RFM: Not a substitute for predictive modeling

Just a note to thank Kevin MacDonell for the mention on his CoolData blog. If by chance there are still a few of you that don't follow his blog, please do so. You will be smarter.

One encouragement about software in response: If you are able to explore the world of statistics software (SPSS, SAS, others), you may find that it makes many things much easier than using Excel or other more generic products. They've come a long way from the syntax-only days. Some of us still like the syntax (we may even dream about it--did I just write that?!?). But, really, you can point & click through seemingly complex calculations. Maybe DIY learning would seem daunting, but the Prospect-DMM and Fundraising Analytics Forum communities are a very sharing bunch.

I've worked with several clients who were able to build regression models for major and planned giving by day two of working together. We could usually get to producing an RFM score in a morning.

Read Kevin's post on RFM