Analytics for Fundraisers Using Python: A Beginner’s Course
Learn how to use Python to set smarter ask amounts and identify your best major gift prospects using real-world, fundraiser-friendly analytics.
Major gift fundraising is too important to leave to guesswork.
Many fundraisers are asked to set strategic ask amounts and prioritize outreach with limited time, incomplete information, and competing opinions.
Even with strong relationships, it can be hard to know:
- Who is most likely to give at a major gift level right now.
- What amount is ambitious but realistic for each prospect.
- Which data points actually matter, and which are noise.
The result is missed opportunities, under-asking, and a pipeline that feels harder to manage than it should.
Analytics for Fundraisers Using Python gives you the tools to turn donor data into clear, defensible fundraising decisions.
Marianne guides you step by step through two practical projects that fundraisers can use immediately:
- Optimal ask amounts: build a data-informed approach for setting asks that match capacity and behavior.
- Major gift probability: create a model that helps you identify who is most likely to give.
You do not need prior coding experience.
You will learn how to clean and prepare data, explore patterns, and test simple, effective models so you can stop relying on gut instinct and start using evidence to focus your efforts.
By the end of this course, you’ll have donor models built from your own data—ready to guide smarter cultivation and solicitation strategies.
Your Instructor
Marianne Pelletier has over 35 years of fundraising experience, with the majority in prospect research and prospecting. She is one of the first adopters of donor modeling and data mining techniques. Her professional experience includes prospect research, both as a research analyst for Harvard and Lesley Universities and as a department director for Carnegie Mellon University and Cornell University.
Pelletier’s multi-decade 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 led the analytics division of the Helen Brown Group for over 10 years, and remains an associate.
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, Pelletier 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 ending as secretary for the APRA International board.
A prolific writer, she has published articles on management, prospect research, fundraising, and personal growth on a range of platforms. A sought-after speaker, she often speaks on how to start an analytics shop, along with a variety of other subjects related to prospecting.
Course Curriculum
Getting Started with Python
- Getting and Installing Python and Front End Tools
- Analytics in Fundraising
- Python Basics
- Cleaning & Formatting Data
- Assembling Dataframes
Data Preparation and Exploratory Statistics
- Exploratory Statistics
- Bell Curve Techniques
- Overview of Variables and Their Use
- Python Review
Modeling
- Testing for Significance
- Linear Regression Demonstration
- Logistic Regression
- Testing and Sharing Results
Stop guessing and start using data to guide your major gift strategy. In this beginner-friendly Python course, you will learn to model major gift likelihood and calculate more confident ask amounts using your own donor data.
$497.00
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course – you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like – across any and all devices you own.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.