportunity
Value of
2016 ST
Rich List:
£575bn

3. What bigger & better data can do
● Uncover patterns of behaviour
● Help us be timely, relevant & responsive
● Identify competitive advantages
● Say who will give

4. What bigger & better data cannot do
● Maintain or analyse itself
● Describe anything but the past
● Make decisions
● Say why donors give (yet!)
“What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its
recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention”
Professor Herbert Simon

5. End of Part One!

6. Data in Philanthropy
Vertical:
Identifying ‘missing’ wealth
Targeting communications &
activities across the quantum of
wealth
Internal:
Tracking performance
Pipeline management
Improving conversion ratios
Measuring donor engagement
Increasing donor retention
External
Benchmarking against leaders
Scoping opportunities
Innovative products
Horizontal:
Choosing frequency & channel of
communication
Being relevant, responsive & timely

7. Data’s role:
Identify other George Soros’s sooner!
Plan strategically once identified
Boost value by targeting asks
A Relationship Case Study

8. Summary
● Significant potential for growth in philanthropy
● Data integrity key to finding more major donors. Bigger
data a distraction?
● Data-driven Philanthropy is innovative. Try it, test it,
improve it
● Above all, inspire and earn the respect of your alumni
& donors

9. Thanks & Q&A
Further reading:
http://customerinsightleader.com/opinion/whats-matter-metadata/
http://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blog/show?id=6448529%3ABlogPost%3A379084
http://read.nxtbook.com/1to1media/customerstrategist/winter2015/perspectives_marketingdata.html
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/know-your-geography-quantitative-skills-arent-just-about-maths
http://afpfep.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Forget-About-BIG-Data-AFP-Journal-Winter-2015.pdf
http://npengage.com/nonprofit-news/5-troubling-nonprofit-statistics/
@martin_squires
@EdwardTufte
https://fundraisingvoices.wordpress.com/