For over a decade, the MIT Alumni Association used a three-category model to track alumni engagement. Visually depicted with a Venn Diagram, the circles of Philanthropic, Face-to-face, and Virtual were used to count several engagement activities performed by our alumni. We measured overlaps in the engagement categories, labeled the intersection of the three circles as the Mindshare, and reported on the overall engagement rate. Over the years, what was included in our Venn Diagram evolved as we gained the ability to store additional engagement activities in our database.
Eventually, a number of factors including, but not limited to, the conclusion of our most recent capital campaign, CASE’s launch of the Alumni Engagement Metrics, growing confusion around what activities were counted and where, and a desire to empower more staff to see their work in the engagement metrics, demonstrated a need to introduce a new way to track alumni engagement. After several proposed models, Alumni Association leadership adopted a system that closely mirrors CASE’s four-category AEM.
This session will take attendees through the process of launching an engagement measurement model. All steps will be covered, from getting buy-in from leadership to updating visuals and reports to training staff on the changes. If you are thinking about installing an engagement metrics model at your institution, or are looking to update an already existing model, come to this session to learn about our process, how we’re using the model, and what our plans are for its future.

This presentation will describe the combined efforts of the Prospect Development and the Advancement Systems teams at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota to adopt a more data-driven and automated approach to prospect pipeline development for major gifts fundraising. It will describe our previous approach to pipeline development work, our motivation for a more efficient and transparent approach, and lessons learned in the process of implementing these new processes and systems. Topics covered include the methods used to systematize prospect pipeline elements such as prospect capacity, quality, and interest areas; dashboards created to visualize, filter, and display the pipeline and constituency; ways that these new systems are being used to prepare and deliver new prospects; and dashboards employed to track pipeline movement.

Say hello to our little friends! Like Tony Montana, we experienced a rapid rise and fall of our dreams (in our case, dashboard development). Unlike Tony, we lived to tell the tale of how we used that experience to move on to an even better environment. We'll focus on our initial use of Google Looker Studio, which is hardly the BI Tool of your dreams, but the price is right (FREE!) and it's proven to be surprisingly versatile for a variety of dashboard needs. In the aftermath of us taking our Looker Studio dashboards behind the barn, we've penned this final love letter to a frustrating yet functional (and FREE!) product in the hopes that a less financially fortunate organization can benefit from our experience. We will give a glimpse of the dashboards we've created for proposal pipelines, portfolio reviews, initiative reports, principal giving profiles, fundraising progress, career center data, integration with Slate CRM, etc. in the hopes that those of you with no shortage of sweat equity can push Looker Studio to the limit. We will also give a glimpse into how the lessons learned from our experience made it easy for us to adapt to Power BI.

Actionable data is more than just insightful data. It is timely, insightful data. If you provide insightful data the day after it is needed, it changes from actionable to at best out of date, and at worst useless. When you are part of a small data shop, your form of currency is often not ability but time. We are always asked if we can do something when the real question is, “Do we have time to do something?”

In Vassar’s Advancement Services area, we have 4 people providing data and reporting needs for over 70 individuals across multiple areas. There are myriad requests that seemingly come in all at once, all the time. What is a small shop to do? Well, what Vassar’s Advancement Systems and Reporting team did was to address the request, and then ask ourselves: Who else might make this request? How would they request it? Can we service that request right now as well?

This started our journey on generalizing requests and being proactive to them as opposed to reactive. We started automating this analysis through the use of Stored Procedures, Functions, Custom Fields, and Dashboards to create safe environments for self service. Then our team could focus on more complex actions.

Optimizing Alumni Engagement Through Data-Driven Clustering:
Since 2018, the Universidad del Norte's Alumni Office has measured alumni engagement through the Connection Indicator, tracking thirteen variables across categories like involvement, volunteering, and donations, based on CASE insights. In 2023, data analytics and multivariate analysis were introduced, identifying behavior patterns and helping better understand the 40% of alumni (60% in 2024) who engage most with institutional services. This has led to the creation of six alumni clusters, enabling more targeted communication and relationship strategies across key areas like career placement, tracking, and engagement management.

How can we use metrics in a strategic and accessible way to help us reach our goals and communicate effectively with senior leadership and trustees? How can we use visual storytelling to collaborate as a team, understand our performance and take action? This session aims to arm you with simple, yet powerful tools you can use to facilitate conversation with trustees and senior leadership and bolster your fundraising.

Wealth capacity is an essential financial indicator that many gift officers use to assess a potential donor's ability to contribute. However, like many aspects of fundraising today, it's essential to find the right balance between "art and science" to engage potential donors in a way that encourages generosity while respecting their capacity to give.

Join this session for an interactive discussion and presentation on the different data-driven approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of gift officers' asks in relation to a prospect's capacity.

A recounting of Welcomed Triumphs and Unexpected Follies on the journey to deepen our understanding of the nature of our Fundraiser Portfolios and our Visibility into the Future.

In July 2023, our organization embarked on a transformative journey, redefining data analytics and dashboard design, ensuring that all levels of the organization would experience increased data transparency through tailor made dashboards.

During this session, head of strategy planning, Mel Rowan, will outline the steps it took to get buy-in at the highest levels of the organization to mobilize around this effort. The lead for the analytics team, Stacey Barnes, will showcase some of the Tableau dashboards that have been deployed for the executive team, frontline fundraisers, and campus partners. Throughout the session Mel and Stacey will discuss the strategic steps necessary to implement organization-wide analytics, provide technical insights for optimizing dashboard design and lessons learned during the adoption phase.

This presentation is tailored for both data analysis professionals and non-technical experts. Non-technical professionals will acquire valuable insights into formulating a strategy to create a data-informed organization. Meanwhile, data analysis professionals will discover innovative ways to visualize and communicate their insights to non-technical audiences across the organization, as well as explore novel dashboard arrangements to enhance the visual representation of their work. 

Join us for an engaging session that promises to empower attendees with practical knowledge and foster a collaborative environment for leveraging data analytics and dashboard design to drive organizational success.

Data is an institution’s most valuable asset, but only if it’s accessible and actionable. In this session, we’ll explore how to implement data hygiene best practices during a CRM transition, ensuring that only relevant, usable information makes the cut. Learn how to leave behind data that no longer serves your institution, transform valuable data to fit the future-state data model, and maintain long-term data integrity to support smart, data-driven decisions.