1. Standard Reports
Typically generated on a regular basis, standard reports describe what happened in a particular area.
They answer the questions “What happened?” and “When did it happen?”. They are not useful in
making long-term decisions. Examples include monthly or quarterly financial reports.
2. Ad Hoc Reports
Generally, ad hoc reports let you ask questions and request a custom report to find the answers.
They answer the questions “How many?”, “How often?”, and “Where?”. A custom report that
describes direct marketing campaign performance is an example of this type of report.
3. Query Drilldown or On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP)
Query drilldown allows for some discovery. OLAP lets you manipulate the data to find out how
many, what geography, what class year, what gift level, etc. Query drilldown and OLAP answer the
questions “What exactly is the problem?” and “How do I find the answers?”. An example of this is
sorting and exploring data about different types of donors and their annual giving behavior.
4. Alerts or Triggers
With alerts or triggers, you can learn when you have a problem or opportunity and be notified when
something similar happens again in the future. Alerts can appear via email, as a flag within the
software, or as red dials on a scorecard or dashboard. They answer the questions “When should I
react?” and “What actions are needed now?”. An example of an alert or trigger would be an email to
a gift officer indicating that a donor prospect just received a windfall from the sale of his company.
5. Statistical Analysis
With statistical analysis, nonprofits use more complex analytics, like frequency models and
regression analysis. We begin to look at why things are happening using donor behavior data and
then begin to answer questions based on the data. Statistical analysis answers the questions “Why
is this happening?” and “What opportunities am I missing?”. A nonprofit discovering where upgrade
opportunities exist in their active donor file is an example of an organization using statistical analysis.
6. Forecasting
Forecasting is one of the most useful analytical applications, as it enables effective resource
and budget allocation. It answers the questions “What if these trends continue?”, “How much is
needed?”, and “When will it be needed?”. As an example, nonprofits can use forecasting to predict
how declining acquisition response rates will affect their overall fundraising goals, enabling budget
allocation and strategy refinement.
7. Segmentation or Descriptive Data
Descriptive data uses donor attributes to describe donor behavior or classify donors into groups.
Generally, it uses historical behavior to classify individuals, enabling future treatment strategies. It
answers the questions “What group or classification does this individual belong to?” and “What
characteristics does this individual have?”. Examples of segmentation or descriptive data include
address, age, income, marital status, presence of children in household, and recent donation amount.
8. Predictive Modeling
Predictive modeling analyzes historical and comparative data about donors to predict a future
behavior. It answers the questions “What will happen next?” and “How will it affect my business?”.
Examples of predictive modeling include likelihood to respond to a direct mail solicitation, likelihood
to leave a bequest, and likelihood to give a principal gift.
9. Decision Support System (DSS) or Prescriptive Analytics
Prescriptive analytics synthesizes data to make predictions and then suggests options to take
advantage of the prediction. It describes what you should do and prompts a specific action.
Examples include suggesting a target ask amount and prompting a nonprofit to remove a deceased
donor from the file.
10. Optimization
Optimization supports innovation. It takes your resources and needs into consideration and helps
you find the best possible way to accomplish your goals, answering the questions “How do we
do things better?” and “What is the best decision for a complex problem?”. An example using
optimization would be: Given business priorities, budget constraints and available technology, what
is the best way to optimize our marketing spend to meet our annual fund objective?
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