Deep Donor Data Mining

It has been the standard tool for many years in the fund raising business and it is a tool I believe is very intrusive and should not be used.

Donating money to a cause is a very personal and a very wonderful example of individuals contributing to the common good without any form of coercion, and because of that, donors should be treated with gratitude and respect rather than have every available personal bit of information extracted from existing databases to manipulate them into donating more.

This article in the Wall Street Journal indicates how deep the research can go.

An excerpt.

“Whether a patient comes in for a gall-bladder operation or to have a baby, the routine remains the same for staff at Sharp HealthCare hospitals in San Diego. The front desk checks insurance records to make sure the bills get paid on time. Nurses take vitals and tag their charges with a bar-coded wristband. And behind the scenes, fund-raisers scan the assets of each patient -- to find out whether they're "megarich," "wealthy" or merely "comfortable."

“While the folks checking in don't know it, the nonprofit hospital chain is hunting for prospective donors. Armed with powerful data-mining software, staffers screen admissions records to find wealthy patients who've shown prior interest in the hospital. Those who make the cut may enjoy a bedside visit from a "patient-relations director" who offers perks like free parking passes for visitors.

“It's all about establishing a relationship at the point of service, says Bill Littlejohn, the hospital foundation's CEO. "We've gotten many letters and gifts from people who said, 'It was so nice you stopped by,'" he says.

“When your favorite nonprofit isn't busy saving the whales, chances are it's making a serious behind-the-scenes effort to know you better -- using increasingly sophisticated technology. It can survey your salary history, scan your LinkedIn connections or use satellite images to eyeball the size of your swimming pool. If it's really on the ball, the charity can even get an email alert when your stock holdings double.

“Personalizing the Pitch

“Donor research isn't new, of course, but its reach has grown while the cost has dropped. For as little as $3,000 a year, even small nonprofits can tap into detailed databases. Data-diving practices expanded during the recession, as charities faced pressure to raise money more efficiently.

“According to marketing-research firm Campbell Rinker, nearly half of all charities now use these tools to research donors. Nonprofits say donor analysis helps them focus their time and resources on those who are most likely to give.

“In most cases, charities rely only on publicly available data. Still, donors might be startled to learn how much data have been compiled by charities, and how they're used. Even some fund-raisers worry that donors will find the increasing depth of their background research to be too intrusive. Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute for Philanthropy, says there's a good reason most nonprofits keep these research efforts behind closed doors: "It creeps a lot of people out."