Great news!

It’s been 12 years since we founded WaterGrass, and along the way we’ve gathered some 200 organization/years of anonymized data on donor and volunteer behavior. There’s surely a lot to learn in it, but we’ve been too busy developing new features to really dig as we’d like to.

Now Dr. Phani Kidampi of the University of New Hampshire and the graduate students in the UNH Business School’s Data Sciences capstone program will bring their skills from the corporate sector to bear on our data.

This is a wonderful chance for some rigorous, cutting-edge analysis of granular data about donations and volunteering. Our data extends back an average of 7 years for our organizations, and the total data set comprises some half a million anonymized donations and contributions of volunteer hours.

From previous analysis we’ve learned things like:

• Organizations with formal membership programs raise more per donor than organizations which don’t.
• The median donor gives to our clients a little less frequently than once a year. (Good reason to ask for donations more often.)

If you’ve got questions you think we should investigate, let us know! For instance, “How did COVID and the turmoil of 2020 affect fundraising?” That’s one we’re sure to look at.

The project will last through the second semester, and in May or June the masters students will present their results, which we’ll be sharing broadly, on this blog and elsewhere. Weigh in with your ideas, and we’ll invite you to the final presentation!

Baird