Analytics for Fundraisers Using Python: A Beginner's Course
Learn Python data analysis to identify top prospects and determine optimal ask amounts for major gift fundraising.
Enroll in Course
Are you struggling to determine the right ask amounts for your major gift prospects? Tired of relying on gut instinct to identify your best potential donors?
Python - a free and powerful programming language - can help transform your fundraising strategy. Python is an incredibly flexible program for scraping, manipulating, and analyzing data.
In this beginner-friendly course, Marianne will jumpstart your Python journey with two practical modeling projects that matter to fundraisers: calculating optimal ask amounts and predicting major gift probability.
No prior coding experience needed - just bring your fundraising knowledge and we'll help you take the first steps into data-driven decision making.
Your Instructor
Marianne Pelletier has over 35 years of experience in fundraising, with the majority in prospect research and prospecting. She is one of the first adopters of donor modeling and data mining techniques, and is now a world-renown leader on this segment of the research profession. Her prospect research experience began when she was a research analyst for Harvard and Lesley Universities. She later served as a department director for Carnegie Mellon University and Cornell University.
Pelletier’s career also includes running an annual giving program with average increased revenues of 27% per year and providing software consulting through the Datatel Corporation, teaching clients both how to use their new software and assisting them with better analysis and more efficient processing. She occasionally serves as a best practices consultant through CampusWorks.
Pelletier is a recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the New England Development Research Association and a Woman of the Year designation by the National Association of Professional Women, along with earning an entry into the Marquis Who's Who in America annual directory. She has served as a volunteer for both election campaigns and social service agencies. She has served on the boards of the New England Development Research Association, the Upstate New York chapter of Apra, and has served as secretary for the Apra International board. She currently serves as a trustee for Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins County and the Finger Lakes chapter of AFP.
Pelletier is a graduate of Rockford University, and earned her MBA at Southern New Hampshire University. Her recent workbook, Building Your Analytics Shop: A Workbook for Nonprofits, was a finalist for the Terry McAdam Award in 2016.