Learn more about analytics and research best practices, as well as real world examples and solutions for nonprofits.

The Beauty of Small Data

Is CRM the nonprofit solution?

Everyone is talking about nonprofit organizations needing to buy CRM systems so they can be just like the Obama campaign and mine BIG data to make huge breakthroughs.

But I am not so sure.

I hesitate to sound like the great Jeff Brooks’ Future of Fundraising Now blog and criticize anything new in fundraising, but . . .

The aging promise of CRM has always been making insights from your data easy. But I have yet to see it. Rather than being a user friendly tool for nonprofits, CRM becomes the angry tyrant that everyone must satisfy. Much more time and resources are spent on the multi-step data processes then on mining the data for actionable insights.

And that’s just not right.

For now, I could not recommend moving forward with CRM. Rather than spending all that money on a data system, invest into some analysts to mine the data you already have. Your ROI on investing in analysts over infrastructure will be far, far better.

The State of Data Woes in 2022

by Bill Jacobs | Sep 7, 2022

When I started analyzing donor databases in the 1990s, the state of donor databases was challenging: Poor data hygiene duplicate records non-standard gift coding undertrained IT staff simple inflexible software Let’s fast forward 25-years. Since the 1990s, nearly...

Why We Labor

by Bill Jacobs | Sep 7, 2022

Our company has had a very busy summer analyzing donor databases, making mail plans, and executing selects. And if you are like us, sometimes during the busyness of all that needs to get done in the world of fundraising, we can lose sight of why we do want we do....

Mentors: Phil Stolberg

by Bill Jacobs | Dec 13, 2021

As we finish one year and head into the next, I thought it would be appropriate to recognize some of the key mentors I have had that have shaped my career. So, this 4-part series focuses on those who have helped me along. A big thank you to each and every one of them....