How to get what you want!

Jason Briggs, Research & Prospect Manager, Miryam Prasetyo, Prospect Researcher, The University of Sheffield

Using research data for effective research management and how to get research at the heart of decision making

Part 1 – Using research data for effective research management• Background• What is a Research Log?• Securing Investment• Other Uses• Conclusion

Part 2 – Creating your own Research Log

Part 3 – How to get research at the heart of decision making

Q & A

IssueNo idea how long that would take to research

2012, joined as Research & Prospect Manager1 researcher and myself, + 2 MG fundraisers

Given a potential £60m Campaign target

Background

Background

A B C D E F G H I J

Campaign Requirement Current Status

1yr Gift Capacity Min

1yr Gift Capacity Max

Gifts Required Tailored Ratio

Prospects Required Yield Min Yield Middle Yield Max Qualified Deficit

1 £5,000,000 £7,500,000 1 1 to 4 4 £5,000,000 £6,250,000 £7,500,000 2 2

2 £2,500,000 £4,999,999 2 1 to 4 8 £5,000,000 £7,499,999 £9,999,998 0 8

3 £1,000,000 £2,499,999 4 1 to 4 16 £4,000,000 £6,999,998 £9,999,996 12 4

4 £500,000 £999,999 8 1 to 4 32 £4,000,000 £5,999,996 £7,999,992 6 26

5 £250,000 £499,999 16 1 to 6 96 £4,000,000 £5,999,992 £7,999,984 4 92

6 £100,000 £249,999 32 1 to 6 192 £3,200,000 £5,599,984 £7,999,968 8 184

7 £50,000 £99,999 64 1 to 6 384 £3,200,000 £4,799,968 £6,399,936 22 362

8 £25,000 £49,999 128 1 to 8 1024 £3,200,000 £4,799,936 £6,399,872 80 944

9 £10,000 £24,999 256 1 to 8 2048 £2,560,000 £4,479,872 £6,399,744 480 1568

10 £5,000 £9,999 512 1 to 8 4096 £2,560,000 £3,839,744 £5,119,488 1459 2637

Total 1023 7900 £36,720,000 £56,269,489 £75,818,978 2073 5827

First step was to create a rough Gift Table 2012

Background

• Second step: Needed a method to: 1. Learn average prospect

qualification time and,2. See where research time

was being spent - to understand what level of prospecting we could maintain

• Then we can project how long it will take to research 5,827 to be campaign ready!

Solution

• Created a Research Log

• A database that records where research time is being spent.

• Not a time sheet.

What is a Research Log?

2013 Version of Research Log - Excel:

Present Version of Research Log - Access:

What is a Research Log?

2013

Hours % hours CountAverage Cost £

Prospecting 348 39 1544 0.2

£3,511 Profiles 108 12 29 3.7 £1,090 Event Bios 160 18 14 11.4 £1,614 Updates 55 6 30 1.8 £555 Prospect Analysis 70 8 31 2.3 £706 Due Diligence 40 4 7 5.7 £404 Development 120 13 39 3.1 £1,211

Securing Investment

Calculation• 2013 - 1,544 / 48 weeks = circa 30 new prospects a week. • Averaging 15-20 new prospects per researcher, per week. • End of 2013, 4,283 prospect left to research• Therefore, if we continue at 1,500 prospect a year (15-20 KPI), it will take

about 3 years to reach £60m campaign vision• University Executive Board accepted our time frames

£60mX2 Researchers for 3 years

Securing Investment

• Late 2013 - early 2014 our new fundraising team started and were hungry for prospects!

• With them came a stampede of requests, at a level we had not anticipated

• Impacted heavily time for prospecting

Fundraisers hungry for gifts

Securing Investment

Securing Investment

Detail• Average time it took to qualify had gone up from 0.2 (15min) to 0.4

(25-30min)• Only added 388 new prospects, 4,000 prospect deficit • Now 10 years to complete £60m gift table!

2013 2014Hours

% hours

Count

Average Cost £

Hours

% hours

Count

Average Cost £

Prospecting 348 39 1544 0.2

£3,511 172 14 388 0.4

£1,735 Profiles 108 12 29 3.7 £1,090 408 33 54 7.6 £4,117 Event Bios 160 18 14 11.4 £1,614 165 14 14 11.8 £1,665 Updates 55 6 30 1.8 £555 56 5 31 1.8 £565 Prospect Analysis 70 8 31 2.3 £706 90 7 35 2.6 £908 Due Diligence 40 4 7 5.7 £404 149 12 35 4.3 £1,503 Development 120 13 39 3.1 £1,211 181 15 53 3.4 £1,826

Securing Investment

Predicament

Securing Investment

• Needed to secure more time for prospecting!

• Could not cap fundraisers’ requests - cold pool

• No sign of it subsiding, normal volume because new processes started i.e. due diligence

Decided two things1. Needed investment for more staff

time 2. Cut down work considered

unnecessary - event bios!

Business Case1. Proved it would take 10 years at

current rate of research / investment

2. Made case for 3 new staff roles. • 2x 1 day casual workers to

take prospecting load and get back on target

• 1x PT prospect researcher to take research load

3. Petitioned to reduce Event Bios showing time (160 hours – 4.5 FT week) per year

Securing Investment

2013 2014Hours

% hours

Count

Average Cost £

Hours

% hours

Count

Average Cost £

Prospecting 348 39

1544 0.2

£3,51

1 172 14 388 0.4

£1,73

5

Profiles 108 12 29 3.7

£1,09

0 408 33 54 7.6

£4,11

7

Event Bios 160 18 14 11.4

£1,61

4 165 14 14 11.8

£1,66

5

Updates 55 6 30 1.8 £555 56 5 31 1.8 £565 Prospect Analysis 70 8 31 2.3 £706 90 7 35 2.6 £908

Due Diligence 40 4 7 5.7 £404 149 12 35 4.3

£1,50

3

Development 120 13 39 3.1

£1,21

1 181 15 53 3.4

£1,82

6

Securing Investment

Gift Table

+ =

Research Log

IndestructibleNegotiation Tool

• If planning for a campaign or have a specific fundraising target?

Securing Investment: Summary

If you’re not working towards a campaign or a specific fundraising target:

Can still demonstrate issues with work flow or rising work levels via hours.

Securing Investment: Summary

Last points on a business case• Pre-empt

objections• Have a number of

scenarios• Be specific on

what the role(s) can achieve

Securing Investment: Summary

If all else fails – BEG!

• Other fantastic uses of the Research Log

• Simply put your log data through a visualisation software like Tableau to see your questions answered!

Research Log: Other Uses

How much value have we added to our prospect pool?

Tota

l Num

ber o

f GC

sTo

tal G

C V

alue

Gift Capacity Level

(Sleeping or Deactivated)

How much value have we added to our prospect pool?

Which data sources are most effective?

Which data sources are most effective?

Number of Major Gift (£10k+) Prospects, of overall number of prospects researched

Which data sources are most effective?

Which data sources are most effective?

* excluded in stacked bar chart

*

Tota

l Num

ber o

f GC

sTo

tal G

C V

alue

Data Source

What is the average and range of time spent per task?

What is the average and range of time spent per task?

How is our staff performing?

How is our staff performing?

3/6/2015

3/7/2015

3/8/2015

3/9/2015

3/10/2

015

3/11/2

015

3/12/2015

3/13/2

015

3/14/2

015

3/15/2

015

3/16/2

015

3/17/2

015

3/18/2

015

3/19/2

015

3/20/2015

3/21/2

015

3/22/2

015

3/23/2

015

3/24/2

015

3/25/2

015

3/26/2

015

3/27/2

0150

10

20

30

40

50

60

25 26

18

34

24

18

22

5350

35

33 34

24

29

19

Ave

rage

GC

Est

imat

ion

Tim

e (in

min

utes

)

Date

AA

B

B

What does our workflow look like throughout the year?

Month/Year

Tota

l Num

ber o

f Hou

rs

What does our workflow look like throughout the year?

Task Category Gift Capacity Ratings Information Updates Event Bios Profiles Due Diligence Checks Prospect Analysis Development Other

Who is requesting the most research projects?

Requester

Tota

l Num

ber o

f Req

uest

s

Who is requesting the most research projects?

Task Category Gift Capacity Ratings Information Updates Event Bios Profiles Due Diligence Checks Prospect Analysis Development Other

Conclusion

• Can get what you want using a Research Log:Progress against

Campaign TargetSecuring Staff

InvestmentProving Impact Research Source

EffectivenessTeam PerformanceTask Averages and

RangesManaging RequestsManaging Workflow

Part 2 –Creating Your Own Research Log

Creating Your Own Research Log: Choosing the Right Software

Excel

+ Easy to set up+ Offers analysis functions like

pivot tables and charts

− Not user-friendly if detailed – whilst too little detail means limited analysis

− Can't handle large files – beware of calculated columns

− Only one user at a time− Lose time merging separate

files for holistic analysis – esp if changes in structure or name updates

+ User-friendly data input through forms

+ Unlimited detail and calculated columns

+ Multiple users can enter data at the same time (ie. one file)

+ Can easily update names, etc.+ Query function to only export

the data columns and rows you need for analysis (smaller Excel file)

− Takes time to build− Steeper learning curve− Need to export for analysis in

different programme

AccessVS

Creating Your Own Research Log: Good Practice Checklist

Data meanings are consistent – by defining terminology used Else users will interpret jargon

differently

Data is detailed enough – by considering future questions Else can’t answer your questions with analysis

Data is structured – by grouping it into categories & hierarchy Else waste time browsing through your

data to find the information you need

Creating Your Own Research Log: Good Practice Checklist

Data SourceMosaic Codes 2014JJB_DMP_Mosaic Codes 2014Mosaic Codes query

Time taken (in hours)2.5 hours60.59 hrs

Data formats are consistent – through data validation Else have to reformat

manually before each analysis

Data is complete –prompting input, & checking regularly Else can’t answer

your questions with analysis

Part 3 – How to get research at the heart of decision making?

Philanthropy for Us Report

1. Take initiative – Address decisions with research• If you can see that a

decision in your dept. would benefit from a research project, don’t wait around!

• Counter historical habits

• Researchers are best placed to advise on decisions

• Senior management response, very happy!

How to get research at the heart of decision making?

2. Be thorough• One or two shots at

proving research is the way to make decisions!?

• Make your research thorough enough to withstand ‘intuition addicts’

How to get research at the heart of decision making?

3. Be inclusive • Research impact occurs

where everyone commits to the decisions.

• So avoid closed door decision making.

• How? Include everyone in the research process - Ask staff for input/metrics/opinion etc…

• Result - Secures shared sense of ownership – thus secures commitment

How to get research at the heart of decision making?

4. Brand research projects!• Try naming your projects

to gain more gravitas• It makes it real and more

attractive somehow, gains its own personality

How to get research at the heart of decision making?

5. Record everything!• The point has already

been made

• But recording everything means Directors have confidence and trust in the Research Team as a dependable watertight resource.

• Research Log does things for reputation as well as being a powerful tool

How to get research at the heart of decision making?

Whatever you want, if it’s to prove impact, secure investment, gain influence, we hope we have offered some useful thoughts for

you!