ABSTRACT
232While thinking about this chapter, conversations have started to replay in my mind relating to fundraising/philanthropy and data science, in which I have grouped into three categories. One set of dialogue revolves around a survey of this “Third Sector,” discovering its various verticals, constituents, and processes. Another group of conversations, the crux of this chapter, dives more deeply into the application of data science in philanthropy from data management to data analysis to data communication. Finally, more recent dialogues cover the art of dealing with audiences neither versed nor immersed in data science. On a grander scale, talks also swirl in my head relating to the implications of local, regional, national, and global changes on evolving charities, as well as their relationship to their donors, with regard to everything from the ethics of privacy to diversity and inclusion, both within the charities and with donors themselves. And since I can only think of these ideas as conversations, the following fictitious dialogues detail the business, science, and art of philanthropy in conversational form. Of course, the names have been changed to protect the innocent … and not so innocent.
