Analytics in Fundraising

Results from the March 2010 Survey on the Current Perspectives and Applications
of Analytics in the Nonprofit Fundraising Industry

In March 2010, DonorCast conducted an informal online survey of fundraising professionals engaged in discussions
of analytics. Our goal was to better understand the current perspectives and applications of analytics in the
nonprofit fundraising industry. The survey had over 60 respondents, representing a diverse group of institutions with
at least a modest interest in data-mining and analytics.

Staffing
While 85 percent of the respondents indicated they
have a dedicated prospect researcher or prospect
development staff, 28 percent of the organizations have
a full-time, dedicated analytics or data-mining staff. As
seen below, those organizations with large resources are
generally able to hire these analytics specialists.
Percentage with Dedicated Staff
by Organization Size
100%
80% 71%
Software
In addition to qualified staff, DonorCast looked
at the software applications employed in analytics
work. Microsoft Excel (75 percent) and SPSS Statistics
(56 percent) are the two most widely-used tools overall
for in-house analytics. Nearly 20 other software
packages were used by at least one organization but none
registered more than 10 percent overall. Additionally,
25 percent used data visualization software.
80%
75%

60% 60% 56%

40%
18% 18%
20% 40%
SAS Enterprise Miner
SPSS Modeler

0% 31%
0%
<10 10 to 24 25 to 99 100 +
20%
Minitab

12%
10%
Stata

8% 8%
Other

5%
SAS

N/A

2% 2%
0%
R

0%

Tranforming Philanthropy Through Data

Applications
DonorCast also reviewed the types of analytics conducted along with the application of
this work. Descriptive analysis (67 percent), predictive modeling (67 percent), and point-
based rankings (53 percent) were the most common types of analytics produced. Others,
such as clustering and forecasting, were used minimally.
80%

67% 67%

60%
53%

40%

25%

20%
12%
8%
2%
0%

Clustering

N/A
Other
Point-based
Modeling
Analysis

Fanking

Tangent to the types of analytics produced, DonorCast notes that prospect identification
(88 percent overall) is the leading application of these analyses across most organizations.
This may not be surprising since the prospect research profession has been an early
adopter of analytics; however, it is important to note that other important applications
exist and are used.

100%
88%

80%

62%
58%
60%

40% 40%
40%

25%

20%
10%

0%
Performance

Other
Fundraising Goals
Geographic Regions
Prospect

Analysis
Appeal

Events
As mentioned earlier, 28 percent of the respondents have dedicated analytics staff. Of
this total, 69 percent of those with a dedicated staff raised over $100M compared to only
28 percent raising that figure overall (see below). Hiring a dedicated mining staff does not
necessarily lead to $100M raised annually, but this group, which is composed primarily of
higher education institutions, could represent thought-leaders and innovators in the non-
profit analytics industry.
80%
69%
70%
60%
50%
39%
40%
30% 28%
30%
18% 20% 19%
20% 15% 15% 14%
6% 9% 7% 6%
10% 5%
0% 0% 0%
0%
<$5 million $25-49 Million $5-$24 Million $50-99 Million $100 Million or NA
more
Overall

Looking Forward Survey Participant Breakdown

The majority of respondents
(75 percent) indicated that
Social or Community
using analytics positively Services, 2% Other, 18%

affects the organization Arts, 2%

Research University,
while the remainder Healthcare, 2% 38%
commonly noted they
Academic Medical
simply did not know how Center, 3%

to measure its value. With Children's Hospital,

5%
this in mind, investing the
resources—both staff and Specialty Healthcare,
Private College, 15%
7%
technology—necessary to
adequately undertake a Master’s Level
University, 8%
comprehensive analytics
approach is challenging for
several organizations. One part of this is lack of resources. Another part is the lack of a
standardized, easy-to-understand and measure process for organizations of all sizes that
non-profit leaders can more easily implement. As these holes get filled, the growth of
analytics in the industry could grow exponentially.
People-driven analytics by
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