We hear it all the time in school advancement offices: “We want to be more data-driven.”
It’s a nice phrase, but what does it actually mean?
Being data-driven doesn’t mean checking how many emails were opened last week or pulling last year’s giving report. It means making decisions—strategic, meaningful ones—based on accurate, actionable information about your constituents.
In short: Data-driven advancement is about building smarter relationships, not just better reports.
Here’s how that looks in practice:
1. Knowing Your Audience (Beyond Name and Class Year)
Let’s start with the basics. Most schools have names, class years, and maybe an old mailing address or a .edu email. But advancement teams need more than that to foster real engagement.
Being data-driven means knowing:
- Where your alumni actually live and work today
- What industries they’re in
- Whether they’ve been active (opened emails, attended events, made gifts)
- How they prefer to engage with you (email, phone, LinkedIn, text, etc.)
With this kind of insight, you can stop guessing and start targeting. You can send a relevant internship opportunity to alumni in the right field, or promote a networking event to those in the right city.
2. Measuring Engagement—Not Just Donations
Too often, advancement metrics focus exclusively on dollars raised. But philanthropy is just one expression of engagement.
Other signals matter just as much:
- Do they open your emails?
- Do they follow your school’s social media accounts?
- Do they volunteer to speak or mentor students?
- Do they show up to virtual or in-person events?
A data-driven advancement office treats all of these behaviors as leading indicators of deeper involvement. You don’t have to wait for a major gift to know someone cares—you just need to track how they’re already showing up.
3. Predicting Behavior, Not Just Reporting It
It’s not enough to report what happened last year. True data-driven teams use data to predict what’s likely to happen next.
Examples:
- Alumni who attend multiple events are more likely to give.
- Donors who lapse after three years need re-engagement before year four.
- Recent graduates who update their career info tend to stay more connected long-term.
When you understand patterns like these, you can focus time and resources on the right people at the right time—before the window closes.
4. Informing Strategy at Every Level
Advancement isn’t just about reacting—it’s about planning. Data should inform everything from annual goals to campaign timing to staffing decisions.
- Who are your next 100 likely donors?
- Where is alumni engagement strongest—and weakest—by region or decade?
- What messages resonate most with each generation of graduates?
- Which outreach channels are worth investing more in?
Data helps you answer these questions with clarity, not just gut instinct.
5. Making Every Touchpoint More Human
Here’s the irony: the more data you have, the more personal you can be.
When you know someone’s background, giving history, and interests, you can send an email that feels like a conversation—not a campaign. You can match students with mentors who share their journey. You can invite alumni to things that actually matter to them.
Because ultimately, data-driven advancement isn’t about spreadsheets—it’s about people. The better you know your community, the more meaningful the connection.
Final Thought
Being data-driven doesn’t mean drowning in numbers. It means using the right data, in the right way, to build real relationships and drive real results.
It means turning information into insight—and insight into action.
And in today’s world, that’s not just a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between alumni who glance at your emails… and alumni who feel like they’re still part of something special.