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Three Factors to Consider Before Using Big Data Analysis Tools

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Big data analysis tools help organizations evaluate information and provide insights that help improve their operations. By analyzing collections of data and developing predictive models, these solutions create greater efficiency and can even help with donor outreach. When your client better understands their donors, they increase the likelihood of generating more revenue. Predictive analytics, in particular, help lead the way down this path. The result is higher revenue along with cost reductions from the greater fundraising efficiency.

But how does an organization go about finding the right tools? First, look at the ways in which these data analysis tools operate. Data mining tools have been adapted to allow organizations to ingest large amounts of data from diverse sources and integrate them in performing their analyses.

When considering using big data analysis tools, it’s important to look at what your clients are trying to achieve and assess the data they have at their disposal. This will help determine the best solution for their needs.

What Are Your Clients Trying to Achieve?

Data analytics serve many purposes, but every organization has unique challenges. It’s important for your client to determine the areas of their operations that would benefit the most from such analytics. An organization that is looking to do a better job crunching their own data would look to a solution that improves their internal processes. In many cases, the need is about how to use data to better target existing donors in a way that will maximize nonprofit revenue. For them, the solution may lie in a more complex tool that provides predictive and prescriptive analysis, giving a sense of the potential behavior of donors. ExactAsk is an excellent option for these cases.

It’s All About the Quantity and Quality Of Data

Improved performance through analytics relies heavily on the data inputs themselves. Data comes from many different sources. In the business world, the majority of data comes from website transactions, mobile activity, and the unstructured data that people produce, from emails to blog posts to social media. In many cases, a non-profit’s data may be limited to donor transactions, mailing lists, and interaction with their social media accounts. Although this is a great start, using data analysis most effectively requires larger data sets. If an organization is looking to gain increased insight into their donors’ proclivities, look to tools like ExactAsk that cast a wider net.  

Find The Right Tool

Once you have an idea of what your client needs from data analytics and also determine the range of data that they have for this purpose, then it’s time to look at a tool that will meet that need and help the client reach their goals. For non-profits that are looking to maximize donor revenue, the best solutions would be ones that helps to facilitate this priority by digging deeper into existing donor data and matching it with information gathered elsewhere.

Using such a tool can help organizations that haven’t spent much time gathering additional data.  A data analysis tool like Exact Ask , which uses a proprietary algorithm that predicts donor ask amounts with high accuracy, would help an organization in this position.

Looking carefully at these considerations will help determine how big data analytics can best work for your client.