Most Prospect Management models rely on the gift cycle to categorize prospects. But is this the most accurate way to describe a prospect's philanthropic engagement with the institution? Does a prospect being cultivated for their first major gift really fall in the same category as a seasoned donor being cultivated for their 10th? The Prospect Development Team at Temple University decided to reframe the way they code and report on prospects based on simple measurements on the donors' records. This enabled the team to engage with the fundraisers they partner with to uncover new opportunities and allowed fundraisers to approach their portfolios in a more strategic way.

Are our donor funds being utilized? Are there any fund issues we need to address? Should we be worried when we send out our annual donor fund reports? If you’ve ever had these concerns, you’re not alone. In recent years, many nonprofit organizations have been grappling with similar questions, finding little guidance on this vital aspect of any advancement operation. Join us in this session as we look at the University of Nebraska Foundation’s journey to grow its funds management team from the ground up, leveraging donor fund data along the way. It’s time to bring the discussion on funds management challenges out of closed-door conversations and begin an industry dialogue to identify what tools, resources, and standards need to be in place to successfully manage and steward donor funds. Whether you are new to funds management or seasoned in the field, come prepared to share your experiences and glean insights from others in this collaborative space.

At our educational institutions, we use assessments and remediation for better student outcomes.
So, how can you improve your data outcomes?

In this session – we’ll cover how to leverage the data quality life cycle to improve your data.

By grading your data (on consistency, validation, and recency) and remediating the elements that aren’t passing the grade – you can ensure that every data outcome is "better".

Professional schools, nestled within the ecosystem of a larger university, face unique challenges in engaging their alumni base and fundraising for their priorities. Building a robust reporting infrastructure has become a strategic imperative for these institutions, given the intricate dynamics at play. In this presentation, we will delve into the journey of establishing a comprehensive reporting system for Yale Law School , seamlessly integrating giving data, prospect ratings, and gift officer metrics. What sets this initiative apart is its commitment to creating an intuitive reporting portal that empowers not only technical experts but also non-technical staff. We will explore the complexities encountered, the solutions implemented, and the transformative impact achieved, recognizing the distinct challenges and opportunities that arise when aligning the goals of a unit with those of a broader academic institution. Join us as we unveil a blueprint for data-driven decision-making that enables professional schools, as integral units within a larger university, to foster alumni relationships and drive philanthropic success with confidence and in harmony with the broader mission of the institution.

We created dashboards allowing a pro-active approach to successfully collecting pledges. By becoming aware of the high risk pledges, Fundraising professionals were are able to focus on the high risk donors, to properly steward and sustain their affinity to the university. Thus, mitigating the risk and increasing the chance that the donor will fulfill their pledge.

RFM analysis is a great first step to analyzing and grouping your donors. By summarizing their giving history and ranking by Recency, Frequency, and Monetary values, you can cluster donors into smaller comparable groups. This can help with identifying possible future prospects, searching for a target donor audience, and allow for more personal communications to each group.

Asking and answering whether a donor clicked on a link is just the beginning. To fully leverage the potential of digital impact reporting, Boston University built a reporting strategy based upon the tools and business practices that answer far more textured and powerful questions: What content captured their attention? How long did they review the content? Did they access the report? Did the report spur action or result in new gifts? How do we drive higher engagement (individually and in aggregate)? In this session, you will learn how BU ensured a successful launch using analytics to continuously hone and adapt its reporting strategy, collaboratively built new, data-driven capabilities, the lessons learned along the way, and how they plan to continue to optimize their approach."

All organizations are striving for continuous improvement, and getting feedback from your stakeholders is essential to that goal. One of the best ways to get that feedback is by surveying your constituents - students, families, employees, alumni and/or donors. Learn how to conduct your own survey research, even on a modest (or non-existent!) budget, and collect actionable data to help you improve your organization.

This interactive session highlights the union of two CASE resources: the Alumni Engagement metrics framework and the Advancement Inclusion Index. Join Jenny and Ben as they provide you with outcomes-driven next steps to apply broad-based data informed strategies in engaging diverse communities, regardless of your current organizational diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) maturity level. You’ll leave with an understanding of resources provided by CASE; examples of how institutions are applying the framework to focus on ever-diversified communities; and how to identify gaps and potential barriers to establish pathways to build enduring and mutually beneficial relationships, drive positive change and foster a sense of belonging for all.

Learn how MIT is taking a strategic and tactical approach to data management in preparation for future technology transformation. Leading from critical needs of the organization, MIT is developing a data classification strategy to inform data migrations, reinforce data standards, and leverage established project management principles to strengthen its data management practices as they respond to the changing needs of their constituents and transform their business.