Tag Archives: prospect development

A.I. in Prospect Research: Shifting the Focus from Fear to Strategy

Profiles, Prospect Research, , , , , , ,

Let me paint you a picture of yesterday afternoon.

I’m sitting at my desk with twelve browser tabs open, three different databases logged in, and a lot of messy text I have cut and paste into my growing profile. I’ve spent the last two hours checking the client’s CRM, pumping the prospect’s name through our subscription tools, and power searching with Google and my favorites link list.

Then I start working through the messy text and realize I neglected to search for a key section of the profile. Four hours or so later I have worked through the profile multiple times and added some actionable insights. But I’ve also aged approximately three years and consumed enough caffeine to power a small city.

Sound familiar?

The AI Conversation Everyone’s Having

Everyone in nonprofit research is talking about AI these days. But most of the conversations I hear fall into three camps:

Camp 1: “AI is going to revolutionize everything! We’ll all be obsolete by next Tuesday!”

Camp 2: “AI is completely unethical and none of it can be trusted.”

Camp 3: “AI is overhyped nonsense that will never understand the nuance of our work!”

But here’s what I think we’re missing: The AI revolution is less of a revolution and more like the next steps in the AI trend that has been going on for years.

Instead of succumbing to fear, what if we asked:

  • “How much of my day do I spend on tasks that a really good assistant could handle?”
  • “What would I do with my time if I wasn’t constantly copy-pasting from six different systems?”
  • “What strategic insights am I not noticing because I’m drowning in data gathering?”

The Dream (That’s Closer Than You Think)

Picture this: You get a profile request on Monday morning. Instead of opening twelve tabs and settling in for a marathon copy-paste session, you open one interface that has already pulled together:

  • Everything your CRM knows about this donor
  • Matched information from public databases
  • Recent news and social media mentions
  • Wealth indicators and giving capacity scores
  • Relationship connections to your board, staff, and other donors
  • A summary of their philanthropic interests and giving patterns

…all with source citations so you can verify accuracy and dig deeper where needed.

Now here’s the magic: Instead of spending hours assembling this information, you spend hours analyzing it. Thinking about it. Crafting strategic recommendations.

You’re not asking “How wealthy is this person?” You’re asking “What does their giving pattern tell us about their values?” and “How can we connect their passion for education with our new scholarship program?”

Why This Isn’t Science Fiction

The technology exists. Right now. I’ve been testing some of these tools, and for specific use cases, they’re already game-changing. Public company insider research that used to take hours now takes minutes, with calculations we never had time to do manually. Thank you Kaleidoscope Insider Focus!

The challenge isn’t the technology—it’s that all these amazing tools live in silos and depend on the quality of the information inside those silos. Your wealth screening tool doesn’t talk to your relationship mapping platform. Your donor database doesn’t integrate with the AI that’s scraping LinkedIn and news sources.

But integration problems get solved. That’s what technology does—it gets better, faster, and more connected.

The Skills That Matter Now

So if the information-gathering part of our job is becoming automated, what’s left?

Everything that actually matters:

  • Critical thinking: AI can find information, but can it tell you whether that $2 million gift to another organization suggests strong capacity or donor fatigue?
  • Strategic insight: Tools can map relationships, but can they recommend the perfect board member to make an introduction?
  • Storytelling: Databases can list giving history, but can they craft the narrative that helps your gift officer understand what motivates this donor?
  • Ethical judgment: AI can gather data, but can it navigate the privacy and ethical considerations that come with prospect research?

Your Next Move

The researchers who will thrive in an AI-enhanced world are the ones who start preparing now. Not by panicking about job security or doomsday ethical scenarios, but by:

  • Getting curious about strategy: Start asking better questions about the information you’re already gathering (read this Apra Connections article)
  • Building relationships: Become the trusted advisor your development team runs to for insights, not just data
  • Staying current: Understanding what’s possible with new tools, even if they’re not perfect yet
  • Thinking bigger: What would you tackle if the boring stuff was handled for you?

The Bottom Line

AI won’t replace prospect researchers. But prospect researchers who embrace AI as a powerful assistant will absolutely outperform those who don’t.

The question isn’t whether you’ll have a job in an AI world. It’s whether you’ll be doing the parts of the job that actually matter—the strategic, creative, relationship-building work that transforms donor data into cultivation gold.

And honestly? That sounds like a much better job than the one where I spend half my day copying and pasting between databases.

What do you think—are you ready to let AI handle the busy work so you can focus on the work that actually changes lives?

Ready to Level Up Your Strategic Thinking?

If you’re nodding along thinking “Yes, I want to be the researcher who provides strategic insights, not just data dumps,” then you’re exactly who I built the Research Asset Membership for.

In our workshops, we dig into the real challenges you’re facing: How do you turn research into actionable cultivation strategies? How do you build the relationships that make you a trusted advisor? How do you navigate the ethical complexities of modern prospect research?

Plus, you’ll connect with a community of researchers who get it. People who understand both the frustrations and the incredible satisfaction of this work we do.

Because here’s what I know after years in this field: The researchers who invest in continuously building their strategic skills don’t just survive change—they lead it.

Learn more about Research Asset Membership and join a community of prospect researchers who are shaping the future of our field.

Additional Resources

That Familiar Ask: ‘Can You Find Rich People?’ Here’s What to Do Instead

Prospect Identification, Prospect Research, , , , , ,

You know that feeling, don’t you? The development team walks into your office (or slides into your DMs) with a sparkle in their eyes. They’ve been strategizing. They’ve been planning. And they have a shiny new idea: “Can you get a list of wealthy people in the community who might be interested in our new program?”

Your heart sinks a little because you know what comes next. Hours of research on strangers. Cold prospect lists. Fundraisers making awkward cold calls to people who’ve never heard of your organization. And then, when the gifts never materialize, they come back with new strategies for more places to look out in the community.

I’ve been there. We’ve all been there. But here’s what I’ve learned after years of watching this play out: We have more power in this conversation than we think we do.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Stranger Danger

The truth is that asking for money, especially larger investments, requires relationships. Typically, the colder the relationships the more prospects it takes over a longer period of time to get the gifts your organization needs.

The uncomfortable truth is that your frontline fundraisers know they should focus on building existing relationships before chasing down strangers, but when they’re in the moment and feeling the pressure to fund the program, your organization’s database full of donors is a software program and strangers are people.

But we researchers know that the database is full of people. People who know us and support our organization.

Becoming a Trusted Partner

You could point out to the frontline fundraiser how ridiculous it is to chase strangers instead of mining your own database of existing relationships, but how well do you think that will go down?

In most development departments, research does not hold a lot of political power. What we can have is influence over our colleagues. And influence requires trust.

Instead of making your fundraiser feel stupid, you could try an approach along the lines of the following:

“That’s a great idea, and I can definitely help you find prospects from our community. But it might take a year or even a few years for gifts to come in from people with no connection to us. What if I also do some datamining on our existing donors? I might find some good prospects who already know and trust us—those gifts could come in much faster.”

 

 

This isn’t about saying no. It’s about saying “yes and.” Yes, you can do the research they have requested AND you also have a stellar idea to bring good prospects to the table.

Sometimes You Do Need to Look Outside

There are times when it totally makes sense to search for prospects out in your community.

Consider the following scenarios:

  • Maybe you really don’t have the internal prospects to support something new.
  • It might be time for your board members to step up and start introducing your organization to their networks.
  • If it is a new initiative, you might want to tap into foundations. They often prefer new projects.
  • You may want to deliberately diversify your funding sources!
  • Engaging the community through businesses, civic groups, or government could be an important complementary strategy to individual giving.

The Power of Reframing

I used to think my job was to say yes to whatever research request came my way. But I learned that our real value as researchers isn’t in being order-takers—it’s in being strategic thinking partners.

When development teams come to us with the “research rich strangers” request, they’re not wrong to want to expand their prospect pool. But they might not be choosing the best research technique to source the prospects they need.

If you become the trusted partner that listens to the need and delivers great prospects, what do you think will happen next time they are under pressure to raise funds for a project? They will RUN to you asking you to do it again! Or even better, they will ask you for advice.

A Challenge for All of Us

Next time you get that familiar request to research wealthy community members, I challenge you to pause and ask questions such as:

  • Could you tell me more about what a BEST prospect for this project looks like?
  • If you don’t want formal institutional funding, how would you feel about a family foundation that is local and has funded similar projects?
  • Before I search externally, would you mind if I checked to see if we have any existing donors that might be a good fit and run that by you first?

You might be surprised by what you learn from the conversations. More importantly, your fundraisers might be surprised by how much faster those gifts come in when they’re using the best strategy and especially if they are building on existing relationships instead of starting from scratch.

Because you and I both know: The best prospecting doesn’t just find people with money. It finds people with money who are connected to and care about your mission.

And most of the time, those people are already in your database.

Additional Resources

Wish you had access to more resources on prospecting? You do! The Prospect Research Institute has lots of resources to help you with prospecting:

  • Connect with other prospect research professionals tackling these same challenges in the FREE Forums at the Prospect Research Institute.
  • Buy the Approach to Prospecting book or the course. This teaches you how to build a score card, which you can use for internal or external prospecting.
  • Check out our prospecting category on Prospect Research#ChatBytes the Institute’s podcast.

Top 5 Capacity Rating Insights for Research Professionals

Profiles, Prospect Identification, Prospect Research, , , , , , , , , ,

We’ve all been there. The gift officer needs a capacity rating “super quick” before meeting with someone. The electronic screening shows a low number, but the prospect’s occupation suggests there’s more. Sound familiar?

After years of calculating ratings, fielding anxious questions from researchers and fundraisers, and watching the gap between promise and reality, following are the top 5 capacity rating insights for research and prospect management.

1.No Matter What Rating You Choose – You Will be Wrong! (And That’s OK)

Surrender your anxiety! Capacity ratings can never be 100% accurate because too much of the information is private. Capacity ratings are directional, not definitive.

Your job is to provide the best assessment possible with available data. But if you want to feel anxious, get worried about under-rating the prospect not over-rating them. You want build your development officer’s confidence to ask boldly.

 2. HNWIs Are Your Blind Spot

The wealthier the prospect, the more likely their wealth is hidden. Private equity, angel investments, Delaware LLCs, family offices – none of this shows up cleanly in databases. Machine-generated ratings consistently undervalue HNWIs because the data needed to identify “whales” isn’t available for algorithms to process.

Accept that spotting transformative wealth still requires human intelligence and industry knowledge.

 3.  Estimated Net Worth vs. Gift Capacity: Know When Each Matters

Gift capacity ratings provide an assessment of a stretch gift amount from the prospect and the approach to calculating depends on the prospect. At Aspire, if someone appears to be below $1M in estimated net worth, we use the old-fashioned general calculations based on visible assets.

But if they are $1M or above, we place them in a net worth tier based on quantitative and qualitative data points and then take a percentage (typically 5%) of estimated net worth to create the capacity range.

 4. Data Isn’t the Strategy

Technology keeps promising instant major gift identification, but it’s not delivering for everyone, especially wealthy minorities such as women, people of color, and others. And we know that the best data is locked inside the donor’s head and heart.

As a researcher, you can go beyond gathering information and become the fundraising partner who translates pages of information into ways the development officer might take action with the prospect.

 5. Inclusive Research Pays Off

Traditional approaches miss wealthy minorities. But identifying prospects by demographic characteristics such as ethnicity can be ineffective and uncomfortable.

Instead, research with inclusive assumptions. Question your own biases when two similar prospects get different ratings. Check if you’re undervaluing first-generation wealth creators or making assumptions about giving patterns.

Moving Forward

Capacity ratings aren’t perfect, but they probably are not going anywhere. As A.I. creeps into our tools and makes all of our scores and ratings even better, we might find them eventually replaced or perhaps renamed and improved. But for now, you can make them as useful as possible while managing expectations about their limitations.

We all struggle with the same capacity rating anxieties. The most successful researchers combine data analysis with relationship intelligence, inclusive practices, and clear communication about what they know and don’t know.

Engage gift officers in conversations about how you arrive at ratings. Some of your best collaborations will come from fundraisers who want to understand your methodology. Join professional forums, attend APRA sessions, and don’t be afraid to ask for input from colleagues. Capacity rating is as much art as science.

And of course, the Prospect Research Institute has lots of resources to help you with capacity ratings!

  • Connect with other prospect research professionals tackling these same challenges in the FREE Forums at the Prospect Research Institute.
  • Invest in your education and buy the Capacity Ratings book or the course.
  • Check out the Institute’s Capacity Rating Section in our Free Library, which includes a capacity rating calculator download.
launch your prospect portfolio; rocket

Add Speed to Major Gift Portfolios with RPM

Prospect Management, , , , , , , , , ,

When a current client created a job posting for a Research and Prospect Management position a light bulb went off!

Research and                                  Revolutions
Prospect                                            Per
Management                                   Minute

More frequently you’ll see this type of combined role posted as Prospect Management and Research (PMR). But if you reverse that to Research and Prospect Management (RPM) …can you get more speed into your major gift portfolios?

Which comes first – research or prospect management?

Unlike a similar question about chickens and eggs, there is a pretty definitive answer to this question. Research usually comes first in the form of prospect identification.

Most organizations grow into major gifts. A common nonprofit story begins with institutional funding, such as foundations and corporations, who want to support early and continued nonprofit growth. Along the way, nonprofits attract small dollar individual gifts and refine their individual giving program to the point where larger gifts receive more personalized attention and individuals are personally asked for larger gifts.

Usually with the first capital or other campaign, there comes a need to more methodically or reliably identify donor prospects who can give lead campaign gifts. Enter prospect research with major gift prospect identification!

When there are just too many donors requiring personal attention to keep track of in one person’s head, the CRM database comes to the rescue with prospect management. Prospect management provides a systematic way of tracking prospect’s progress from identification to a gift and stewardship.

But what happens to research when prospect management becomes a separate specialty in-house?

Sometimes research and prospect management get out of sync, prompting major gift portfolios to get as stubbornly stuck as a zipper out of alignment!

When research is disconnected from the management of major gift portfolios, various things begin to break down. Sometimes the criteria that research is using to identify prospects does not fit with the funding priorities or the development officer’s views on what makes a great prospect. Research might not be aware of specific regions or development officer portfolios that need more or different prospects than others.

When prospect management is disconnected from research, important information learned from development officers is not passed along. For example, a development officer might learn critical information about a wealth event for which research could provide capacity insight. Also, the prospect manager might not be aware of the criteria used to source new prospects and then they cannot explain it to the development officers.

Adding research in at the “front” of prospect management – the RPM perspective – recognizes that the smooth coordination of prospect identification with portfolio management is where major gift speed is generated.

When the zipper is not aligned, movement is difficult and slow. When there is alignment, the zipper zips easily and quickly.

Similarly, when research and prospect management are aligned, development officers zip through qualifying and disqualifying!

(This all assumes, of course, that development officers are trained in qualification techniques and have a disciplined work process. But that is a different subject!)

Major gift fundraising: Can’t have one without the other

Whether you like to call the work PMR or RPM, the bottom line is that you can’t have one without the other. Without research, pipelines eventually run dry. Without prospect management, development officers lack support to move prospects effectively and efficiently toward a larger, major or transformative gift.

Additional Resources

workshop ad, people around a table

Pictures and Patterns: Decision-making with Fundraising Insights

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Imagine you emerge from a strategic planning session and your task is to raise more money from corporations. Your organization wants to expand its reach and you need to take the thousands of corporate donors in the database and transform them into a fundraising program. Why? Because everyone “feels” like there is a lot of opportunity there. Where do you start?

One of the most common mistakes in fundraising is to make decisions and invest money and resources in strategies that are based on intuition and anecdotal evidence alone. Let’s face it, sometimes it works, and maybe that’s why the behavior is so persistent. But much of the time data-weak decisions fail miserably, often slowly and painfully with lots of fingers pointed. There is a better way.

Leverage the talents of prospect research to paint pictures and identify patterns!

Well-trained prospect research professionals are methodical and analytical. That means that we enjoy solving problems, untangling messy information, and putting order to chaos. Share with us your dilemmas, your problems …your fundraising hopes and dreams. We can help you succeed!

In the new corporate fundraising program example, it means painting a picture of our corporate donors:

  • Where are they located?
  • How many of them are there and at what giving levels?
  • How long have they been donors?
  • Are they small, closely held companies, or large corporations?

And then identifying clusters and patterns:

  • Are there groups of donors in particular industries, geographic locations, or company size?
  • Do the donors that give the most and most frequently have anything in common?
  • Is there anything about the data that can help us understand the giving behaviors? Can we see any correlations between data points?

There is no standard checklist for exploring this kind of information. It requires a keen understanding of the fundraising being undertaken matched with an analytical mind trained in using data to solve problems.

When a prospect research professional works with you to explore your data and make an initial assessment, you can decide on strategies and tactics that will raise the most money now and in the future.

For example, you might discover some companies are more “ripe” for a new approach than others. If they have been giving frequently and increasing their giving, visiting them and discovering their philanthropic needs might uncover a unique corporate approach for your organization that you hadn’t thought of!

Knowing that your best donors are dominated by small, closely held companies gives you the opportunity to find out why. What makes your organization so attractive to them? Are they really individual donors in disguise or do they have company objectives for their philanthropy?

Uncovering an unusual pattern, such as expressions of faith on the company website, might give you an insight that challenges the way you perceived your donors and that opens the door to much deeper relationships.

Fundraising success through insights is not so much about the tools – data mining, statistical analysis, profile research – it’s about giving the donor story inside your data a voice.

When you hire a prospect research professional to help you understand your data, you are hiring someone with a unique skill set – someone who can uncover and communicate the “story” inside your data.

More Resources

#ResearchPride, Advocacy, and Me

4Researchers, Discussion, , , , , , ,

researchpriderainbowAre you proud of the work that you do? Do you get excited about solving information challenges at work? If so, why not take the opportunity this month to share your #ResearchPride?

Because I am proud of the work I do to support not-for-profit organizations, I advocate for the profession in many ways. But I wasn’t always an advocate. It happened over time. My hope is that by sharing my advocacy story with you, you might realize that you, too, have been an advocate for prospect research – probably without really thinking about it. And just maybe you will be inspired to share some #ResearchPride this month with all of us!

I am a Professional

Prospect research has given me a profession where I can utilize the variety of skills I have acquired and apply them to making the world a better place. I have been able to hone my talents with the help of fundraisers and prospect research professionals around the world. It has been extremely rewarding and a tremendous amount of fun!

Being a professional is about more than excelling at work, though. It’s also about being prepared for work and keeping up with trends. I consider myself a fundraiser who specializes in prospect research. Because of this it’s important for me to understand what is happening in philanthropy around the globe and the many ways that impacts my work in research. I also endeavor to keep up with information technology and the changing attitudes to privacy.

My work is more than a j-o-b, it’s a profession. When I am excellent at my work I am advocating for the profession. Staying interested and informed also makes it easy to engage with others about what I do.

I share and engage with the public about my work

When I first began speaking in front of fundraising groups nearly ten years ago, I made a habit of mentioning the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement or APRA (pronounced “APP-rah”). I would ask the room if anyone knew about it. Rarely was a hand raised. When I moved to Tampa Bay, Florida from the mature fundraising environment in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I was challenged – not only did people not know about APRA, but most fundraisers didn’t know what prospect research was either. Yikes!

Those were the pretty early years of electronic screenings. I often think of those first vendors such as P!N, Blackbaud, and WealthEngine as early advocates for the prospect research profession. Their marketing efforts were very successful. Suddenly fundraisers had heard about prospect research – and they thought it was a software product!

While that was annoying, at least it opened the doors to better conversation. I love what I do and enjoy telling people all about it – anyone in fact! People greet my explanations with curiosity and frequently more questions. Sometimes they share stories with me about their interactions with a charity of choice. By sharing my profession with others, I’m also encouraging people to have positive relationships with not-for-profit organizations. Advocacy is awesome!

I collaborate with and support the growth of my colleagues

While I was growing Aspire Research Group, I volunteered with APRA Florida, including serving a term as president. I would also volunteer at APRA conferences and it was a great way to meet new people. All of that felt pretty comfortable – almost easy. But then two big choices came my way that threw me out of my comfort zone and changed the way I viewed my role as an advocate for the profession.

First, two people at my local Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Suncoast chapter encouraged me to answer a call for authors to write about prospect research for the Wiley/AFP Fund Development Series. This was an amazing opportunity to share my profession with the more than 30,000 members of AFP. It was also quite terrifying. Sure I was an excellent researcher, but I had very little experience with really large organizations or higher education.

That’s when I decided I would collaborate with someone. Although I barely knew her, I called up Helen Brown. She was the biggest name I knew in our profession and she had the complementary experience. She said “yes”! We had some of the best discussions as we aligned our experiences under a shared philosophy about our work. As we each wrote our chapters there was continued discussion. It was an exhausting and exhilarating experience. And eventually there was a book, Prospect Research for Fundraisers: The Essential Handbook.

The second event was as the result of success. Aspire Research Group was growing and I reached out to other independent and freelance researchers. It didn’t always go well. Sometimes I knew things they didn’t, sometimes they knew more than I did, and often they did not have access to the paid tools needed to do their best work. Should I invest in those relationships? Should I share knowledge and tools with -gasp- my competitors?

What would you do?

Recently I saw something like this on social media:

  • CEO: We need to get training for our employees
  • CFO: But what if they get the training and then leave for our competitors?
  • CEO: What if they don’t get the training and they stay?

That captures my final decision. I did share knowledge and tools with colleagues that I developed a close working relationship with and I have never regretted it. A small group of us are now exploring ways in which we could more formally work together and retain our autonomy.

I want our profession to be full of highly-trained, well-resourced individuals! Prospect research professionals are some of the most intelligent, creative, and collaborative people I have ever had the privilege of working with.

A big THANK YOU to Helen Brown for launching #ResearchPride month two years ago and for inviting bloggers to share the love!

Now it’s your turn… consider engaging with the #ResearchPride hashtag on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or any other social media platform where you participate. Comment on this blog post or visit the other blog posts listed below and share your thoughts there.

But most importantly, find your voice and speak. Practice your explanation of your work. Test it out on everyone who looks remotely interested. Share your #ResearchPride!

Other #ResearchPride Articles

Don’t Forget the Dividends!

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brainwithpeopleSM
Content Review Panel Experts!

I’m building a beginner to intermediate course on insider stock and compensation and guess what I forgot? Dividends! Thankfully, my Content Review Panel Experts spotted the gap. And we had a great discussion about dividends that made my day. Why?

Well, of course, I was relieved to have my mistake corrected before I produced the video lectures, printed workbook and other materials. But really it was about having a topic discussion with varied colleagues who have differing opinions and resources to bear on the subject. I don’t think I’m alone in thriving on these kinds of conversations.

I was fortunate to be able to attend the APRA 2014 conference in Las Vegas just a few weeks ago. Of course the sessions were fantastic, but really memorable was an informal gathering organized by Mary Gatlin of the University of Oregon. She posted on PRSPCT-L asking if anyone wanted to get together and talk about capacity ratings. Boy did we! Around 30 people responded. I had to sit on an end table because there weren’t enough seats.

During the Vegas conversation we could each ask questions without fear of looking dumb and we could offer opinions and suggestions too. I learned what is happening at a big institution and some ideas on rating (or not) international prospects. Some of us made connections and now have new colleagues in our networks.

High-Level Conversations

This hunger for what I like to call “high-level” conversations is understandable because prospect research professionals have to learn vast amounts of information to get on the wagon and stay current. We need to be able to ask a beginner question one minute and share an advanced technique the next. Because that’s the world we work in.

It also helps me understand why Prospect Research Institute participant Lisa Brown yearned for the Profile Peer Review Program. They are now doing their second round of peer review. Not only do they get to have high-level discussions, but they get to have those conversations after giving and receiving written feedback in a controlled environment. Powerful.

Back to Those Dividends

So what did we finally decide about dividends? We agreed that it’s not usually a huge loss if they are forgotten, but that they offer a possible opportunity for a gift. Because they are essentially cash, if the number of shares is great it can be a significant part of the prospect’s disposable income picture.

Don’t forget the dividends when you research your prospects and don’t forget that even if you are brand new to the prospect research field you have valuable knowledge and perspectives – your own “dividends” – to gift!

Other Articles You Might Like

Score! takes the edge off analytics

4Fundraisers, 4Researchers, Fundraising Analytics, , , , , , , , , , , ,

I just read Score! cover to cover and here’s why I think you should too…

With Score! Peter Wylie and Kevin MacDonell have written a highly accessible book that works effectively as a beginner’s guide to driving your organization’s decision-making with fundraising analytics. It’s no surprise to those of us in the prospect development field. Peter has been writing entertaining and informative books and articles for years and Kevin’s CoolData blog is encouraging and full of easy-to-understand visuals. Both of them write about personal experiences that nicely demonstrate the ideas and concepts in the book.

This is not a do-it-yourself manual. Peter did that already with his book Data Mining for Fund Raisers. This book is for leadership and for aspiring analysts alike who want a guide to getting something great to happen. No-one feels like a fool for not knowing how analytics works (or even how to define it) and although Peter calls out leadership’s common foibles, an ambitious leader can easily swallow that pill because it helps him navigate past the pitfalls.

The book is conveniently grouped into three sections so you can decide what you want to read. Part one, Becoming a Data-Driven Organization, discusses how analytics can help you make decisions that lead to success. Part two, Your Data Driven Job, discusses what it’s like to pursue analytics in your prospect development career. Part three is devoted to case studies.

Part one launches with scenarios that are happening in advancement offices every day, but when highlighted in a short paragraph make one blush with embarrassment. You also get great information on obstacles you are likely to encounter as you seek to invest in analytics and a helpful discussion about whether to hire someone new or train an existing employee.

One of the salient points made in the book from start to finish is that fundraising analytics is all about valuing affinity – the relationship someone has with your organization. Wealth ratings and other external data is nice, but only works really well when paired with affinity. The wealth screening companies have drowned the marketplace with sales, advertising, and educational content that does not shine such a bright spotlight on using analytics to find and leverage the conversation your prospects and donors are having with your organization as recorded in your databases. Score! gets you back on track.

If you are facing the challenge of clueless leadership that does not value data, then this first section falls a bit short. Given Peter’s years of consulting I was hoping for a few guerrilla tactics and approaches to persuading leadership that analytics is the new, shiny object every leader has to use. Instead the authors give us brief vignettes of some of the good stories where leaders model the kind of behavior that encourages analytics efforts to succeed.

Part two is where the aspiring analyst gets some very thoughtful and perceptive advice about the skills needed to take on these kinds of tasks. By including a chapter on soft skills, and putting it first, there is a clear message. You can be awesome at analyzing data, but unless you can translate your results into information others can use and understand, you are not likely to achieve success. Kevin’s CoolData blog is a living example of good and useful presentation. As a bonus, Kevin and Peter share their personal stories on how they came to analyze nonprofit data for a living.

Part two also has some gems that surprised me and made me think more deeply. Although I have been using the term fundraising analytics as an umbrella term here, Kevin and Peter give you an education about the difference between data mining and analytics. You also get some terms and techniques defined – a few fundamentals. But don’t worry! The authors walk you through some step-by-step starter tasks. The highlighted quote is just one of many that should assure you that you won’t break anything by trying.

“Don’t let missing, incomplete, or suspect data stop you from jumping right in and trying to work with it just as it is.” (p.91)

Part three is a series of case studies. As the authors emphasize, these are not do-it-yourself instructions. They are case studies that illustrate the types of questions you might ask your data and some answers others have found. Kevin and Peter do a great job here of outlining the steps they took and then going into detail about what happened as a result. These case studies will give you big picture ideas to guide you as you craft your own projects. They are helpful to leadership too because they demonstrate winning applications.

In particular I was intrigued by the call center data case studies. And, of course, just a few days after reading the book a fundraising colleague described to me how she does not give to her alma mater and will not give to them, yet they have been calling, emailing and writing her repeatedly each year. She just rolls her eyes.

A huge shift is just beginning to happen as younger generations earn and accumulate income and wealth in an era of rapid changes in information technology that is creating new and changing expectations for communicating. The popular LifeHacker blog wrote a recent post with this title: How Can I Donate to Charity Without Getting Harrassed By Them Later?

It will be those organizations that listen to the conversations in their data and respond to them that will win those donors’ trust…and dollars. Score! is written about analytics in higher education, but the lessons apply equally to human services organizations. Don’t miss out. Buy, read and Score!

Don’t believe me? Read what Susan Bridgers of APRA Carolinas has to say about it!

Want to catch up on the most current buzz? Search the Twitter hashtag: #scorethebook