Using Giving Variables in Data Mining

In fundraising, we seek charitable gifts. When we model prospects, we hope to find those who will give at a certain level. Because of that, we often debate whether it is valid to use a prospect’s giving history in a major gifts model, since doing so might be what we call, “co-linear”, or comparing oranges to oranges, so to speak.

There are two reasons to use giving variables in a prospect model. First, unlike any other part of a fundraising shop, gift records are audited. That means that they are the cleanest and most consistent of all the data you would use. Second, past behavior often indicates future behavior – past giving can show the pattern of future giving. Using giving history judiciously can improve your major gifts model well.

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