Josh Birkholz
Posting on analytics, technology, visualizations, fundraising, and other unrelated things I find interesting like Doctor Who, sci fi wierdness, crazy new ideas, and interesting people.
Author of Fundraising Analytics
Principal at Bentz Whaley Flessner
Founder of the analytics group donorcast
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HAS EVERYONE SEEN THIS
NO
WELL THEN WATCH IT
#amymeetsabed -
This GameFly Commercial is too HILARIOUS!
A MUST WATCH!
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Game Of Thrones
i like games like this
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This was an impressive effort. Nice job FSU! And Nice job Justin Ware, social fundraiser extraordinaire!
Find out more about social media services at Bentz Whaley Flessner.
Do performance metrics actually change behavior? Part 2 of 3
In my last blog post (part 1 of 3), I discussed motivating behavior by being mindful of employee self-interest while outlining organizational priorities. In this week’s posting, I want to discuss the idea of the data-itself motivating behavior.
The concept of the feedback loop describes the interchange of data which influences behavior directly. You might be familiar with the Wired magazine article on the subject which used speed limit radar signs as an example. Even though the speedometer provides you with direct data on your speed, the radar sign declaring “Your Speed is:” has a greater impact on changing your behavior. Even though this is only 20 degrees difference in sight line, it makes a difference. A motivating factor might be that other’s also see your speed.
Data changes your behavior when peer input is a factor (pressure or competition), self interest is a factor (personal security or success) and in gamification (fun). the speed limit sign is an example of peer pressure. A leader board is an example of positive competition.
A good example of personal security is mission control. An astronaut will immediately act upon data because it is tied to his or her well being. Hearing “Fire!” or “Danger!” will cause us to react without being told we need to change what we are doing. The reaction is without persuasion.
Success-based self interest might be seen in the stock market. Based on performance data alone, we might buy or sell securities, rethink our 401K distribution, or change or risk levels. Motivated by success, the data alone changes our behaviors.
We also see this behavior in video games. When I am playing Bioshock, I will switch from Eve to weapons when my Eve levels deplete. Or, I will play more conservatively when my health meter declines. No one is persuading me to change my behavior, the real-time data is all I need.
How on earth does this apply to fundraising? I think your mind is probably racing the same way mine was as I thought through these examples. Motivating gift officer performance is thought to require management intervention based on findings in the metrics. However, if the metrics can be delivered in such a way that influence is immediate, there is a distinct advantage.
Are your reports tapping into peer pressure or fueling competitiveness? In other words, do you communicate these broadly for all people in your organization to see? Do your fundraisers, as described in my first post, see their performance and the resulting organizational benefit as directly tied to their personal benefit? Is it fun?
As you develop or enhance your fundraising performance metrics, consider these examples to see real and immediate change.
In part 3 of 3, I will describe 7 steps to rolling-out effective performance management plans at your nonprofit.
If you were a successful young entrepreneur, what percentage of your net income would you give to philanthropic causes?LAURA ARRILLAGA and Marc Andreessen are practically a royal couple around here. But when they met, on a New Year’s Eve date in 2005, Ms. Arrillaga didn’t care that Mr. Andreessen had made a fortune in Silicon Valley.
She cared whether he was giving money away. “One of the first questions I asked him on the night we met was what he was doing philanthropically,” she recalled.
Not your usual flirtation, but also not your usual romance. She is the daughter of a real estate billionaire and ended up marrying an almost-billionaire: Mr. Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape.
Yet the question she posed that evening still resonates. She is encouraging tech titans like her husband to become as famous for giving money as they are for making it.
Stars here often get rich in their 20s, but the tech industry over all has been criticized as being stingy when it comes to public charity. Some executives, like Bill Gates, wait until they retire to become active philanthropists. Others, like Steve Jobs, may not give much publicly during their lives. And while there is evidence that the valley is more philanthropic than it seems, Ms. Arrillaga-Andreessen, 41, says more could be done.
“The word ‘philanthropy’ brings up an image of somebody who’s had an illustrious career, has retired and is giving to highly established institutions that may or may not have ivy growing up their walls,” she says. “I personally have felt the need to give philanthropy a reboot.”
While attending the Stanford Graduate School of Business, she created a business plan for an organization that would teach philanthropy and make grants using strategies borrowed from the venture capital industry. The group, SV2, now has 175 donors who have financed 35 early-stage nonprofits over 13 years and last year gave away almost $500,000.
Ms. Arrillaga-Andreessen has taught a Stanford class on strategic philanthropy for 11 years and is on the board of her parents’ foundation. She started a center at Stanford to connect academics and nonprofits, and this fall published a book, “Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World.”
BWF analyst position open. Sure, its mostly charts, graphs, forecasting, and predictive modeling on the surface. But the impact is transformative. I do this work because I care deeply about the nonprofit sector. When nonprofits do well, we all benefit. I only want colleagues who share my passion. In exchange, you will get autonomy to excel at your job, opportunities to publish or speak about your work, and the respect of your colleagues and industry. Did I also mention we’ll pay you for this?
DonorCast Senior AnalystDescription
Bentz Whaley Flessner, a leading fundraising consulting firm for over 20 years, provides quality advice for every step of the development process to educational institutions, academic medical centers, healthcare systems, and arts and cultural organizations—nationwide—with specialty counsel on advancement services, annual giving, prospect research, and analytics.Bentz Whaley Flessner seeks a Senior Analyst to join the DonorCast team. Under the direction of the director of DonorCast, this person will:
Conduct analysis of nonprofit constituent data to support prospecting, campaign preparations, program review, and constituent relationship management projects.
Produce analysis reports using contemporary data-visualization techniques.
Carry out predictive modeling methodologies in support of the DonorCast projects.
Participate in the engineering of new analytics solutions, including but not limited to data mining, forecasting, simulation, segmentation, and market research strategies.
Market the DonorCast products and implementation services of Bentz Whaley Flessner.
Salary commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Qualifications
The following qualifications are required.
Bachelor’s degree
Demonstrated competence in statistics and data analysis
Experience with SPSS, SAS, DataDesk, or equivalent statistics application
Strong understanding of MS Office suite including Access, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
Solid oral and written communications skills
One or more of the following qualifications is preferred, but not required.
A bachelors degree in statistics, economics, business, or related field
Graduate-level degree in statistics, economics, business, or related field
3–5 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising, preferably in prospecting, prospect management, annual giving, or analytics
Published or presented work on the topic of analytics as it pertains to nonprofit fundraising
To Apply:
Interested parties should submit a cover letter, resume, and three professional references to Alex Oftelie at aoftelie@bwf.com, or Bentz Whaley Flessner, 7251 Ohms Lane, Minneapolis, MN 55439. Applications will be reviewed upon receipt with a deadline of December 16th, 2011.
Excellent post by Justin Ware of BWF Social.
A relatively new iPhone application is building a somewhat cultish following of amateur photographers. It’s called “Instagram” and the number of dedicated users who have downloaded the app are growing at a rapid pace – the one-year-old Instagram now has more than 12 million users worldwide.
Instagram is as simple as an application gets. To use it, you create a profile, choose pictures to upload, add a filter (filters allow the user to easily adjust color settings, make a picture look like it’s 30 years old and other cool stuff), post a short caption and then share it with all your followers. It might sound like Facebook minus everything else Facebook does, but the growth suggests Instagram is on to something. (I count myself as one of those who’s joined the cult)
So the next question is, how can nonprofits get involved? It’s new, so this does represent a rare opportunity to lead in an uncluttered space …for now. Of course, there are a few early adopters in the Philanthropy world who’ve already jumped on board. Posted here you see a few examples of nonprofit organizations and how they’re using Instagram. The Philippine Improvement Group is using the photo network as both an awareness raising and a fundraising tool, while the Salvation Army is recognizing volunteers.
Cherly Cerny discussing mobile fundraising.
From mobile applications and websites to near field communication, Cheryl Cerny has a lot of great experience and advice to offer fund raisers who are considering a move towards mobile. (Filmed in Chicago during the Fundraising Forward Charette)
Knit a sweater for penguins affected by recent oil spill. It looks like they really like the duds!
Site HERE
(via craftjunkie)
Soon, the holiday sounds of coins clinking into red kettles may disappear, replaced by the silence of a credit card swipe.
Phones running Square will allow the Salvation Army to accept credit card payments this year.
The Salvation Army has begun shifting into digital donations, as fewer and fewer shoppers carry much change or bills.
This year, the charity is testing the use of Square, a mobile payments start-up that allows anyone to accept credit card payments via mobile devices.
Here is my brief video on lifetime value from the Fundraising Forward Charette.
It was really more of an idea worth exploring than a fully-fleshed approach. I have some things to change in the method. But, it might be interesting for some of you (by some of you I, of course, mean me watching it on my home computer and my iPad so I have at least 3 views).
A few months ago I posted for this position. We found such an awesome colleague in Jamie, we can’t wait to add another team member! Here is the same posting again with an updated link for the new search
There may be no better way to learn about big fundraising for nonprofits. We have a position opening at BWF that will put you in the center of the action. This is real, meaningful, challenging work. I love working here. You will too*
BWF is hiring a new Project Associate!
Bentz Whaley Flessner is looking to expand the current team by adding a new Project Associate to the Minneapolis, MN or Arlington, VA office. The complete job description and instructions for submitting your application are available through the download link below.
*that is unless you are more of the “slacker, go through the motions, can’t wait to get home to watch reality television” type. It will probably suck for you.
