Predictive analytics for fundraising: Drive greater impact with data-driven insights

Fundraisers’ work is rapidly changing, expanding, and evolving, but your teams, resources, and budget aren’t necessarily growing. What do you need to do to adapt to the future? Download the complete guide to the future of fundraising to learn more.

Here’s how to make the most out of every supporter’s unique journey using predictive analytics.

10 ways your nonprofit can utilize predictive analytics to boost fundraising

As a fundraiser, you need predictive analytics algorithms to help you make more accurate predictions. You also need to know you’re seeing information that’s updated in real time.

1. Prospect research: Dynamic daily scoring assesses likelihood-to give and capacity to give in real time, allowing your team to prioritize outreach to supporters with the highest potential.
2. Donor segmentation: Group supporters based on predicted behaviors like likelihood to upgrade or lapse. Create hyper-targeted segments for highly effective campaigns and appeals.
3. Donor retention: Identify supporters at high risk of churn before they stop giving. Trigger personalized re-engagement strategies to maximize long-term donor value.
4. Optimal asks: Calculate individualized optimal ask amounts to maximize conversion rates across communication channels.
5. Major donor acquisition: Flag existing donors who show predictive signals of becoming major gift prospects. With predictive analytics, you can efficiently qualify and prioritize leads.
6. Campaign optimization: Predict the ideal channel, messaging, and timing for specific donor segments.
7. Personalized outreach: Proactive data collection and analysis can give you essential insights to send more targeted messages to the right people at the right time.
8. Seasonal giving: Forecast end-of-year giving trends and seasonal peaks with high accuracy to prepare for timely asks.
9. Impact storytelling: Predict which mission outcomes resonate most strongly with different segments. Use the data you’ve collected and analyzed to tell impactful stories to current and potential donors.
10. Resource allocation: Use likelihood-to-give scores to make strategic, data-driven decisions regarding where your team should focus their time and energy.

How predictive analytics can help your nonprofit

You need data you can act on to help you identify who is ready to give, when those supporters will be ready to make a commitment, and where to make your ask.

As the fundraising landscape evolves, you can take existing models and segmentation practices to the next level with predictive analytics technology. This will give you more targeted data, scoring your supporters more accurately and, at the end of the day, raising more funds for your mission.

With predictive analytics, you’ll go from manual predictions using highest previous contribution (HPC) and most recent contribution (MRC) to machine learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (AI)-powered predictive analytics solutions. Predictive analytics capabilities give busy staff the ability to analyze huge amounts of donor data and produce highly optimized predictions and recommendations for more effective outreach.

Time is what makes the difference here: By feeding scores and behavioral data into algorithms, you can predict not only what supporters are likely to do next, but when they’re likely to do it.

Pro tip: These predictions are even more reliable when you’re operating in a unified system. When you have a single system like Bonterra’s fundraising software that documents every step someone takes in support of your mission, that data then feeds into your predictive analytics to improve your fundraising strategy’s accuracy.

Predictive analytics and the big demographic shift

One of the biggest changes and opportunities happening right now in fundraising is the demographic shift. For most nonprofits, your largest and most generous group of donors — baby boomers plus the last of the Greatest Generation — are exiting their prime giving years. Meanwhile, Gen X and some millennials are slated to take their place. These younger donors will likely be just as generous as prior generations, but their cohort is smaller than the baby boomer cohort, meaning development teams will need to fundraise the same amount or more from a smaller pool of donors. 

You’ll also need to focus on retention, increasing donor value, and engaging supporters across more complex paths of engagement. To meet the moment, nonprofit staff like you will need to adapt your strategies and tactics. This means you’ll require support from technology like predictive analytics — sometimes also referred to as ML or AI, depending on the type of activity.

Empower your fundraising strategies with predictive analytics for nonprofit fundraisers

Bonterra customers have already seen outstanding fundraising results with predictive analytics — just ask Habitat for Humanity of Omaha. They used our OptimizedAsk feature to increase the dollar amount raised per email opened by 155%, among other stellar results.

Your team and your mission deserve support from technology designed to meet your needs today, deliver your supporters a stronger experience tomorrow, and grow with your whole organization into the future.

Built into Bonterra’s leading products, Bonterra Que is the industry’s first agentic AI designed for nonprofits, offering greater insights into your operations. From identifying high-potential donors to suggesting stewardship opportunities based on recent constituent activity, Bonterra Que acts as your partner in fostering stronger relationships to fuel your organization.

To learn even more about how fundraising is evolving and to discover the technology you’ll need to navigate it, download the complete guide to the future of fundraising.