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Nearly every business
and marketing plan has one detailed stat that is deemed essential. Finding
this “diamond detailed data” however can be a daunting task. Most
entrepreneurs are at a loss of even where to start looking for it.
The most important rule to remember is to
search for the data not the detail.
Before you start looking
anywhere, take a close look at your information requirements and separate the
detail from the data. For example if an entrepreneur wants to find out if
charities in Toronto are increasing their use of special events in 2004, she
must first determine the basic data at the heart of this search.
The most sought after
detail for business researchers is usually geography (e.g.“local market
detail”). They want data that specifically addresses their exact market
boundaries.
First of all, it is
important to keep in mind that despite its great demand, oftentimes this
detail is not available. Survey sample sizes are usually not big enough to
provide countrywide local market detail and rarely are surveys conducted on
the exact neighborhood you are interested in.
Even when local stats
have been collected they are rarely made available via the media or
Internet. In the research world detail equals dollars. Research firms make
the most money by providing specialized data. You pay a premium for each
extra variable you want attached to your data request.
What all of this means
is that if you focus on searching on a specific geographic detail from the start you
will likely not even find the data you need. But if we locate a
source for the data first, we will then have an expert contact who can tell
us if local level figures exists and what the cost (if any) would be to
access them.
After geography, the
most sought after detail is time.
Everybody wants data
that was collected today at 9am or yesterday at the latest! Beyond that
they consider it out-of-date. Don't hold your breath! Quality data
requires some time to be compiled, verified and published. Be realistic in
your time expectations. You will not find many detailed stats that are not
at least one month old. Anything collected within the last year should be
considered excellent.
Just as with local
geography boundaries, time constraints are only a detail of the data we
require. Do not dismiss information because the data is too old.
If you dismiss any
information prior to 2004 you will likely never locate the information you
require. However if you remove this detail from your data search, you open
the possibility of finding highlights from a previous report.
The highlights
themselves can be helpful but even more important is that you will have
identified the source itself! You can then follow-up with an expert contact
and find out if they have released more current data.
Returning to our
example, let’s trim the detail from the data. “Are charities in Toronto
increasing their use of special events in 2004?” now becomes “Are charities
increasing their use of special events?”
Once the details of
geography and time are stripped away from your search, you need to examine
your data requirements to see if they still include “details”. This can
usually be determined by asking the question is any aspect of your
data requirement a sub-grouping of a larger subject area?
For example charities
are a type of “non-profit organization” and special events in the non-profit
context are a type of “fundraising”. Therefore the core data we are looking
for is “non-profit fundraising”. Even this is somewhat redundant. We could
simplify our search even further to “fundraising”.
Our basic data search
therefore is focused strictly on: fundraising.
Keep in mind we are
stripping away the detail so we can find the data. We are not giving up on
finding the detail, simply waiting until we find a source or sources for the
data before we refine our requirements back to the original “diamond data”
request.
Now that we are at the
core piece of data we can start our data search. The best way to start is to
look for possible sources. Who would be interested in fundraising in
Canada? The usual answer is people actively involved in fundraising. The
directory Associations Canada available in most libraries and
business development centres identifies the
Association of Fundraising Professionals
with a link to the Greater Toronto Area chapter (http://www.afptoronto.org)
If the Associations
Canada directory did not have any appropriate sources, or if when we
followed-up, we found the organization did not have any useful data or
suggestions, our next step would be to keyword search a periodical database
or even an Internet search engine for our core data. Oftentimes you will find
a relevant article which will quote a research source. In some cases it
will be an association, in others a research company that specializes in a
specific market or industry. Contact any that are appropriate.
SEARCH HINT:
In addition to keywords related your core data needs add the words "poll",
"study", "survey" and "report". Use each separately or with "OR"
between each. This helps to focus your results on statistical
information only.
In the example above we
find an interesting report at the Association of
Fundraising Professionals (Toronto
chapter) site on corporate gift giving to charities in Canada (http://www.afptoronto.org/downloads/DELOITTE.PDF).
There is also a study on the characteristics, experiences and views of
fundraisers across Canada. Unfortunately, it does not examine types of
fundraising.
The next step is to
follow up with the sources suggested at the site. Look at the “Useful
Links” or "Industry Links" section of any sites you
visit. They can often point you in the right direction. We also need to
contact the organization directly to see if they can suggest further
sources.
In this case we see many
different and promising links related to the non-profit sector:
http://www.afptoronto.org/links/index.htm
Since the local chapter
has looked promising, we will start by following up with the national
organization:
www.afpnet.org
We immediately recognize
that this is a North American organization but remember we are still focused
on the data and not the detail. (That means we will first see if anything
is here about fundraising before we dismiss this site as not
having the Canadian detail we are looking for.)
There is a very
promising section called “Research & Statistics” and in that an annual
report called AFP State
of Fundraising with a related press release dated
July 12, 2004.
http://www.afpnet.org/tier3_cd.cfm?folder_id=2365&content_item_id=17268
When we actually look at
the report we find the question "How did your funding of various development
strategies change from 2002 to 2003?" The tables have specific Canadian
results and cover a variety of specific fundraising activities including "Special Event Funding".
It also includes details on "Special Events Practices" (i.e. type of event
undertaken: several small events, one large event and others, one
main event, no special event).
We have found near
diamond data. We will still need to contact the Association directly
to see if they can provide any more details than what is provided online
(e.g. subnational information) and to see if they can suggest other sources
of information.
Arriving at the above
example may seem complicated but it is really the result of a methodical
approach.
-
Trim all detail from
your data needs
-
Identify someone who
would be interested in collecting the core data you require.
-
Visit their web site
and contact them directly to see if they have the data you require and
what details they have available.
-
Follow up with any
links or sources they suggest and repeat Step #3
Now for the bad news.
Detailed data has not been collected on everything. In some cases you will
find the core data you need but will not find any of the diamond details you
want. While “coal mines” are not as valuable as “diamond mines” they can
still be profitable.
When secondary sources
fall short of your data needs you have to talk to people in your industry
and market directly to see if they can enlighten some of the data. You will
also need to make your own estimates. This is especially true in the case
of local geographical information. Rely on your business network to help
you establish these and to ensure they are realistic.
Even the best
diamonds need to be “cut” to show off their true brilliance. When you find
any data regardless of its detail make sure you talk to people in your
industry and market. Only then can you understand how the results apply to
you.
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