How to Future-Proof Your Fundraising: the Potential Benefits and Drawbacks of Data

Data is more important than ever, and the way it is used with new technologies will help shape how fundraising is done for the next generation, speakers told participants at the DRIVE conference in Washington, D.C., last week.

The event, hosted by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, drew about 600 attendees. Data has become increasingly important because of constant changes in the world, futurist Crystal Washington said during the keynote.

“We are living in a time right now where so many of the systems, the ways that we’ve done things are breaking down, and everyone’s waiting to be told what to do,” she said. “That’s why data is so important.”

Data is crucial for good decision making, she noted. “Some folks on our boards rely on those gut decisions,” Washington said, shaking her head. “Those are bad decisions.”

To get good information for decisions — rather than relying on hunches — ask donors and front-line staff who work closest with donors what their biggest challenges are and what they most want to see from the organization, Washington said. Nonprofits need to be “even better storytellers because those stories are what connect with people,” she said, but “we need that data first.”

A.I. Making Use of Data

Another reason data is important is because today’s technology tools allow fundraisers to review large swaths of data and turn it into actionable information. Many people are feeling pressure from their leaders to add generative artificial intelligence to their work to perform better, according to Jennifer Buckey, director of business intelligence at Dartmouth College. She said fundraisers should ask themselves whether it makes sense to use generative A.I., and start to get comfortable with the tools.

“You can learn by doing and start to share with your teams what works and what doesn’t,” she said. “Get more comfortable with the concept of gen A.I., what it is, what it does, what it’s good for and when it’s not the answer — or it’s not the answer yet.”

Buckey uses generative A.I. to help with writing letters and other materials. Because she’s a data wonk, her writing can get long, so she’ll ask A.I. to rewrite and summarize, to get a streamlined version of her work. Generative A.I., she said, also has the potential to summarize spreadsheets — for example, it can take a table of gifts and uncover trends, like which program area is producing more donations. However, that’s still in the early phases. She says that some of the summaries she’s asked A.I. to do have been good, while others have been poor.

Buckey stressed that it’s crucial for organizations to have a policy on data privacy, so that sensitive information isn’t compromised when using A.I. tools.

What’s Next?

CASE is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year. The organization used the milestone as a jumping-off point for a panel discussion on future trends in philanthropy and data. One issue generating a lot of interest: changing workplaces. Fundraisers worry that as advancement teams increasingly use A.I., some of them will be replaced by technology.

While that could be the future, it doesn’t have to be, says Rodger Devine, assistant vice president of advancement operations at Pomona College. “We can help upskill and reskill staff,” he said, noting some of his proudest moments include helping administrative assistants or development coordinators move into more senior roles in the development office.

Retraining staff is ideal, but it only works if staff is willing, cautioned panelist John Gough, assistant vice president of advancement data operations at the University of Texas at Austin. “It is a two-way street,” he said. “It’s our responsibility to provide opportunity, to provide coaching, to provide training. It’s their responsibility to provide that willingness to change and adapt to the organization.”

New technology that leverages data has the potential to do a lot of good, but it also can create problems. Devine said one big fear is the possibility of a nonprofit chief financial officer being convinced by a deepfake video to transfer large sums of money to criminals

“I think about gen A.I. and all of its promise, and then I think about the trade-off, the adversarial flip,” he said. “We have to simultaneously consume, learn, and adopt the technology for the advancement of our institutions while tempering and balancing that with the differential security and privacy tools.”

Another big concern: organizations’ growing reliance on large donors.

“The thing that worries me about the next 50 years is that the donor pool is getting smaller,” said Camden Morse, assistant vice president for the office of advancement services at Johns Hopkins University. “We’re all getting larger and larger donors to our institutions, and that line is becoming more porous between those donors and our institutions. So what does that look like for the institution itself? Can we continue to be strong academic, independent organizations?”

Future-Proof Your Organization

While losing money in a deepfake con or donors trying to exert more influence on an institution are scary propositions, thinking through worst-case scenarios is critical for organizations that have earned the public’s trust and want to keep it, said Washington, the futurist and keynote speaker.

To be ready for whatever the future brings, she advises nonprofits to create a list of three worst-case scenarios. For each scenario, they should think of three solutions they could implement now that would mitigate the effects of the worst cases they came up with. When organizations review the solutions, they should look for solutions that would work for more than one of the negative scenarios, Washington advises.

“If so, circle them,” she says. “When you’re done with this exercise, you might have one or two things that you can do now that work across three different scenarios. Those are the things you want to start taking action on as an organization.

“Sometimes people say, ‘What if those things don’t happen?’ I promise you, if there’s a solution that works across three very negative scenarios, it will help you if those things don’t happen, if something else happens, or even if the future you’re expecting happens.”