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It was disappointing to see an article in the April 21 issue of “The Chronicle of Philanthropy” concerning a recent release of IRS charitable deduction data that was presented with commentary fueling an ongoing debate about the accuracy of published giving results… for 2009! We should be focused on what’s ahead, not in the rearview mirror.

The Atlas of Giving takes a page from the business world to measure results, analyze, review and move on – quickly.

The Atlas of Giving reported charitable giving results for 2010 on January 19 and provided a forecast for 2011 – which has now been updated monthly in each of the last three months.

The Atlas has ushered in a new world of nonprofit management and fundraising practice. The Atlas provides a reliable look into the future and the Atlas measures gifts in the US in real time.

For the first time, fundraising activities, campaigns and appeals can be timed to produce better results. Because of the Atlas charitable giving forecast, organizations can avoid spending time, money and effort trying to raise funds in unfavorable times. New timing models are being created that makes appeal timing a science - not a guess.

Fundraising results can be measured and compared to the Atlas benchmark in real time – no more waiting for months or years to determine if your results are good, average, or not so good. It is now possible to analyze the effectiveness of appeals and staff for a particular month, quarter, or year… immediately.

For the first time, budgets can be crafted with a level of efficiency that has never before been possible… An annual budget based upon a projected income growth of 8% looks very different from one based on a projected annual decline of 1%.

These ideas are not new, they are just new to nonprofits. The business world has thrived on this kind of data, reporting, forecasting, and analysis for decades.

The most exciting innovation that the Atlas of Giving brings is customized versions that can be created for individual organizations, groups of organizations, or geographies.

Using the technology that was used to create the national aggregate Atlas of Giving, individualized versions can be created to more accurately forecast gifts for individual nonprofits. New models will be able to provide benchmarking for sectors like religion, health, arts, education and others. And, for the first time, specific models can provide benchmarking and forecasting for states, regions, and metropolitan areas.

The change is underway. Will you take advantage of the technology as an early adopter or wait until you are forced to adapt?