Promethean Champions Access to STEAM Resources

-The Learning Partnership Appointed as Promethean’s Exclusive UKI STEAM Partner-

Global education technology provider, Promethean has partnered with The Learning Partnership to support the wider integration of technology into education and to encourage the engagement of students and teachers in STEAM subjects.

With its roots firmly embedded in education, Promethean understands that STEAM subjects are high on the educational agenda as a result of a major skills gap in STEAM careers. Recognising the potential that great content can have on supporting teachers with difficult subjects and helping students to develop the skills they need for a more technologically focused future; Promethean has partnered with The Learning Partnership to champion effective use of edtech to enhance STEAM resource provisions and inspire learning.

The Learning Partnership aims to support global engagement in science, technology, engineering and maths by building and delivering engaging programmes and competitions into the curriculum that are inclusive and exciting. Working on connecting schools with relevant businesses within the industry, The Learning Partnership aims to create mass engagement in STEAM for students and offer an array of time saving resources for teachers.

Rachel Ashmore, Head of Promethean Academy, commented: “As an education technology company, Promethean aims to support the integration of digital content into classrooms that create collaborative and engaging spaces for subjects that are usually considered as challenging. As the STEAM focus is at the top of the curriculum, Promethean is working exclusively with The Learning Partnership to develop content and lesson plans that help to encourage students to engage with STEAM and provide them with skills that will set them up for life.”  

The Learning Partnership has a bank of powerful, existing content resources that promotes the delivery of an engaging STEAM curriculum, which can be enhanced through the use of the ActivPanel. The ActivPanel supports interactivity with apps, resources and other edtech devices to create a truly collaborative classroom. Working collectively, Promethean and The Learning Partnership can strengthen school STEAM provisions through content and hardware that support the wider use of immersive and interactive technology in STEAM subjects.

Aulden Dunipace, CEO of The Learning Partnership, commented: “Engagement in STEAM subjects in school is difficult if teachers and students are unable to utilise their technology to the best of their advantage. Working with the market leading education technology company, who shares the same values and passions as us, will allow us to collaborate to promote the delivery of a STEAM curriculum through technology – helping to encourage engagement and provide powerful resources which will ultimately help to improve student outcomes.”

As the multiplicity of languages in UK schools grows, how can we be sure it does not get in the way of getting a good education?

The numbers of children who are from minority ethnic origins has been steadily rising and now makes up 33.5% of children in UK primary schools.  This means that the proportion of pupils who use English as an additional language (EAL) has also been on the rise – 21.2% at the last count.  If a child uses English as a second language, the chances are that the same can be said of one or both parents.

John Hattie demonstrated in his ground-breaking 1992 work ‘Visible Learning’ how important it is that everyone associated with a child, including parents and successive teachers, all have access to assessment data.  However it isn’t just feedback that plays a part – parental engagement is also vitally important.  A paper written for the Education Endowment Foundation by academics at Plymouth and Exeter universities reinforces this point.  It concluded that ‘there is a positive association between parental engagement in children’s learning and learning outcomes, regardless of the child’s socio-economic status and grade level’.

So any student support system needs to think about how it communicates with over 20% of students and their parents who use English as an additional language.  It is with that in mind that we designed the most recent feature addition to Kinteract – a translation systems that keeps parents in step with a student’s achievement or assessment by communicating updates to them in their language of choice.  We now have 20 languages available on the Kinteract app, which is supplemented with an additional 100 languages via the Google Cloud translation tool.  

Translation can be a key enabler to allow us to facilitate parental engagement and share messages with stakeholders responsible for a child’s education.  Perhaps the most important message a child can receive about education is that the expectation for academic achievement is consistent within both their home life and their school – and this reinforces engagement in lessons.

Enabling parents to access posts made by teachers and their children in their native language gives them a unique opportunity to engage in the learning experience.  It may simply be to tell them that their child has some work to do, but it might also facilitate a dialogue which maintains a personal connection between parents and teachers.

EAL parents no longer have to feel “left out” of key decisions in their child’s learning, from simple notes home that say, “do you want your child to go on this trip?” to more significant feedback about performance.  It is not wise to have the child themselves as the sole translator of these messages – some of the meaning may get lost in translation – both accidentally, or deliberately – homework may end up not being done on the right day and the child may not feel as if they are fully part of the school community.  What if a message about allergies is misunderstood for example? It is important that our system should in fact relieve the child from the responsibility of ensuring their parents are aware of all school communications.

And it is important that such a system is set up so that it is easy to click a single setting and thereafter get communication in your first language, as well as ensuring parents can reply in their native language, and be certain that the teacher will get the right message.

In some classrooms, teachers have a group of pupils who can speak up to as many as 20 different languages. This makes it impossible to create an environment of feedback and engagement, unless you can rely on truly automated, accurate translation.

The UK prides itself on being a diverse and multicultural country, and technology can now help bridge the language barrier gap that exists in education and ensure that every child benefits from the same level of feedback and support.

Shehzad Najib, CEO, Kinteract www.kinteract.co.uk  

Commemorative artworks by pupils across the UK selected for national exhibition marking 75th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation

Memorial Flames created by students chosen by judges to feature at official ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day

29 NOVEMBER 2019– Memorial Flames created by school groups up and down the country have been selected by a distinguished panel of judges to feature as part of a national art exhibition commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The artworks – from schools including Bennett Memorial School, Tunbridge Wells; Bishop Martin C of E School, Liverpool; The Spires College, Torquay; Coleg Gwent, Wales; and Upholland Roby Mill Primary School, Skelmersdale – make up some of the 75 Memorial Flames chosen to feature in an exhibition set to be unveiled at the official UK Ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day 2020, at which numerous VIPs are expected to be in attendance.

More than 300 groups from across the country registered to take part in the nationwide competition, launched by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) to encourage more people to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.

On the judging panel were: illustrator and children’s author Nick Sharratt, famed for his work illustrating Jacqueline Wilson’s beloved novels; arts correspondent at The Observer Sarah Donaldson; art curator and broadcaster, Kathleen Soriano; Holocaust Memorial Day Trust Trustee and daughter of Naomi Blake, a sculptor and Holocaust survivor, Anita Peleg; and Chief Executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Olivia Marks-Woldman.

Speaking about the project, Nick Sharratt said: “It’s more important than ever not to forget the history of the Holocaust, and this exhibition is a fantastic opportunity to ensure that. I’ve been very excited to see how many different interpretations of the brief there are, with each group using the central flame idea and making it their own. The number of different artistic techniques used has been very impressive and I can’t wait to see all the 75 Memorial Flames come together at the UK Ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day.”

The primary school submissions were inspired by a range of sources. The Memorial Flame from King David Primary School in Manchester was inspired by the writing of Auschwitz survivor Elie Wiesel and the lyrics of their favourite popstar, Ed Sheeran. Their piece, Flames for the Future, is a sculpture created from wire and nylon, decorated with acrylic paint and collage. It incorporates passages from Wiesel’s book Night and Sheeran’s song I See Fire. The pupils’ teacher said using texts like these, as well as the poem Butterfly by Pavel Friedmann, is a ‘subtle but powerful’ way of teaching Key Stage 2 children about the Holocaust. 

Students with additional learning needs at Coleg Gwent Crosskeys Campus, in Wales, created a wooden 3D light-up design incorporating the Star of David. Their sculpture Thank You Kitty was inspired the diary of Anne Frank. It features powerful quotations from the diary which are burnt onto the base, above which an image of Anne’s face hangs from the star. The piece aims to tell the story of what happened, and uses the symbolism of hands around a flame to depict the hope and strength created by people from different backgrounds coming together to make sure the horrors of the Holocaust never happen again.

The students’ tutor, Mary Bradfield, said: “The project has affected the group on a deep emotional level and they have shown great understanding and sympathy regardless of their own challenges in life. It has sparked a genuine interest in what happened during the Second World War and students have gone home and discussed it. Some are now happy to share stories about their family’s experiences during the war years. The students have shown maturity beyond their years and are keen to continue with this project. I am so proud of them all.”

Chief Executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Olivia Marks-Woldman, said: “It is hugely encouraging to have received so many submissions to this project and from so many different types of groups. The project has truly been nationwide and at a time when we know identity-based hostility is increasing, it is heartening to see so many groups and communities come together and pay tribute to victims of the Holocaust in this way. Holocaust Memorial Day is an important opportunity for us all to learn from genocide, for a better future, and I’d urge everyone to get involved in activities for Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 by visiting hmd.org.uk.”

The 75 Memorial Flames project was launched with the creation of a sculpture by artist and survivor of the Holocaust, Maurice Blik, who was liberated from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as a child. The project is part of a wider programme of events devised by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to enable people to take part in Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) and learn from the horrors of genocide.

New look for Axent ensures an easy new look for you

Man with laptop computer on desk working in office with blank screen

Axent Embroidery & Print is pleased to announce the launch of its new look website, making sourcing and customisation of workwear even simpler for its customers.

The established Dorset-based business was recently acquired by online retail company, Poole Bay Holdings Ltd, who saw massive potential for the organisation to grow into a national workwear provider and compete with the largest players in the marketplace. Since the acquisition in early 2019, Axent has been working closely with Poole Bay Holdings to ensure expansion, without losing sight of its core competencies of exceptional quality and service, drivers that have made the business so successful in the local community for the past 37 years.

The new look website, www.AxentEmbroidery.com, has been designed to make finding and customising garments simple and has been thoroughly tested to ensure the same user experience regardless of the device used.

Tom Stainer, General Manager of Axent comments: “Our website is integral to the success of our business expansion plans and has been subject to extensive usability and functionality testing to ensure it meets the needs of our business and individual customers alike. I am extremely pleased that both Axent and Poole Bay Holdings staff have been working so closely together to make this happen ahead of schedule. I look forward to promoting our business and welcoming customers from all over the UK.”

On top of the new website launch, Axent now offers customers free set up and free UK mainland delivery on orders over £50.00 in value. This is in addition to the existing benefits of workwear bundle offers and no minimum order requirements.  

To find out more and to see the range of high quality workwear available, including high vis options, visit www.AxentEmbroidery.com or call freephone 0808 1699 646.

DO NOT MISS THIS!

This Friday 29th November is Black Friday and AJ Products is giving you the chance to save 25% on the value of your entire order!

Use code: Blackfriday19

Campaign code valid until midnight on 1st December 2019. One use per customer. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other codes or promotions. Not valid for already discounted items.

See more here.

AVer Europe launches new high spec visualiser for educators

AVer Europe launches new high spec visualiser for educators

The latest M17-13M visualiser offers the crispest texts, bright images and vivid colours

AVer Europe has announced the launch of the M17-13M, its new mechanical arm visualiser, to the UK market. Boasting a 13-megapixel camera, 35.2X total zoom and full HD quality, the M17-13M offers one of the highest visualiser specifications available to education institutions to transform teaching and learning practices.

Operating as a document camera with impressive angle control, the M17-13M visualiser enables users to capture the best image clarity and detail. The onboard annotation capability provides users with the opportunity to add notes, highlight important information or add captions to presentation material easily, making explaining a tricky concept or a key point to a classroom simple.

Designed with a fully adjustable neck and head, the M17-13M visualiser can rotate, swivel, expand and collapse for the perfect angle to display presentation materials, including paper or 3D models. Its versatile compact design means it can be neatly folded away, making it ideal for quick storage or sharing between classrooms and practitioners. The product is bundled with AVER’s A+ Suite classroom software for visualisers and comes with a five-year warranty.

The M17-13M offers live video at 60fps and its one touch recording function means that users can record entire lessons to review with the class or provide to absent students or substitute teachers. Additionally, users can live stream the video to enable classes to be held remotely, increasing engagement and ensuring all learners are up to date on the lesson at hand.

“The M17-13M has the capability to transform the learning experience, providing new opportunities for teachers to increase collaboration, creativity and engagement in teaching,” said Rene Buhay, AVer Europe Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “The specification for this visualiser is unparalleled and offers a fantastic combination of quality, versatility and functionality.” AVer M17-13M MSRP is £419 ex VAT. For more information please visit www.avereurope.com

Skipping breakfast linked to lower GCSE grades

Students who rarely ate breakfast on school days achieved lower GCSE grades than those who ate breakfast frequently, according to a new study in Yorkshire.

Researchers, from the University of Leeds, have for the first time demonstrated a link between eating breakfast and GCSE performance for secondary school students in the UK.

Adding together all of a student’s exam results, they found that students who said they rarely ate breakfast achieved nearly two grades lower than those who rarely missed their morning meal.

The research is published today in the journal Frontiers in Public Health.

Lead researcher Dr Katie Adolphus, from the University of Leeds’ School of Psychology, said: “Our study suggests that secondary school students are at a disadvantage if they are not getting a morning meal to fuel their brains for the start of the school day.

“The UK has a growing problem of food poverty, with an estimated half a million children arriving at school each day too hungry to learn. Previously we have shown that eating breakfast has a positive impact on children’s cognition.

“This research suggests that poor nutrition is associated with worse results at school.”

The Government in England run a national, means-tested free school lunch programme accessible to all students, but there is no equivalent for breakfast.

Charities Magic Breakfast and Family Action deliver a means-tested breakfast programme funded by the Department for Education, which provides free breakfasts for more than 1,800 schools located in the most socio-economically deprived parts of England.

Separately, Magic Breakfast supports breakfast provision in a further 480 UK schools. However, this leaves many of the 24,000 state-funded schools in England without free breakfast provision for children not getting breakfast at home.

Some schools compensate by offering breakfast clubs they have to fund themselves, or funded by companies such as Kellogg’s.

The Leeds researchers say their findings support the calls to expand the current limited free school breakfast programme to include every state school in England. A policy proposal from Magic Breakfast to introduce school breakfast legislation is currently being considered by politicians, which has been supported by Leeds academics.

Alex Cunningham, CEO of Magic Breakfast, said: “This study is a valuable insight, reinforcing the importance of breakfast in boosting pupils’ academic attainment and removing barriers to learning. Education is crucial to a child’s future life success and escaping poverty, therefore ensuring every child has access to a healthy start to the day must be a priority.

“We are grateful to the University of Leeds for highlighting this positive impact and welcome their findings, highlighting once again the importance of our work with schools.”

GCSE performance

The researchers surveyed 294 students from schools and colleges in West Yorkshire in 2011, and found that 29% rarely or never ate breakfast on school days, whilst 18% ate breakfast occasionally, and 53% frequently. Their figures are similar to the latest national data for England in 2019, which found that more than 16% of secondary school children miss breakfast.

GCSE grades were converted to point scores using the Department for Education’s 2012 system, where A* = 58, A = 52, B = 46, and so on. Adding up students’ scores across all subjects gave students an aggregated score.

Those who rarely ate breakfast scored on average 10.25 points lower than those who frequently ate breakfast, a difference of nearly two grades, after accounting for other important factors including socio-economic status, ethnicity, age, sex and BMI.

Looking at performance for each individual GCSE, they found that students who rarely ate breakfast scored on average 1.20 points lower than those who frequently ate breakfast, after accounting for other factors. Each grade equates to six points, so the difference accounted for a drop of a fifth of a grade for every GCSE an individual achieved.

Nicola Dolton, Programme Manager for the National School Breakfast Programme, from Family Action, said: “The National School Breakfast Programme is delighted to see the publication of this thorough and compelling research, highlighting the impact that breakfast consumption has on a child’s GCSE attainment.

“This report provides impressive evidence that eating a healthy breakfast improves a child’s educational attainment, which supports our own findings of improvements in a child’s concentration in class, readiness to learn, behaviour and punctuality.”

The research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and The Schools Partnership Trust Academies.

Global Paint Supplier PPG announces further funding for the National Space Academy

£40,000 will help schools across the UK to engage with Chemistry in the classroom using the context of space.

PPG Chemistry Education Project Masterclass at the National Space Centre


Pictured above: Students take part in the PPG Chemistry Education Project Masterclass with the National Space Academy in their Science Lab at the National Space Centre, Leicester

On Tuesday 12th November the National Space Academy hosted a celebration at the National Space Centre in Leicester to mark three years of funding from Global Paint Supplier, PPG. During the event, Director Ken Armistead announced a further £40,000 of funding for 2020. 

Steve Althorpe teaching the PPG Chemistry Education Project at the National Space Centre
PPG explaining the components of paint at the National Space Academy PPG celebration event
National Space Academy - PPG celebration event
Director Ken Armistead

The PPG Chemistry Education Project masterclass was designed by the National Space Academy to use space contexts to tackle the science curriculum in areas that are key to PPG’s work: colour and materials.  Students link the science and engineering of PPG with space science and technology to engage with Chemistry.

Over the past three years, PPG has contributed £100,000 to the National Space Academy to make this project possible. So far, the National Space Academy’s team of expert Lead Educators and the National Space Centre’s Education team have delivered the masterclasses at schools across the UK and at the National Space Centre to almost 10,000 young people.

“We believe that every young person should have the opportunity to make STEM part of their lives. PPG have helped us to reach more young people by funding us to design and deliver the PPG Chemistry Education Project Masterclass.” – Dr Kierann Shah, General Manager of the National Space Academy.

PPG invest in educational opportunities to grow today’s skilled workforce in research and development, manufacturing, information technology and industries related to science, technology, engineering and math professions to develop tomorrow’s generation of innovators.

At the showcase event, Ken Armistead –  Director of Corporate Communications for EMEA region at PPG, said:

“We are capable of better solutions when there is a diversity of thought. We are proud to support the National Space Academy to enable more young people to engage with science.”

Pictured above: Top Left, Steve Althorpe – Lead Educator at the National Space Academy teaching in the Science Lab. Top right: PPG representatives at the celebration event explaining the components of paint. Bottom left: National Space Academy Lead Educators explain the PPG Chemistry Education Project to guests at a celebration event held at the National Space Centre. Bottom right: Ken Armistead –  Director of Corporate Communications for EMEA region at PPG.

Steve Althorpe is the Lead Educator responsible for the design of the PPG Chemistry Education Project Masterclass. Steve said:

“Science isn’t about the stuff we do know. Science is about the stuff we don’t know. It’s about investigating, problem solving, creativity… the PPG masterclass brings in all of those themes.”

The masterclass also shows students the career opportunities available to them after studying STEM subjects. A student in a video shown at the celebration event said: “Normally, I thought science was just chemicals, potions, stuff like that…. But no, turns out there’s a bunch more stuff related to it.”

The National Space Academy and PPG are committed to removing barriers for young people who wouldn’t normally get opportunities to take part in activities like this.

Schools with more than 13% of students eligible for free school meals can apply to take part in 2020’s PPG Chemistry Education Project Masterclasses for free.

The PPG Chemistry Education Project Masterclass can be adapted for students aged 9 – 14. Teachers interested in more information about the masterclass, should visit nationalspaceacademy.org/ppg for application details.

Hamstead Hall Academy uses a unique combination of technology to create interactive maths lessons

A Birmingham secondary school has made its sixth form maths lessons more interactive and inclusive by incorporating the latest in Casio Projectors’ collaborative technology with graphic calculator emulators. Students can now share their working to complex maths problems with the rest of the class from their seats in real time.

Over the summer, an XJ-F211 model, part of our latest Educational Solutions Series from Casio, was installed in a maths classroom to support effective lesson plans. Featuring the new One-Click Connect function which enables wireless screencasting from smartphones, tablets and laptops, Hamstead Hall chose to install this model to create a more participatory and interactive classroom dynamic.

Head of maths Melios Michael uses the new projector alongside laptops which are shared between pairs of students. Emulators produce a virtual version of fully-functional Casio graphic calculators which can be interacted with via a laptop. Using these, students can work through maths problems whilst casting their screen to the projector wirelessly, sharing their working with the rest of the class. The split screen function is used to compare different answers and allows the teacher to select one laptop to zoom into, with the student working through the problem on the emulator in real time.

Head of maths Melios Michael comments:

“In a tuition context, you can just watch what students are doing on the paper and interact with them that way. But when you have a class of 30, you can’t watch what they’re all doing. Having a tool where you can share screens at the click of a button quickly and smoothly really helps achieve this.

“Working through problems at the front of the class on a whiteboard is effective, but requires a lot of confidence and students sometimes worry about being selected. Under that pressure, they tend not to work out the problem in the way they’d do it naturally. But when students are being asked to share their work with just a simple click, nearly everyone is up for it and the students can watch, interested in what they do naturally.”

Executive principal Jonathan Mortimer comments:

“Interactive whiteboards used to provide excitement, a wow factor, but now they’re quite everyday. But use resources effectively, and technology can bring the lesson to life”.

“We use action-based research. We try new technologies out and if it’s enhancing lessons, producing a benefit and we can identify key transferable aspects, then we upscale. However, technology doesn’t automatically make lessons more effective, it’s about how you use it.”

Are you throwing away your most valuable fundraising data?

Auckland Grammar School Case Study

Amanda Stanes OStJ CFREDirector of Advancement helping build Auckland Grammar School’s future

In 2017, Auckland Grammar School’s Development Office transitioned  to Potentiality as its CRM system. The reason why? We wanted to integrate all our various connections/touch points with our Old Boys, past and current parents and donors to develop a much more informed and nuanced picture of how engagement linked with philanthropy.  We instinctively knew, and research has borne out, that the more engaged a person is with your story, the more likely they are to donate. Up until then, we had separate systems for event management, eDMs, emails, payment portals and donor management. Using separate systems required significant amounts of uploading and de-duping of data.  Not only was it a slow and onerous process which wasn’t getting us any closer to finding out how we were tracking with donor acquisition and conversion, paying multiple licenses was expensive for a New Zealand state school.  

Although we are only in the early stages of our donor discovery process, the work we are doing with Potentiality is throwing up some interesting data which we are now assessing. Please also note, we have a small base of donors. Many support the Academic Endowment Fund campaign which is an ongoing programme, however, since 2018 we have also been operating a capital campaign in parallel,  acquiring and engaging with new donors.

Once the initial setup was complete (changing daily habits and migrating existing data from numerous sources) the day-to-day management of our office was greatly simplified and the visibility and control we have on the personal information of our whole school community was greatly increased.

But with a data specialist on staff the focus then became how we could start using the wealth of engagement data automatically collected as part of our daily processes, to help with donor identification. 

Some examples of the data collected for analysis:

  • 4.6 million clicks across 3 connected sites over 3 years
  • Over 650,000 read and 125,000 click statistics on all bulk communications (Headmasters’ Bulletins, Old Boy e-newsletters, Auckland Grammar School Foundation Trust communications and many parent notifications)
  • 83,000 event attendances (all school and alumni events over 20 years)
  • 8,000 individual Outlook emails (tracked through an Outlook Plugin), 2000 attached notes as well as meetings and phone calls
  • Approximately 2000 survey results from login registrations (including expressions of interest in donating)
  • 34,000 payments to the school (excluding donations and events)
  • Relevant data from the school database such as leadership positions or awards received

So how can this data help identify donors? The approach was to use advanced statistical analysis in a community of 55,000 members to understand if and to what extent the different engagement data (e.g. email clicks and events attended) relates to the probability of a person becoming a donor or ‘donor propensity’.

The analysis

With the help of Potentiality we gave an anonymous version of the data to a data analyst to calculate the influence of each engagement variable on the likelihood of someone to donate. They ran a regression analysis involving the huge quantity of engagement data cross-referenced with 20 years of historical fundraising data. Once they completed their work we had a very good idea about how engagement influenced fundraising behaviour. 

For example if a community member logged in to the online community and expressed an interest in Capital Projects or Supporting Teachers, the likelihood of becoming a donor increased around 5000%. Some other interesting statistics were an increase of 327% per event attended, 288% per Outlook email communication (tracked via a plugin), 41% if they read a high proportion of school emails, 47% if they had an award or honor whilst at school, 280% if they took part in the community business directory, 335% if they’d viewed fundraising information on the school website, and 200% if they viewed the archives (the last two tracked thanks to the online community LinkedIn and Facebook integration).

Using the data

At this point we introduce our donor prospecting tool within Potentiality which plots each member of the community on a “propensity versus capacity to donate” chart based on live data in the database. A donor prospect’s propensity position on the chart is influenced by filters that can have variable scales which we set based on the results from the data analyst, and the capacity position is based primarily on census data, occupations and approximated property values.

The final chart has 55,000 dots representing every member of the community ranked between 1 and 55,000 indicating where they rate in capacity and propensity. The highest ranked capacity members appear across the top of the chart and the highest ranked propensity members appear on the right. The shape/colour of the dots represents their donor history.  With 55,000 records showing together interpretation is difficult but adding filters reveals trends in the data.

Figure 1

By filtering out non-donors and lapsed donors, we can see the different current donors on our chart. Of most significance the major donors (over $10K) are highlighted in yellow and our new donors this calendar year are light green stars.

You can see there’s a significant trend to the right side of the chart and also a huddle of dots in the top right corner. This tells us in broad terms that our analysis is working i.e. donors score high on propensity. Importantly however, the propensity calculation gives a stronger indication of a donor than our capacity data i.e there are more dots to the right than to the top.

This is good to see, but a donor might have increased communication whilst making a donation so to create the perfect donor prospecting analysis (or as close as we can get), we need to ensure that their position on the chart isn’t impacted by the fact that they’ve made a donation.

To achieve this we can look at donor engagement at different times before they became a donor to see if we can see the same trends.

Figure 2

Figure 2 shows only community members who made their first donation after January 1 2018 (when Potentiality had been running for a short time) and only counting engagement prior to that date. You can see there’s not much trend to speak of (approximately 40 future donors on the left and 60 on the right).

Figure 3

In Figure 3 we’ve run the same analysis in May 2019 (we have a lot more engagement data but it’s not long ago so there’s less stars) and all but one future first time donor is located on the right side of the chart, and around 60% of the future first time donors are within the top 10% propensity rating (the far right).

Turning the data into dollars

Now that we can see that it’s possible to identify community members that look like donors, the obvious next step is to see if we can turn them into donors.

Figure 4

Figure 4 is zoomed on the top right corner of the chart where we find the highest capacity and propensity community members and a filter has been applied to remove anyone who’s donated or been approached about donating in the past year.  The remainder show approximately 200 non-donors and 200 lapsed donors (of which 80 were major donors). Because we have sliding scales on the engagement data we can rule out community members whose engagement was a long time ago, these are all currently highly engaged members.

Each node comes with a brief description explaining its position by identifying with colours which filters matched and how strong the match was, for example based on filter numbers the highlighted node above matched with a medium capacity occupation, lives in a high income area according to the NZ census website, was in the top .1% (extremely high – red) of the community for; attending recent events, payments (excluding events or fundraising) and email read/click rate. They are in the top 2% (orange) for communications with the Development Office via Outlook and matched for a leadership position and awards and honors whilst at school. Our team can then dive further into their profile to have a closer look at their engagement history, what their interests are or who has been liaising with them (if anyone) to date. This builds a conversation template to start the cultivation process. 

At this stage, our strategy is to ask them for advice, not for money. These people are worth spending time on, we might invite them for a tour of the school or coffee with the headmaster. When the conversation is complete a new communication record is created and flagged as “involved a donation request” which automatically removes this person from the prospecting chart for now. Then we can choose the next person and so on.

Ethics

All information used in this exercise is based on pre-existing data and if the analysis works then community members who don’t want to be contacted won’t be contacted.  A data-driven personal approach is clearly going to be received more warmly by the community and if you approach someone who gets annoyed or complains then there’s something wrong with the data or the analysis that informed the approach.  

In this case study, please note all information is held within the existing New Zealand privacy laws and any non-Grammar information is from publicly accessed websites.

Conclusion

What we’ve managed to show from this study is that engagement data is an effective indicator of future donors, and likely more significant than capacity analysis. In most schools, engagement data is either not considered important, or held in databases within other internal departments separate from any fundraising purpose. Based on our study they might want to rethink this approach.