Last week CBS News aired a piece on “Predictive Policing” that offers an important analogy to our world of fundraising.

According to CBS the latest weapon in the Los Angeles Police Department’s war on crime is a program called “Predictive Policing” that puts officers on the scene before crimes occur. In the 5 months since LAPD began testing the model burglaries are down 33% and violent crime down by 21%.

Although fundraisers aren’t cops, there is something we can and should note from the LAPD experience. It’s not that predictive modeling works, because we know in fundraising that it indeed works. Rather, I was struck by the insights of LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and how much they apply to most of today’s fundraisers.

Chief Beck, a 35-year veteran and the father of two LAPD officers, admits to facing skepticism in selling the ‘predictive’ concept. “Well, of course, that’s the nature of human beings,” Beck said. “Everybody thinks they do their profession as well as it can be done and so they don’t need any help.”

Sound familiar?

The Chief then went on, “If this old street cop can change the way he thinks about these things, then I know my kids can do the same.” He went on to note why willingness to change is so important. “I’m not going to get more money; I’m not going to get more cops. But I have to be better at using what I have and that is what Predictive Policing is all about.”

And so it is in the nonprofit world. Most fundraisers aren’t going to get larger budgets and all fundraisers need to be better at using what they have.

And what all fundraisers have is a base of donors and the need to make their programs as effective and efficient as possible. Yet we continue to mimic, year after year, the ‘tried and true’ RFM strategies that are inefficient and often lead to overly complicated data pulls, sometimes with hundreds of useless source codes and segments.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Now there are predictive fundraising scores that serve the same purpose in our sector as a credit score in the financial world. And just as a lender minimizes risk by making a decision based on a FICO score, fundraisers can make far more accurate, timely, and less expensive decisions to increase net income based on a donor score.

Today, predictive scores for fundraising are being used successfully to predict donor behavior, increase net revenue, significantly bolster second gift strategies, dramatically improve conversion and upgrading to monthly giving programs, mid-level giving, planned giving, lapsed reactivation efforts, and on and on.

Our sister company, DonorTrends, has just published A 5 Minute Guide to Effective Donor Scoring that you can download right here.

The 5 Minute Guide not only summarizes the power and benefits of predictive scores, but also explodes some myths. For example:

MYTH:  You need to have a large file to make use donor scoring.
FACT:   Files with 5,000 donors or more can benefit from donor scoring.

MYTH: Predictive scoring is too expensive.
FACT:  Donor Scores are affordable for all size organizations. A good scoring firm will help you understand the ROI before purchasing.

MYTH:  Using predictive scores is high risk.
FACT:  The effectiveness of scores can and should be proven through a ‘back test’.  Always insist on a back test before executing scores.

Download and read the Guide.  I personally guarantee it’ll be the best 5 minutes you spend today.

Roger

P.S. For Agitator readers — regardless of whether you’re located in the U.S., Canada, Europe or Asia — DonorTrends offers a FREE Master File Audit & Action Plan, a custom audit of your full donor file to show you how donor scores can improve fundraising results while saving you time, money, and frustration. Details on the last page of the Guide.