TL;DR:
- Emily Courville, senior director of information solutions and analytics at The Humane Society of the United States, shares her experience in nonprofit technology.
- Courville emphasizes the impact of technology on nonprofits, enabling growth and enhancing operations.
- The biggest struggle nonprofits face with technology is the allocation of time and resources for staff to learn and adapt.
- Courville highlights the importance of nonprofits embracing technology regardless of size, revenue, or misconceptions.
- Automation is key to freeing up staff time and capacity to focus on future goals and critical technological needs.
- Courville will be presenting at BridgeTECH, discussing the adoption of machine learning models in nonprofit marketing.
Main AI News:
Emily Courville, the seasoned senior director of information solutions and analytics at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), is a visionary dedicated to her cause. In the realm of virtual offices, she finds solace in the company of her feline companion, who occasionally sneaks into her meetings uninvited.
With over two decades of experience in the nonprofit sector, Courville’s tech journey dates back to the early days of customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Following a layoff from her theater job, a friend introduced her to the world of nonprofit technology, leading her to embark on a career path that has since intertwined agency roles and her tenure at The Humane Society of the United States. During her tenure, she has handled an array of responsibilities, including individual reports, cooperative databases, acquisition list production, predictive modeling, and trend analysis.
“My time at Target Analysis Group involved working on reports for their PB clients, while also mastering SQL on Oracle databases. Although these tools aren’t exclusive to the nonprofit sector, the data I worked with originated from nonprofit-specific systems like RE and TA, among others that are no longer in use. Consequently, I quickly immersed myself in the jargon as numerous organizations migrated their systems,” Courville shared.
Excitingly, Courville is set to grace this year’s inaugural BridgeTECH event, a technology-focused gathering for nonprofit executives, fundraisers, and marketers. Taking place on August 2, in conjunction with the 18th annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference, BridgeTECH promises to be an extraordinary occasion. Courville will be presenting a captivating session titled “Machine Learning for Nonprofit Marketers: Find the Right Constituents and Fuel Your Fundraising.” Joining her will be industry experts John McCarthy, vice president of technical and data services at ROI Solutions, and Steve Kehrli, senior vice president of development at PETA Foundation. Together, they will provide real-world examples of how nonprofits have harnessed the power of machine learning models to optimize various aspects, including audience selection for lapsed recapture efforts, sustainer conversion and retention, targeted ask amounts, and more.
NonProfit PRO had the privilege of catching up with Courville to delve deeper into her work in nonprofit technology and unravel her profound passion for machine learning and data. When asked about the impact of technology on her nonprofit, Courville emphasized, “Our growth to the scale and breadth we enjoy today would have been impossible without our current CRM and trusted payment processors. Automating a significant portion of our sustainer processing has not only allowed us to enhance those operations but has also freed up resources for other vital areas.“
When discussing the major struggles nonprofits face with technology adoption, Courville stressed the importance of time. “Granting existing staff the necessary time and space to learn something new, or affording new staff dedicated to utilizing novel technologies, presents a persistent challenge,” she explained. Overcoming this hurdle is crucial to ensure nonprofits can leverage the benefits of technology.
Regardless of an organization’s size, revenue, or misconceptions regarding overhead costs, Courville firmly believes in the imperative nature of nonprofits embracing technology. She cautioned against getting stuck in a cycle of manual spreadsheet work and laborious data querying, highlighting the detrimental effects such practices have on an organization’s ability to progress. “Automation is the key to unlocking physical and mental capacity, allowing us to transcend today’s needs and focus on tomorrow’s aspirations. In today’s world, technology offers ample opportunities to automate even with basic software and spreadsheets, enabling staff to allocate their time towards critical technological and data infrastructure requirements,” she asserted.
As for her involvement in BridgeTECH, Courville will be contributing her expertise to two panels. The first panel explores how business intelligence (BI) tools have revolutionized essential fundraising inquiries, while the second panel delves into the realm of artificial intelligence (AI), specifically machine learning and predictive modeling. Her enthusiasm for these subjects knows no bounds, fueling her desire to share insights and inspire fellow nonprofit professionals.
Emily Courville’s dedication to leveraging machine learning for nonprofit marketing exemplifies the transformative power of technology in driving societal impact. Her unwavering passion and expertise will undoubtedly inspire attendees at BridgeTECH to embrace cutting-edge solutions, ultimately propelling the nonprofit sector into a brighter and more efficient future.
Conclusion:
The insights shared by Emily Courville shed light on the transformative power of machine learning in the nonprofit sector. By leveraging technology and automation, nonprofits can enhance their operations, allocate resources more effectively, and think beyond immediate needs. This empowers them to optimize their fundraising efforts, improve audience targeting, and make data-driven decisions. The integration of machine learning models in nonprofit marketing represents a significant opportunity for organizations to maximize their impact and drive positive change in the market.
