Modeling — Taking It Straight From the Experts (Part 2)

Littlefield: At a time when so many nonprofit boards of directors are asking (actually demanding) greater efficiency within fundraising, it's likely that modeling will take center stage. It would seem that a more effective utilization of "speaking" to prospects and donors when/where/how they want (revealed through analytics) is likely — and necessary. It's also difficult not to foresee significant growth in the use of prospect databases — the economics of traditional acquisition will force that. "Smart multichannel" marketing decisions will surely be directed by modeling — the dynamic of the 21st century, post-boomer donor is misunderstood by traditional marketing. Also, if anything can solve the mystery of "how to get younger," it is analytics. Conversely, modeling/analytics might prove that this goal is actually a fool's crusade and not worth marketing investment.

Emlet: As it so often does, the future of modeling for fundraising comes back to the data: what data is captured, about whom and how is it stored. So the more data available, the more modeling can be employed.

Birkner: In the future, more value and emphasis will be placed on looking at all of a donor's transactions and interactions within an organization across all channels. In addition to that as we look into the future, the "next generation" of modeling will evolve around causal modeling and where a donor is at in their own personal life cycle and how that affects why (or why not) they become a donor. Through modeling, the industry should be able to predict when someone is settling down and their interests are shifting due to where there are at in terms of discretionary income, owning home, having a family, etc. This type of modeling will put an emphasis on why the person is giving or becoming a donor to the organization.