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Few ResourcesHere's a few resources for SQL Server, Data Warehousing, Data Mining and Data Visualizations. Brian Dowling. Annual Fund Sample Data Request Standardizing the request process for annual fund. John Starritt & Bryan Mack.  Appeal
TargetingMost fundraisers blanket their prospects with a myriad of messages delivered through a variety of media. Some of these messages connect well with certain prospect segments, some fall flat. Unfortunately, given the sheer volume of activities, untangling what worked and what didn't can often be a challenging process. Building Data Warehouse - 1Part 1 of a skills building workshop on building a data warehouse presented at Blackbaud's International Conference. This presentation is an overview of building one. Brian Dowling. Building
Data Warehouse - 2Part 2 of a skills building workshop on building a data warehouse presented at Blackbaud's International Conference. This presentation includes more detailed examples. Brian Dowling. Business Intelligence for Advancement Presentation on BI concepts for advancement. BI
for FundraisersAs we continue to pick up speed on our journey down the information super highway, more and more fundraisers are voicing their concerns that amidst the promise of CRM, data warehouses, predictive analytics, and executive dashboards the reality may be much less than they have been hoping for. There is a feeling of being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information, the speed at which it changes, and the varying degrees of information quality and relevance. Contributed by Advizor Solutions, Inc. Challenges
With ReportingSome of the challenges we all face with fundraising reporting, and some solutions for improving. Brian Dowling. Changing BI Economics The changing economics of business intelligence. Robert Frances Group. Changing BI Economics Business intelligence (BI) can be loosely defined as the ability to use decision support tools to do real-time information analysis in order to provide mission critical information to the organization. Choosing a Report Writing Tool What are the decisions you need to make in choosing a report writing tool? Closing the Fact Gap The Intersection of Information, Action, and Accountability. Business Objects. Crystal Reports Some tips and tricks when using Crystal Reports. Lori Lasansky. Crystal Reports - 5 Tests 5 tests for top performance for Crystal Reports contributed by Jason Dove from Scry Business Intelligence. Crystal Repots - Formula Sharing Crystal Reports: Save Time with Formula Sharing. Once a report library grows to a certain size there are always going to be common formulas which are needed again and again. Having ready access to them can save a vast amount of development time. By Jason Dove from Scry Business Intelligence. Crystal Reports - Sub Reports Nine times out of ten reporting requirements can be met using a little forethought and planning (and a solid understanding of formulas) rather than by using sub reports. Contributed by Jason Dove from Scry Business Intelligence. Data
Cleanup ReportingExample of a data cleanup and maintenance reporting strategy that can be employed on an ongoing basis to give some ideas as to how to implement this in way that tracks global and individual user performance on key business rules and data elements. |
Data Sharing What would the advantages be of sharing data at a granular level across institutions? Data
Warehouse GlossaryA brief summary of some commonly used data warehouse terms with some examples of usage in a fundraising organization. Brian Dowling. Data Warehouse Building your advancement data warehouse, the foundation of all your reporting efforts. Data Warehousing Directory of schools using data warehousing. Data
WarehouseSession 1 presentation on building your data warehouse from the Blackbaud Higher Education Forum. Associated podcast. Brian Dowling. Data WarehouseSession 2 presentation on building your data warehouse from the Blackbaud Higher Education Forum. Associated podcast. Brian Dowling. Data Warehouse Strategies - Part 1Part 1 of a presentation on data warehouse strategies presented at an AASP (Association of Advancement Services Professionals) regional workshop. Associated Podcast (WMA format). Brian Dowling. Data Warehouse Strategies - Part 2Part 2 of a presentation on data warehouse strategies presented at an AASP (Association of Advancement Services Professionals) regional workshop. Associated Podcast (WMA format). Brian Dowling. Does data mining work? Study on data mining results for 5 higher education institutions. Peter B. Wylie. Donor Stewardship Reports Strategies for preparing and managing these important reports for donors. Driving PerformanceA data warehouse is critical to driving performance from anecdotal to systematic by creating actionable intelligence using information combined and viewed in new ways. Brian Dowling. Final Campaign
ReportFinal campaign reports require a number of special considerations. By providing direction and ideas to management on the format and structure, you can help plan the development and implementation of these important strategic documents. Brian Dowling. Final Countdown Campaign reporting with sample reports, charts and graphs. Scott Fendley. Fundraising
Data WarehousingPresentation made to the BC Blackbaud User Group on constructing a data warehouse including a case study using the appeal codes table. Some additional handouts for presentation. Brian Dowling. Shortened version presented at DRIVE conference. Information
LeverageInformation leverage is a powerful concept, that when fully implemented allows highly efficient information deployment for multiple purposes to multiple constituents. Brian Dowling. Information Requests UC Riverside's output tracking system is a more automated way to deliver information to campus. See the following documents for details. Overview of system. User's guide. Robb Drury. Kimball Group Consulting firm providing data warehouse expertise. Articles, design tips and more. Mailing Lists Best Served Fresh It is important to remember a few things when sending out a mailing. Chris Waller. Managing Scripts Good strategies for managing SQL scripts will increase your programming efficiency. Metrics & StrategyHow should the data warehouse design be the basis for establishing organizational metrics and how should the design relate to the strategic plan? Brian Dowling. |
Orgnet.com White papers and information on social network analysis. Pivoting
- Dancing of DataIn some fashion, almost every one of us has an endless chain of demands and inquiries for multiple amounts of information. The world is getting more complex and it’s increasingly more difficult to perform these analyses. Questions inevitably lead to more questions. Brian Dowling. More on reporting and visualizations. Planning
Information GoalsInformation is critical for managing fundraising and engagement. If we don’t have the right intelligence we simply won’t be able to generate the return to mission that we aspire to. What information do we need in our data warehouse, how do we plan for it and how do we set our priorities? Report Conversion Strategies Reporting is the most intensive and difficult part of any system conversion. You need to carefully manage the process to be able respond to your user community’s needs while still making progress. Report Standards Suggestions for reporting standards and improving report development efficiency. Reporting 101 Presentation from Michael Dotson on reporting techniques for Raiser's Edge. Reporting Essentials Some of the basics for successful annual fund reporting strategies. Mike Westfall. Sample Scripts A number of example scripts that you can use to help build your data warehouse. Sample Tables Some ideas for tables that you can use in your advancement/development data warehouse. Schema, Dimensions, FactsThere are abundant resources available covering data warehouse concepts. This is a general overview of some of the basics in an attempt to relate these to fundraising data. Brian Dowling. 7
Data Warehouse IdeasPresentation on 7 interesting ideas to include in your data warehouse. Brian Dowling. Spreadsheet Tips & Tricks Some tips and tricks for one of our most used reporting and analysis tools. Sub-Reports Report development using sub-reports. John Starritt. Teaching Report Writing Some help to make your report writing classes more effective. Understanding ReportingUnderstanding advancement/development reporting. Associated Podcast. Additional Podcast. Brian Dowling. Value
of FunctionsWhen building out your data warehouse you should investigate the use of user defined functions as a way to leverage your programming for repetitive tasks. Brian Dowling. View
for Business IntelligenceThe world changes and the pace of change is geometric. Your critical business information will need to keep pace with major trends – these trends are worth watching and definitely worth understanding. Brian Dowling. Visual AnalyticsVisual analytics is the idea of using a scientific approach to assist the visualization of data. We need to understand the use of visual analytics and data visualizations within our fundraising organizations. Brian Dowling. Why
Reporting Services?Comparisons of
reporting solutions using PDF, HTML, Stand-Alone Report Writers and SQL
Server Reporting Services.
Brian Dowling.
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| Data Mining ... |
A Simple Score Over the years I’ve become an avid mystery fan. Though the subject matter of these “dramas” can be gruesome, I find them wonderfully distracting and more than a little entertaining. Five basic pieces of information that will save you money and generate more revenue. Peter Wylie. |
Best Prospects are on the Internet If you're not engaging on-line, you're leaving money. Peter B. Wylie. Boire Filler Group Vendor providing strategic data solutions with a number of articles. Data Mining and Membership It was a stifling hot day in Chicago in July of 2007. I was at the CASE Summit looking out at an audience of some 100 folks clearly older than the 30-somethings John Sammis and I regularly work with. After being introduced, I paced back and forth in front of them, not uttering a word for a good 20 seconds. Then I stopped abruptly, peered out at them, and said ... Peter Wylie. E-Analysis Analysis techniques for e-news and other mass emailing. Richard Kellar. GIS and Data Mining An experiment with results (We Hope!). James Johannesson. Predicting Pledge Fulfillment Peter B. Wylie presents some ideas on using your data to predict pledge fulfillment. Prospect-DMM Data Mining Listserv for fundraisers involved in data mining. |
Seven Questions Seven questions for your data mining efforts. John Taylor and Jonathon Lindsey. The 80-20 Rule Sports, Fundraising and the 80-20 Rule. Peter Wylie. What's in a name? Are donor dollars related to how long their names are? Peter B. Wylie. Where Alumni Money Is Finding money by analyzing patterns in data. Peter B. Wylie. Review of Peter Wylie's book.
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