gdii faststats solution - adroitinsight.com · indigo: ifl faststats system ©adroit data and...

GDII FastStats Solution David Dipple

FastStats System Training Manual v1.00

Indigo: IFL FastStats System

©Adroit Data and Insight Limited 1

Contents Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 7

Indigo Fundraising Benchmark 2017 .................................................................................................. 7

Your IFL FastStats System ................................................................................................................... 7

Support ............................................................................................................................................... 7

Confidentiality & Information Sharing ................................................................................................ 7

The IFL Data ............................................................................................................................................ 8

Launching FastStats ................................................................................................................................ 9

How to Login ....................................................................................................................................... 9

The FastStats User Interface ................................................................................................................. 10

The Toolbar and Wizards .................................................................................................................. 10

The Toolbar ....................................................................................................................................... 10

The Wizards ................................................................................................................................... 10

The FastStats System ........................................................................................................................ 11

The Tables ......................................................................................................................................... 11

The File Area ..................................................................................................................................... 11

Folders ........................................................................................................................................... 12

Windows ........................................................................................................................................... 12

Template Ribbon ............................................................................................................................... 12

The Workspace ................................................................................................................................. 12

Copying or Saving an Object ............................................................................................................. 12

Other UI Functions and Areas ........................................................................................................... 13

Favourites ...................................................................................................................................... 13

The File Menu ............................................................................................................................... 13

Mini Tool Ribbon ........................................................................................................................... 13

FastStats Variable Types ....................................................................................................................... 14

Selector Variables ............................................................................................................................. 14

Array Variables .................................................................................................................................. 14

Numeric Variables ............................................................................................................................. 15

Date Variables ................................................................................................................................... 15

Unclassified and Unknown................................................................................................................ 15

Name Your Objects ........................................................................................................................... 15

Selections .............................................................................................................................................. 16

The anatomy of a Selection Dialog Box ........................................................................................ 16



1: Name ......................................................................................................................................... 16

2: Level .......................................................................................................................................... 16

3: Criteria....................................................................................................................................... 16

4: Categories/Rules ....................................................................................................................... 17

5: Filter and Search ....................................................................................................................... 17

6: Inclusion Tools........................................................................................................................... 17

7: Main Tool Bar ............................................................................................................................ 18

Undo/Redo .................................................................................................................................... 18

Save ............................................................................................................................................... 18

Add Notes...................................................................................................................................... 18

Collapse/Expand ........................................................................................................................... 18

Settings and Options ..................................................................................................................... 19

Show Counts ................................................................................................................................. 19

Transfer to Microsoft Office ......................................................................................................... 19

8: Run ............................................................................................................................................ 20

9: Results ....................................................................................................................................... 20

Building Selections ............................................................................................................................ 20

Creating a Selection: Selector Variables ........................................................................................... 21

Adding Another Variable ............................................................................................................... 21

Selector Commands (AND/OR) ..................................................................................................... 22

Selector Commands (NOT/Exclude) .............................................................................................. 22

Using a Grouped Level Variable .................................................................................................... 23

Saving the Selection ...................................................................................................................... 23

Creating Branching Selections ...................................................................................................... 24

Selecting Array/Multiple Response Variables ............................................................................... 25

Numeric Variables ............................................................................................................................. 25

Free Form ...................................................................................................................................... 26

AND/OR ......................................................................................................................................... 26

Grid Interface ................................................................................................................................ 27

Banding Generator ............................................................................................................................ 28

Chart Tab ....................................................................................................................................... 28

TableTab ........................................................................................................................................ 28

Summary Tab ................................................................................................................................ 29

Equal Ranges ..................................................................................................................................... 29

Geometric Ranges ............................................................................................................................. 30

Quantile Ranges ................................................................................................................................ 30



User Defined Ranges ......................................................................................................................... 31

Adding a Selection............................................................................................................................. 31

Date Variables ................................................................................................................................... 32

A Date Range ................................................................................................................................. 32

Relative Dates ............................................................................................................................... 33

Advanced Selections ............................................................................................................................. 34

Not ........................................................................................................................................................ 34

Levels ............................................................................................................................................. 35

NOT ANY ............................................................................................................................................ 35

ANY NOT ............................................................................................................................................ 36

NOT ANY NOT.................................................................................................................................... 36

NOT Summary ................................................................................................................................... 37

Tight and Loose ..................................................................................................................................... 37

RFV Selections ....................................................................................................................................... 38

Modifying the RFV............................................................................................................................. 38

Frequency ......................................................................................................................................... 39

Value ................................................................................................................................................. 39

Recency ............................................................................................................................................. 40

Recency Date Criteria .................................................................................................................... 40

Not Just Dates ............................................................................................................................... 40

ANY ................................................................................................................................................ 41

Combining Not and RFV .................................................................................................................... 41

Parameterised Selections ..................................................................................................................... 43

Values ............................................................................................................................................ 43

Values and Variables ..................................................................................................................... 44

Changing the Parameters.................................................................................................................. 44

Analysis ................................................................................................................................................. 45

Cubes ..................................................................................................................................................... 45

The Anatomy of a Cube ..................................................................................................................... 45

Creating a Basic Cube ........................................................................................................................ 45

Adding a Second Dimension ......................................................................................................... 46

Transposing and Moving Variables ............................................................................................... 46

Modifying the Categories Seen ......................................................................................................... 46

Adding Additional Variables .......................................................................................................... 47

Modifying variables ....................................................................................................................... 47

Minimum Category Count ............................................................................................................. 47



Adding a Dimension Filter ............................................................................................................. 48

Changing the Level ............................................................................................................................ 48

Adding Numeric Variables and Dates as Categories ......................................................................... 49

Making Selections from the Cube ..................................................................................................... 50

Thematic Shading .............................................................................................................................. 50

Selecting People Using Ranges ..................................................................................................... 51

Adding Statistics .................................................................................................................................... 52

The Statistics Menu ........................................................................................................................... 52

Statistics Options .............................................................................................................................. 53

Resolve Table ................................................................................................................................ 53

Other Variables etc. ...................................................................................................................... 53

Calculated Measure ...................................................................................................................... 53

Base Selection and Table .................................................................................................................. 53

Adding a Resolve Statistic ............................................................................................................. 54

Other Variable ................................................................................................................................... 55

Adding a Filter ................................................................................................................................... 56

Adding Cosmetic Labels` ............................................................................................................... 57

Selections ...................................................................................................................................... 58

Table .............................................................................................................................................. 58

Calculated Measures ......................................................................................................................... 59

One Variable ................................................................................................................................. 59

Using Two Variables ...................................................................................................................... 61

Adding a Legend ................................................................................................................................ 62

Grouping Statistics ............................................................................................................................ 62

Missing Statistics? ............................................................................................................................. 63

Changing the Primary Statistic .......................................................................................................... 64

Cycling Through Statistics ................................................................................................................. 64

Cube Size ........................................................................................................................................... 65

Partial Cube ................................................................................................................................... 65

Exporting the Cube ........................................................................................................................... 65

Trees ...................................................................................................................................................... 66

Adding Variables ............................................................................................................................... 66

Changing the order of the variables ............................................................................................. 67

Sorting the Categories ................................................................................................................... 67

Flattened and Collapsible Views ................................................................................................... 67

Collapsible Tree ............................................................................................................................. 67



Flattened Tree ............................................................................................................................... 68

Adding Statistics ............................................................................................................................ 68

Exporting the Tree ........................................................................................................................ 69

Table Size .......................................................................................................................................... 70

Partial Tree .................................................................................................................................... 70

Visualisation .......................................................................................................................................... 71

Venn Diagrams ...................................................................................................................................... 71

The Basic Venn .................................................................................................................................. 71

Adding Segments/Selections ............................................................................................................ 71

Creating Selections from the Venn ............................................................................................... 72

Using the Venn .................................................................................................................................. 73

Exporting a Venn ........................................................................................................................... 73

Tool-Tips ........................................................................................................................................ 73

Hiding and Removing Selections ................................................................................................... 73

Changing Colours .......................................................................................................................... 74

Adding More Selections ................................................................................................................ 75

Adding Statistics ............................................................................................................................ 76

Resolve Table ................................................................................................................................ 77

Other Statistics .............................................................................................................................. 78

Adding a Legend ............................................................................................................................ 78

Word Clouds.......................................................................................................................................... 79

Publish ................................................................................................................................................... 80

Charts and Graphs ................................................................................................................................. 80

Chart toolbar ................................................................................................................................. 80

The Anatomy of a Chart .................................................................................................................... 80

Producing a Chart .............................................................................................................................. 81

Modifying the chart ...................................................................................................................... 81

Removing a Variable ..................................................................................................................... 81

Changing the level ......................................................................................................................... 82

Adding a Base Selection ................................................................................................................ 82

Changing the Chart Type ................................................................................................................... 82

Adding Another Category ................................................................................................................. 83

Changing the Variable Order ........................................................................................................ 83

Other Types of View ...................................................................................................................... 84

Paged View .................................................................................................................................... 84

Trellis View .................................................................................................................................... 84



Clustered (Windowed) .................................................................................................................. 84

Adding Measures and Statistics ........................................................................................................ 85

Changing the Value Shown ........................................................................................................... 85

Variables & Other Statistics .......................................................................................................... 85

Changing the Statistic ................................................................................................................... 86

Chart Storyboard ........................................................................................................................... 86

Saving and Exporting the Chart ......................................................................................................... 86

Templates & Objects ............................................................................................................................. 87

Comparing Templates and Objects ............................................................................................... 88

Retaining the Selection in a Template .......................................................................................... 88

The Storyboard ..................................................................................................................................... 89

Adding Items ..................................................................................................................................... 89

Annotating the Story ......................................................................................................................... 89

Expressions............................................................................................................................................ 90

Logical Example ................................................................................................................................. 90

Expression Toolbar ........................................................................................................................ 91

Using the Expression ..................................................................................................................... 91

Equation Using Selections ................................................................................................................. 92

Date Example .................................................................................................................................... 93

Appendix 1: Other Training Materials ................................................................................................... 95

Training Videos ................................................................................................................................. 95

How to Videos ............................................................................................................................... 95

Informational Videos .................................................................................................................... 95

The IFL FastStats Training System ..................................................................................................... 95

Other Sources of Information ........................................................................................................... 95

Notes: .................................................................................................................................................... 96



Overview

Indigo Fundraising Benchmark 2017 The Global Benchmarking project was established by the IFL Forum1, a group of leading INGOs to

facilitate fundraising performance analysis and benchmarking for both their INGO headquarters and

their fundraising offices throughout the world. In 2009, its inaugural year, 7 INGOs and 38 country

offices from 15 different countries participated. By 2016, 14 INGOs and 100 NGO offices from 25

different countries participated.

The project has provided a large base of metrics for each NGO to support analysis of their

fundraising program based on actual gift transactional data, and other information held at the

account or supporter level. This data can be used to create key benchmarking metrics within each

INGO and within the specific countries they operate to understand their performance and that of

other INGOs. This information has traditionally been provided in “static” form, so that the INGOs or

NGOs involved haven’t easily been able to access the underlying data and interrogate it themselves.

In 2017 the delivery of the information will be different to previous years. A state of the art Business

Intelligence platform, FastStats, is available to each NGO, their HQs and participating countries.

Insight reporting through the INDIGO Excel application is developed from the FastStats solution,

based on the underlying data, which has been audited and coded to a common set of definitions and

decodes agreed by the IFL Forum. Please note this is a separate deliverable. Where there are 3 or

more countries in a market, Adroit also produce an Indigo market summary report in Powerpoint.

Your IFL FastStats System Each organisation’s end system will vary in terms of which markets are visible. This is determined by

an access model. If you are a designated FastStats user you will receive a licence file from Adroit,

and this is specific to you. If you wish to change or re-allocate this license if you are no longer the

designated user, you must contact [email protected].

Support Adroit have created a number of training videos & information about the FastStats system, and

these can be accessed via http://www.adroitinsight.com/faststats-videos/

All support queries should be sent to [email protected].

Confidentiality & Information Sharing All participant organizations and users of the information are reminded that sharing of the

information is restricted to the participating organizations of the IFL Forum only. The global

information on all markets is only available to organizations submitting a minimum of 3 markets. If

you have any doubts about the rules surrounding the data use, please contact your international

representative.

1 The IFL Forum is a peer group of international fundraising directors in some of the world’s biggest NGOs and UN agencies raising funds from individuals, companies and foundations in multiple countries. Members are: ActionAid, Amnesty International, Care International, Greenpeace, ICRC, IFRC, MSF, Operation Smile, Oxfam, Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages, UNHCR, UNICEF, WWF and World Vision.

http://www.adroitinsight.com/faststats-videos/



The IFL Data The FastStats system that you will use for training is based on the data received for the IFL consortium charities. The variables include information on demographics, recruitment sources and gifts from supporters. Any information that could be used to identify a supporter has been removed and so is completely anonymous. The data has been generated from a set of stratified random samples of the IFL data and further anonymised, but it has been built so as to retain the original relationships. This will give the analysts using the training set a good sense of the data and the underlying dynamics. In this example there are two tables, Person and Gift. Each Person is unique but can have multiple gifts (or none).

The original charity and country information has been changed and now refers to three hypothetical

charities:

Children Without Families

People in Need

Save the World

Person

Gift(1)

Gift(2)

Gift(n)



Launching FastStats You can start IFL FastStats Discoverer by:

Clicking on the FastStats Discoverer Launcher – IFL icon on your desktop, or

Navigating to: Start All Programs > FastStats > FastStats Discoverer Launcher - IFL

This will connect you to the FastStats server and launch FastStats.

How to Login Enter your username and password and select the System to be

used. For this course, the IFL Train system will be used. If you

have not been allocated a FastStats login and/or password you

should contact your FastStats co-ordinator/Admin.

When the required information has been entered and the

relevant system selected, click Login and FastStats will launch.

If successful, the following message will be seen.



The FastStats User Interface The FastStats user interface is shown below and consists of four main areas.

1. The Toolbar and Wizards

2. The System and Files

3. The Tables

4. The Workspace

The Toolbar and Wizards

The Toolbar

FastStats tools can be dragged onto the workspace to help the user to analyse the data.

The Wizards

Wizards differ from tools: rather than being dragged onto the workspace, they route the user

through a number of directed dialog boxes so that the required task can be completed. It should be

noted that only a small number of Wizards will be available for the IFL system.

The tools and wizards that are available in the IFL system will be examined in more detail later in the

course.

System & Files

Tables

Work Space

Tools and Wizards1: Toolbar

2: System and

Files

3: Tables

4: Workspace



The FastStats System The system area is where FastStats keeps all of the variables and allows the user access to the data.

The Tables The tables part of the system area shows the

database structure.

The table shows the relationship between the data

and tables. In this example there are two tables,

Person and Gift.

Each Person is unique but can have multiple gifts.

The File Area Objects, such as tables and selections created by the user,

can be saved and retrieved from the My Discoverer

Folders area.

The user should save all objects in the Private area or in

the dedicated organisation folder in the Public area.

Information saved in the My Discoverer Folders will be

backed up at the same time as the FastStats system. No

responsibility can be accepted for objects saved outside

these folders.

The FastStats variables are held in a

Windows-like folder structure and

the type of variable is identified by

an icon in front of the variable

name. These icons will be examined

and discussed in the next section.

To search for a variable, use the search function (denoted

by a magnifying glass) and FastStats will locate the

requested string. It is always a good idea to give variables

sensible names so that they are easy to find.



Folders

There are a number of folders and the permissions are different for each.

Private (only you can save or load information from here – no one else can see it).

Public (This has been restricted to the Organisation and Templates – only Adroit can save

information here).

Organisation (Anyone in your organisation can save and load objects from here).

Adroit Standard Templates (anyone can load objects from here but cannot save or alter

information held here).

Windows Any window open in the Work Space can be seen

and used from here. This is especially useful when

there are a number of currently open windows.

This is why it is a good idea to give each dialog box,

open in the workspace, a sensible name; otherwise

it is difficult to use this area.

The above example is much easier to understand than the one

to the right!

Double clicking an item will bring it to the top of the

workspace.

Template Ribbon FastStats Objects can be dragged onto the Template Ribbon

and saved there; only the user can use these, as with saving

to the Private Folder. The main difference between saving an

object to disk and the template ribbon is that the selection

criteria are retained when saving to disk, but removed when

storing in the Template Ribbon. The idea is that a user

creates a template which is then used with different selections.

The Workspace The next area of Interest is the workspace; this is where all of the analysis and work is carried out in

FastStats. Objects can be dragged and dropped onto here and then manipulated.

Copying or Saving an Object To copy or save any of the objects, mouse over the dialog box

icon until it is surrounded by a red square. The object can now

be copied, either to save it or to drop it onto another object. It

should be noted that right dragging and dropping may give

additional options.



Other UI Functions and Areas

Favourites

A user can save objects and selections here but they are only accessible to the user. In practice it is

generally a better idea to save work to disk as it is more easily compartmentalised into a sensible

folder structure whereas the Favourite area can become cluttered.

It is possible to create folders in the Favourites area but this area can become cluttered if care is not

taken.

The File Menu

Like most pieces of software, there is a menu system, although it is rarely necessary to access it as

most commands can be accessed from elsewhere or will be set by the FastStats Administrator.

One command that is very useful is:

Reset Windows Positions

If the user accidentally undocks a window

(e.g. the systems area) or deletes it, this

command will reset the FastStats system to

its original state and will restore all of the

windows.

Another useful file command is:

Window.Close all

This will close all of the currently open

windows in the Workspace

Mini Tool Ribbon

At the top right hand corner of the UI is the Micro Tool Ribbon. This allows access to a number of

useful tools.

Hide Tool Ribbon

Help

Open/Save

Copy/Select All



FastStats Variable Types There are five main variable types used in the IFL system:

In addition to these there is a reference type variable that identifies an individual person or an

individual gift transaction. It should be noted that only one variable is string type variables.

There are other variables in a standard FastStats system, such as currency and date/time, but these

do not appear in the IFL System. The IFL system allows multiple currency types and so uses numeric

variables for this information. The currency variable type is the same as numeric, except that a

currency denominator (e.g. £) precedes the value.

Each type of variable is used in a slightly different manner and this will be discussed later.

Selector Variables This type breaks a variable into set of known groups or categories.

An Example of a selector

variable is Gender.

A person or gift record can only exist in one selector category. In this dataset a person cannot be

both Unclassified and Female.

Array Variables This type of variable is similar to a selector variable, but multiple categories can be selected instead

of just one. An array type variable is often referred to as a multiple response variable as more than

one category can be correct.

An example of an array is Contact

Permissions.

A person can have multiple permissions. In this example a person can be contacted by both email

and by post.



Numeric Variables With numeric variables there are too many values to define as a selector and are not grouped into

individual groups. Numeric variable can be added, multiplied, divided, etc.

An example of a numeric

variable is Age.

People or records can be selected by defining a value or range of values. In the above example, all

people older than 50 are being used.

Date Variables Date variables allow groups of records to be used based on a date or date range.

An example of a date variable is Gift

Payment Date.

In the example, all gifts in 2015 are being selected or used.

Unclassified and Unknown Unclassified data has two main meanings; the first is that there is missing data, for example data has

not been supplied for Gender. The second is that there is no decode for that category when building

the dataset (Gender value of Z).

Unknown data is data that has deliberately been given that value, for example a supporter account

could be defined as B (both) or J (Joint) and does not indicate the actual gender. These two codes

have deliberately been coded as Unknown.

Name Your Objects When using FastStats people tend to create a lot of selections, cubes etc. It is always a good idea to

name all objects as you create them so that FastStats is more intuitive and easier to use.

All objects have the same way of adding a title: type in

the required label at the top of the object.

This is the selection given a more sensible name.

This is what the window tab looks like if the objects are not added: it is

unintelligible. This can also cause problems when objects are exported to

Excel.



Selections One of the key aspects of FastStats is the use of selections. These have multiple uses including:

• Defining a base population for a set of analysis

• Creating logical values that can be used in reports and expressions

Each variable type is selected in slightly different ways and these will be examined in more detail in

this section.

The anatomy of a Selection Dialog Box

Before looking at a selection in detail it is useful to understand the anatomy and make-up of the

selection dialog box. In general, the selection dialog boxes have the same tools but differ in look and

feel on the right hand side (areas 4, 5 & 6).

1. Name of Object/Dialog Box

2. Level of Selection

3. Selection Criteria

4. Selector Categories/Rules

5. Filter and Search Tools

6. Inclusion Tools

7. Main Tool bar

8. Run Button

9. Results

1: Name

All dialog boxes and objects should be given a sensible name. When created they will be given a title

of New Selection n. This is also seen when other types of tool are being created: a new Cube will

have title of Cube n. A new title or name can be typed here.

2: Level

The selection can be created at different levels, depending on the make-up

of the FastStats database. To change the level, right click the current value

and the user will be given the option of changing the level.

If the level selected is Person then the selection will be built for each

individual person and at a Gift level then it will be built using the number of transactions. When

creating selections, ALWAYS set the required level first!

3: Criteria

This is where the selection criteria are built using the categories or rules on the right hand side; this

is examined more fully later in this section. The selection criteria can be built up using one or more

variables (of the same or different types). This area will be looked at in greater detail later.



4: Categories/Rules

The selection categories and rules are defined here, by choosing specific categories or in the case of

a numeric variable a range of values. To select a category, click on the category selection box on the

left edge of this area. This area will be looked at in greater detail later.

5: Filter and Search

When there are a lot of categories, campaign codes etc., it can be easier to type in a value and

search for the information rather than doing it by eye (scrolling up and down).

Filter – this removes all of the categories that do not match the criteria

Search – this goes to the next category that satisfies the criteria

When searching, using the enter/return key will go to the next category that

satisfies the search criteria.

The criteria can be filtered or searched in a number of ways using the

values shown to the left.

Filter Description Contains F Search Description Contains F

With the search option, pressing the Enter key will take the user to Female.

6: Inclusion Tools

For selector variables only one of the tools is active, i.e. include/exclude.

The second tool is mainly used for Array/Multiple Response variable as it allows the logic to be

changed from OR to AND. It is not possible, in selector variable terms, to be both Female and

Unknown, whereas it is possible to be both a single gift and regular giver. This option allows the user

to select single giver AND regular giver or single giver OR regular giver. This will be discussed more

when Multiple Response variables are examined.



7: Main Tool Bar

A number of useful tools and options can be accessed from the Main Tool Bar; several of these

options are the same across other objects and dialog boxes. For example, the Microsoft Office tools

can be seen on Cubes, Trees etc.

Undo/Redo

This allows the user to undo a change made to the selection criteria. For example if a variable is

mistakenly deleted it can be restored using these buttons.

Save

It is possible to save any of the FastStats objects and dialog boxes by clicking the save icon. This can

be carried out, often more efficiently, by left- or right-dragging the dialog box into the file area.

Add Notes

It is possible to annotate the selection (or other dialog box/object) by typing information into here. If

information has been added to the Notes, the colour of the icon

will change to yellow.

This information is also shown on the Cover sheet.

Collapse/Expand

To make the selection easier to understand, the criteria can be expanded or collapsed to make the

section easier to understand.

Expanded Collapsed

Undo/Redo

Save

Add Notes

Collapse/Expand

Selection Criteria

Settings and

Options

Show Counts from individual

tables/ variables

Transfer to

Microsoft Office



Settings and Options

A number of options can be changed here and

some will be examined when the option is

discussed (e.g. Waterfall counts).

Show Counts

Counts can be shown for each

Variable/Category in either

compound or discrete mode as

selected under options.

Discrete: here the number

in each variable/category is

shown. For example, there

are 124k older people and

85k females.

Compound: here the

numbers are shown in

hierarchical order. For

example there are 124k

older people, but only 45k

older females.

Transfer to Microsoft Office

Selections, cubes etc. can be transferred directly to Microsoft office products. The options available

depend on the type of object being used.



8: Run

This button runs the selection or other FastStats object:

A green button shows that something has potentially changed since last run.

If the button is blue then no changes have been made since the selection or object has been

run.

9: Results

When the selection is run, the number of people or gift transactions is shown.

Person Level Gift Level

Building Selections It is possible to build up a selection by adding all of the variables individually and selecting the

categories. A better way of building selections tends to be based around building blocks.

Rather than creating a selection combining both of these is one go, it can be useful to build each

separately and test each of the blocks as this makes checking a lot easier. The two can be added

together by dragging and dropping the Male selection onto the Female one. Mouse over the

selection icon for the Males until the red square can be seen and then drop it onto the Female

selection.



Creating a Selection: Selector Variables This type of variable is the simplest to use as a person or gift can only be in one category (a person

cannot be aged 24 and 56 at the same time).

In this example the variable Gender will be used for selection purposes.

Drag and drop the variable Gender onto the workspace (note the top left hand corner of the

selection dialog box appears where the variable is dropped).

We are going to select Females

and so check the include box

next to the F (Female) category.

We will also give the dialog box a

more sensible name. The

selection query can then be run

by clicking the green run button.

It should be noted that the level

will be set as Person. Should a

variable in the Gift table be

dropped on the workspace (not

another selection dialog box) the

level would be set as Gift.

The selection criterion has now

been changed to Gender of Female

and when run, the number of

females is shown in the bottom

right hand corner.

If Males are added and the query

re-run the selection criteria would

be changed to:

Gender of Female or Male

The blue run button would change

colour to green to indicate that the

selection query needs to be re-run.

Adding Another Variable

A second (or subsequent) variable can be added by dragging and dropping it onto the selection

criteria area. Here older people are being used to give a full selection of Older Females.

The look and feel of the query can be changed by some of the options e.g. displaying all categories,

adding brackets etc. It should be noted that, by default, only a few categories are shown for

variables with a large number of selected categories.



Selector Commands (AND/OR)

In the current selection older females are being selected. The user can change the AND command to

an OR command by right clicking on the orange AND icon.

A new menu will now be displayed. Click the Change Logic to OR and

the selection criteria will change:

Note that the orange AND has changed to a green OR. To change it

back to AND, right click and select the Change Logic to AND option.

It should be noted that all variables in the same level are changed at

the same time and cannot be changed independently. We will look at

the way to change parts of the selection to AND/OR later in the

document.

Selector Commands (NOT/Exclude)

The Exclude option was mentioned earlier: this allows a group to be excluded from selection.

Create a new selection for Females

and change the inclusion criteria to

Exclude.

The selection criteria changes to:

Exclude Gender of Female

In addition to this the Female

category on the right side of the

dialog box is highlighted in brown.

The selection will now select all

people except for females.

A similar result can be obtained by using the selector command menu

(as above) and selecting the NOT option; note that this is a toggle

on/off for NOT. Right click on the small box next to the selection

criteria: Gender of Female and select NOT.

It should be noted that NOT should be used with care as will be seen

later in this document when looking at advanced selections.



Using a Grouped Level Variable

Some variables are created from others by grouping categories. One such variable is found in the IFL

dataset: Recruitment Type -> Recruitment Type (Group).

With this type of variable,

categories are grouped into

containers of similar types. The two

single gift (emergency and non-

emergency) categories in

Recruitment type have been

grouped up into a single category –

Single Giver.

Grouped Level variable are easy to

spot as they have a + on the left

hand side of the categories. This

can be used to show/hide the

original data.

Categories can be selected (included/excluded) from both the original and grouped data.

Another way to spot a grouped variable is that it is always

connected with the original but indented slightly.

Saving the Selection

The easiest way of saving the selection is to drag and drop it in to the file area (the Save icon can also

be used but dragging and dropping tends to be easier).

Move your mouse over the selector icon and a

red square will appear. Drag this and drop it into

the required folder; in this example the Private

area is being used. The selection is now saved.

The saved selection can be identified by the

name and the selector icon. This is another

good reason for using sensible names for

objects created in FastStats.

The selection could have been right-

dragged and dropped and additional

options presented (e.g. ‘save as a reference

file’), but this functionality is not being

utilised in this dataset as all data is

anonymous.



Creating Branching Selections

So far all of the selections have been simple. One of the selections used was older females (55+

Female). Consider the selection Older (55+) Females and Young (under 35) Males,

If a simple view is created of Older Females and

Males, this returns a count of zero as a person

cannot be both Male & Female.

If the logic is changed to OR, this gives a count

of 180k people, but also includes older people

not classified as Male or Female.

To Create the required logic, the Males and

Females need to be separated into different

groups.

First create the selection Older (55+) Females.

Next drag the Gender variable onto the selection,

but note the thick black line with the arrow on

each end. When this appears, drop Gender onto

the selection criteria.

Gender will now appear below Females as shown.

The Male category can now be selected and the

age variable added by dragging and dropping it

onto Gender.Male.

The selection is almost complete. Change the logic

of Gender of Male and Age (band) to And, and the

logic of the two groups to OR as shown below.

The selection criteria are now Young (under 35)

Males and Older (55+) Females as was required.



Selecting Array/Multiple Response Variables

This type of data is similar to a standard selector variable. The main difference is that a person can

exist in more than one category. In the example Contactables, a person can be contactable by none,

one or more types.

The main difference with the dialog box is the addition to the second inclusion

/exclusion tool.

If OR is used then the selection is

true if one of the criteria is true

If AND is used, then both have to be true.

In the AND version there are 128k people and in the OR version there are 215k people as the second

is a much looser set of criteria.

Multiple sets can be used and so in this example

people with Telephone and one other type of

contact are being selected.

Numeric Variables Numeric variables are selected in a slightly different way to both selector and array type variables.

This is because there tends to be a potentially large number of values or categories. For this reason it

is not possible to have a table of values shown as seen with selector variables.

In this selection we are going to

look at people whose first gift

was a Single Gift and then look

at the value.

There are three main ways to create Numeric Selections and

these are selected from the tool bar at the bottom of the dialog

box. The three types are summarised below. To select a

particular type, click on the required icon.

Icon Description

Free Form: this is the default option and allows the user to enter the conditions into a note

pad type interface to define the selection criteria.

A selector type or Grid Interface where the conditions can be built up using a more visual

interface.

A visual interface, Banding Generator, where the data is analysed and broken into groups and

ranges.



Each of these types will be examined separately.

Free Form

In the same way that the selector type variable selection built the condition on the left side and the

actual values on the right side, the same can be seen for Numeric variables.

The selection logic use standard logic constructs:

= Equal To

> Greater Than

< Less Than

>= Greater or Equal To

<= Less or Equal To

>< Not Equal To

The above selects Single Gifts of more than €100.

AND/OR

It is possible to add more than one value to the condition by using the minus (-) symbol to indicate

TO. Any values on the same line are classified as an AND condition.

In this selection we are looking at people with a First Single Gift value over €100 AND under €500.

An OR condition can be created by starting a new line.

In this example, the selection is: First Single Gift value over €100 AND under €500 OR €1000 plus.



Grid Interface

In addition to writing the conditions, the user can build them up using a selector type variable

interface. The first thing to do is to make sure that the Free Form notepad is clear or these

conditions will automatically appear in the Grid interface.

Click the include option and the

range options will be activated.

You will note that

there are two sets of

conditions activated,

one From and one To.

Click on the From condition and select the required condition. The default is greater or

equal to.

Next add in a value for

the From condition.

And then select the To

condition. There are

only three, including

do nothing else (blank).

As soon as there is a From condition selected, another line is added for any potential OR criteria.

Finally add a value for To:

The condition is now complete and can

be added to as required. In this

selection Payment Amounts between

€200 and €500 are being selected.

If the user switches back to the Free

Form input, the selection condition will

be seen there.



Banding Generator Rather than setting individual criteria the user can create bands with the data using a number of

different scenarios. In most cases the ways of selecting numeric data (Free Form and Grid) are more

efficient than the Banding Generator. First make sure that the Free Form notepad is clear (unless

you want to restrict the data being banded). If the condition >1000 is in the Free Form notepad, the

banding will only be created based on the range over 1000.

Chart Tab

The chart gives a visual

representation of the

current distribution. Using

the type of banding shown

on the left.

TableTab

The table shows the

bandings used (here 50)

and the number of

people in each band.

By default 10 bands are

created and this can be

modified by the user, as

can the size of the bands.



Summary Tab

The Summary tab gives

information about the

distribution of the data

and can be useful when

deciding the number of

the bands etc.

Equal Ranges This type bands the data based on internal distribution of the data, trying to break up the data into

both a sensible size/number of bands so that usable ranges will be created. By default, 10 bands will

be created and the size of these will depend on the range of the data.

The number or sizes of the bands can be altered by

the user by entering the required statistics into the

Bands Specified by area. Only one of these options

can be modified and the other will be automatically

updated.

To calculate the new bands, click

Here a Size of Bands of 100 has been selected and the ranges updated. It should be noted that the

Number of Bands has changed to 5. It can be seen that the populations of each group are quite

varied. There are over 50% of the data in the first group and less than 1% in the last one.

It should be noted that a selection has not been created, only potential ranges. Click



The selection criteria will be set, it should be noted that the whole range of data is included and it is

up to the user to include or exclude any particular ranges.

Geometric Ranges This type of banding is not used very often in the charity arena. The working is similar to the Equal

Ranges in usage. Unlike the Equal Ranges having the same size for each band, the Geometric doubles

in terms of width, for each successive band.

To apply this type of range, click Update and then Finish.

Quantile Ranges Quantile break the data up into similar population groups; for example, if there are 10 quantiles

(deciles) there will be 10% of the data in each band. This means that the band ranges tend not to be

even.

The data values may mean that an equal proportion may not appear in each band as all values of the

same magnitude have to be in the same band.




User Defined Ranges The user is able to define ranges in the same way as using the Free Form notebook.


Adding a Selection It is should be noted that the ranges will be based on the numeric variable in a univariate way. That

means that they will not be affected by any other variables in the selection. For example, if Gender

Male and Gift Payment Amount are in the selection, the ranges will look at ALL Gift Payment

Amounts and not just those for Males. To create a ranges based on Males, an additional selection

will be need to be added to the dialog box.

The ranges created are generally based on the level

of the selection. It is possible to add a separate

selection to the ranges.

Here a selection of Recruitment Type of Single Gift Non-Emergency has been applied the values.

It should be noted that this selection does not affect the actual selection; it is only used to help

define the ranges.



Date Variables The final type of variable that we are going to look at is dates. People and gifts can be selected by a

range or specified dates and added to a selection.

The base selection that we are going to look at is Gift Payment Date at a Gift level and we will use

this to make a number of selections. To choose the type of selection, select the Type menu.

Select the type of date range. For this system, the normal type of selection

is a Date Range. Select this and a new dialog box will appear.

This dialog box allows the user to define the

date ranges.

A Date Range

To select gifts in 2016 change the Date values

by typing them into the date box or select

them using the calendar option.

From: 01/01/2016

To: 31/12/2016



Alternatively, select the calendar option and shuffle

to get to the required date.

To do this, click the down arrow at the end of the

date box (highlighted in red) and then shuffle left and

right using the arrows (highlighted in green) in the

calendar.

Unfortunately when the selection criteria are created it is not possible to see what the range is,

without clicking edit.

Relative Dates

In the previous example a set of specific dates were defined to set the range. If the current year is

2017 then the date range 01/01/2016 to 31/12/2016 is last year; move forward a year and the range

no longer refers to last year and so would need to be updated manually,

It is possible to set up a relative date range so that it always refers to last year.

First select the Date Type of “A Date Range”.

Next we will set the start of the range and so we select This

Year Start of.

This would set the start

of this year, but we

need to start at the

beginning of last year

and so we move the

Start of Year

back by 1 year.



Next, we do the same for our

end point.

Now, the selection will always

refer to last year no matter

when the selection is run.

Advanced Selections

Not Using the NOT option can actually be quite complex. In its simplest form it means exclude a category

or set of categories, especially if the selection is at the same level as the variable.

For example:

Here, females will be excluded from the selection in the same way as if the Exclude option was used.

Both of these selections return the same number of people.



Levels

The issues arise when the selection is at a different level to the selection; for example the selection

is at a Person level and the Variable (Gift Type) is at a Gift level.

In this example, there are two variables in the selection at Person level:

Types of Giving (Person Table) of Single or Recurring Gift

Gift Type (Gift Table) of Single Gift.

The fact that the Gift Type is a

different level is indicated by the ANY

icon next to the variable.

We can now apply a NOT Gift Type of Single in the selection, this has the different forms:

NOT ANY

ANY NOT

NOT ANY NOT

We will look at each of these separately

NOT ANY This logic will exclude

all Single gifts from

the selection.

This can be seen in a Cube of Gift Type in that only

people with Recurring Gifts (and no Single Gifts)

are shown.



ANY NOT This type is more

complex: using ANY

NOT is different from

the above as it does

not necessarily

exclude all Single Gifts.

This can be seen by looking at the results in the cube.

Here both Recurring and Single gifts can be seen and

so ANY NOT is not excluding all Single Gifts.

What ANY NOT is doing is to exclude people with Single Gifts UNLESS they have some other form of

Giving.

NOT ANY NOT This is the final form

NOT ANY NOT. This

actually works as a

double negative and

actually means

include!

The result is that only people who give Single Gifts and

nothing else have been included.

In the examples Gift Type only has two categories and so the additional complexity of using the

above conjunctions is not really warranted. This type of logic comes into its own when there are

multiple categories to select from

In this selection we

are selecting Active

Single Givers who

have only donated by

SMS.

There are actually over 10 categories of Payment

Method. Here we can see that only SMS payments are

being returned.



NOT Summary To summarise:

Condition Effect NOT Exclude NOT ANY Exclude ANY NOT Include only if belong to another category NOT ANY NOT Include if this is the only category

Tight and Loose The tightness or looseness of a selection can alter the number and types of people selected. In both

of these examples, people who have made Single Gifts and have Payment Method of Credit Card are

being selected.

Here we have a selection of Gift

Type Single and Payment

Method Credit Card. It can be

seen that there are fewer than

9000 people selected.

Here we have a selection of Gift

Type Single and Payment

Method Credit Card. It can be

seen that there are over 9000

people selected.

The difference between the two selections is the tightness of the relationship. In the first selection

we are selecting people who have made Single Gift donations by Credit Card.

In the second example, there are people who have made Single Gifts and people who have donated

by Credit Card. This is a much looser set of logic as it is possible that people have made a Single Gift

by some other Payment Method or a Regular Gift by Credit Card.



RFV Selections In addition to selecting people by a set of true and false statement, selections can be made using a

combination of values using RFV functionality.

The selection that we are going to use as a base is People who have given a single gift, as shown

below:

To use a RFV selection, the

variable must be at a Gift level

and the selection at a Person

level.

Right click the ANY icon and the selection menu will appear.

Select the Apply RFV to Person option and a new dialog box

will be shown.

The RFV selection allows people to be

selected by up to three factors:

Recency

Frequency

Value

It should be noted that when RFV is being

used, the actual criteria does not appear in

the selection and the analyst will need to go

back into the RFV functionality using the

Modify RFV command.

Modifying the RFV

To change the factors in an RFV, right click the RFV and select

Modify RFV.



Frequency The RFV calculation looks at the number of transactions and so can give the number of occurrences

or the order that they came. Open the RFV dialog box and then check the Frequency Option. Then

add the required conditions in the same way as selecting numeric variables.

For example, using the

base selection, we

could select all people

where they had given

more than 2 single gift

donations:

Without this functionality a new virtual variable or expression would be needed to be created to

select people more than 2 single gifts.

The appearance of the selection

has now changed and a new icon

has appeared and has replaced the

ANY icon.

As mentioned earlier, it should be

noted that the actual selection is

not shown – just the RFV icon.

Value In addition to putting parameters around frequency, a set of value criteria can be set up. To activate

this function, click the Value check box and then select the required function using the drop down

menu.

Finally, drag and drop the variable from the gift table onto the dialog box where it says, “Drop your

value variable here”. Here we are using Gift Payment Amount.

It should be noted that it is not possible to drag a numeric variable onto

here that is held at the Person level.

For example, if an average value of greater than 200 is selected, all people who have and average

value over €200 will included.

Combine this with the Frequency criterion above and all people who have given 3 plus single gifts

with an average of over €200.



Recency This is more complex than the previous two types of RFV items, Frequency and Value, and is usually

used in conjunction with the Value criteria.

To use the Recency criterion, make sure that the Recency Option is checked and drag and drop an

order variable onto the dialog box. It should be noted that only dates at the Gift level can be used.

In addition to being able to select an order type variable, here the Gift Payment Date, it is possible to

select the specific position in the order.

Recency Date Criteria

Here is summary some of the different Recency combinations.

First 1 – The First Transaction

First 2 – The Second Transaction

First n – The nth Transaction

Last 2 – The Last but one Transaction

Last 1 – The Latest Transaction

Not Just Dates

The Recency statistic is a slight misnomer as any order variable can be used. In the example below,

Gift Payment Amount is being used as the order variable.

Here the data is

ordered by the

payment amount and

people who have a

minimum gift value of

€200 are being

selected.

Last 1, would return

people who have a

maximum gift value of

€200.



ANY

The recency function of ANY does not use an order variabl; it takes the information from the Value

variable. In the example below the criteria ANY 3 is being used in conjunction with the Value 200.

This means that a person must have at least 3 Gift Transactions of €200.

Combining Not and RFV Consider the following selection:

Only given 3 plus single gifts with a total value of €500 plus.

If we use and RFV to try and do this:

We get this selection and looking at the

results in a cube we get:

As can be seen, some of the supporters have given Recurring Gifts as well as people who have only

given Single Gifts.

If we try and apply the NOT ANY NOT

condition to the RFV, this also affects

the RFV conditions and so we can

end up with people who have fewer

than 3 Single Gifts and are actually

only regular givers



This means using NOT with an RFV selection can make the results more difficult to understand. The

solution is to not put a NOT qualifier to RFV, but to add a new condition based on Gift Type.

Here we have the RFV selection

as before, but now using a NOT

ANY NOT condition to the Gift

Type of Single.

This means that only Single Gifts

are being selected and the

person must have 3 plus Single

Gifts with a value of €500 plus.

Looking at the cube we can see only Single Gifts:

If we look at the individual donations

using a grid (not available in this

FastStats system) we can see that they

are all Single gifts and the sum of the

value is €500 plus.



Parameterised Selections It is possible to set up selections so that they prompt the user before use: this can consist of a single

variable or multiple variables in the selection.

To set a parameter, right click the variable and select Apply

Parameters and a new dialog box will appear.

Values

The substitution can be set

using values or Variable and

Values; normally Values are

selected.

Click OK and the look of the selection will be altered. Note

there is now a question mark after the variable name.

Next go to the Cover Sheet and select the Substitutions tab.

The behaviour can be set in a number of ways. In this example, the “Always

Clear and Ask” option will be used; with this option, every time that the

selection is run the user will be asked to input the Source Channel(s) required.

Every time that the selection is run a bank selection prompt will appear.

Select the required channels

and then click OK and the

selection will run.



Values and Variables

If Values and Variables is

selected, when the

selection is run it is possible

to specify another variable

to use.

Changing the Parameters In addition to being able to change the Behaviour in the cover sheet, it

is possible to modify the parameters in the selection. Click Modify

Parameters and the parameter dialog box will be shown.

Drag and drop a new variable here and then select the categories from that variable.



Analysis

Cubes Cubes are probably one of the most used analysis tools that

FastStats uses. With a cube it is possible to create a table by

selecting row and column variables and fill the table with counts

and other summary statistics. To create a cube, click or drag and

drop the Cube tool onto the workspace.

The Anatomy of a Cube

Creating a Basic Cube To create a basic cube, drag and drop a selector type variable as a row where it says “Drop your

variable here”. The variable will create an empty cube as it will need to be refreshed before the

cells are populated.

Slider

Cube Results

Column Variables

Row

Variables

Toolbar

Level Title



Adding a Second Dimension

In the previous section we created a one dimensional cube. We can now add a second by dragging

and dropping a variable as a column; drop it where the cube says “Drop your variable here”. And

then refresh the cube. Each time a variable is added a new “Drop your variable here” area is added.

This is the new cube:

Transposing and Moving Variables

The above table has Gender as a row and Active Status as the

column. It is possible to change this around by moving Gender on

top of Active Status (or vici versa).

The new

cube

Modifying the Categories Seen In the above table there are four categories of Gender,

including Unclassified and Unknown. The analyst may

want to remove these from the cube. Click on the arrow

on the right hand side of Gender and a dialog box will

appear that allows selected categories to be hidden.

Uncheck any categories that are to be hidden.

The new cube is shown here; note

that the Total column has taken

account of the reduced columns.

Statistics such as means can cause

issues and these are discussed in the

Adding Statistics section.



Adding Additional Variables

So far a cube has been created with a single variable on each axis. Additional variables can be added

as rows and columns in the same way.

Note that there is no column Total as the categories for Gender and Types of Giving have been

hidden. To see the total, use a selection to remove the categories rather than hiding them.

Modifying variables

It is possible to modify a variable by adding a filter or removing

cells where there are too few people. Right click the variable and

a new menu will be seen.

Minimum Category Count

In the table below there are just over 5000 people with

an Unknown Gender, this is far smaller than the other

categories. We are going to use the Minimum Category

Count Editor to remove this.

Base Cube

Edited cube with

Unknown removed.



Adding a Dimension Filter

It is also possible to add a filter to Gender. Right click Gender and select Add Dimension Filter. Here

we are only going to look at a specific Charity.

This produces a new cube:

Note that there is a suffix with the filter name on the Gender

variable. This is one reason that it is a good idea to give

selections a sensible name when creating them.

Changing the Level It is possible to change the level of the cube in a similar manner as a

selection. To change the level, right click the level and select the

required one.

It should be seen that when changed to a Gift level a new option is

unveiled, making It is possible to add a selection at Gift level here.



This selection is now going to be used to filter the

cube.

Now the cube is showing the

number of Single Gifts for each of

the Gender categories.

It is possible to apply a parameter

to this selection so that the user is

prompted for a Gift Type each time

the cube is run.

Adding Numeric Variables and Dates as Categories To add these types of variable to a cube, right-drag and drop the variable onto the cube in the same

way as for the Selector type variables. It should be noted if they are dragged and dropped onto the

cube itself they will be added as an additional statistic rather than a row or column variable.

Date Options

Numeric Variable Options

The numeric ranges are defined in a similar way as for selecting numeric

variables.

A Cube with the Year of Gift Payment Date as a column.



Making Selections from the Cube If a cell is clicked or a set of cells clicked, a continuous group or a set of separate cells by clicking

each cell whilst holding the CTRL key. The cells change colour and can then be dragged off the cube,

onto the workspace, to create a selection.

This code shows the dragged

off selection for the first

example.

Thematic Shading In the previous cube, it can be seen that the cells containing the most people have the strongest

shading and those with the fewest have the lightest shading. The shading is based on a quantile

(decile) break down of the data, which is 10% of the data in each decile.

It is possible to change the

colours used as well as the

type of range and the

number of bands used. Click

the Thematic icon in the

toolbar and a new dialog

box will be shown.

It is also possible to change the colour of the shading, but this can also

be filed under the title – “Just because you can doesn’t mean that you

should”. To change the colour click on the menu and scroll through the

many and varied colours that can be selected. In this example, the

colour goes from Lime Green to Fuchsia.

The colours can also be changed by clicking on the coloured squares on either side of the slider at

the bottom of the cube. It should be noted that this change in colour does not necessarily persist

and any new cubes will show the default colours.



Selecting People Using Ranges

It is possible to select cells within a cube using the slider at the bottom. Click on the diamond shape

and the slide can be used.

The slider is actually made up of two sections; the right section sets the upper limit and the left

section the lower limit.

Here the top two deciles are being selected (cells shown in green).

These cells can then be dragged and dropped onto the workspace to create a selection.



Adding Statistics It is possible to add additional statistics to cubes, trees and Venn diagrams, other than the counts

based on the resolve level of the analysis. The process is similar for cubes, trees and Venns and we

will concentrate on cubes for example purposes.

To add additional statistics, select the statistics tool on the tool bar as shown below.

Depending on the screen resolution, it is possible that the word statistics will be hidden and only the

sigma (Σ) will be seen.

The Statistics Menu Click the Statistics (Σ) icon and a new dialog box will be shown.

Any statistics created will be shown here,

they can be displayed or hidden, edited or

deleted.

It is also possible to alter which variable is

used for creating the thematic shading in

the cubes and trees. The Primary check

box controls this option.

To add a new statistic, click the Add

Statistic button at the bottom of the

dialog box.

In this example, the default resolve level statistic and another are being shown.

The percentage value is being used as the primary statistic and will control the thematic shading and

which cells will be selected when using the thematic slider.

Cube

Tree

Venn



Statistics Options There are three different types of statistics that can be added to the analysis: these are shown in the

diagram below.

Resolve Table

The resolve table is the level that the cube/tree is being created at. In this system there are two

possible resolve levels:

Person

Gift

It should be noted that the resolve level is controlled by the cube/tree and not the level of the

selection. The selection could be at a Gift level and the cube/tree at Person level; the resolve level in

this case would be Person.

This type of statistic uses information currently held in the cube and will be added automatically and

the cube/tree does not need to be refreshed to update it.

Other Variables etc.

Information held in other tables, variables, selections and expressions can be added to the output.

We will look at expressions later in this document and concentrate on the other types of input. We

will look in detail at adding another variable and each of the results for each of the other types

seperately.

It should be noted that the cube/tree will need to be refreshed before the results will be added.

Calculated Measure

In a similar fashion as the Resolve statistic, calculated measure uses information currently held in the

cube/tree and so is updated automatically. This type of statistic manipulates one or two variables

that are present in the table and so can create values such as cumulative totals.

Base Selection and Table As an example for adding statistics, we will have a look at the number of people and value of gifts

given by year. To do this we will create the following base selection:

Note that this is at a Person level.



We will also create a basic cube using Gift Payment Date from the Gift Table. Drag and drop a cube

onto the above selection and then right drag and drop the Gift Payment Date onto the cube and

select Years as the banding.

Adding a Resolve Statistic

Select the Statistics tool and click the Add Statistics button.

Make sure that the Use Resolve Table option is selected

Decide on the type of Statistic to use:

We are going to use a column percentage to add to the number

of people who gave each year.

And then Click OK.

The column percentage values

will now be added to the cube.

In this example 43.5% of people

gave in 2012.



Other Variable As mentioned, it is possible to add information from another variable to the output: we will look this

in detail and then give some examples of the other types later in this document.

These are the steps to use this functionality:

1. Use the second option; specify Other Variable. It should be noted if this is not selected it will

not be possible to drag and drop the variable into the dialog box.

2. In this example we are going to use Gift Payment Amount (From the Gift Table); drag and

drop this on to the dialog box as shown below.

Next select the type of statistic that is going to be used. Here we are going to select Sum.

We could also modify the statistic in the same manner as seen for the Resolve level by selecting the

Value option and selection from a separate menu.



Finally, Click the OK button and an

empty column will be created.

To populate this, refresh the cube.

Adding a Filter At present the total income value is being used; if the value of Regular gifts were required instead,

this could be added by applying a selection or filter to the statistics.

Create the statistic as before:

Drag and drop the selection

onto the dialog box as shown

and then click OK.

The new variable, Total Value of

Regular Gifts, will be added.



Refresh the cube and the information will be updated.

Adding Cosmetic Labels`

In the table above it is difficult to distinguish easily between the total value and the total value of

regular gifts, even stretching out the columns does not make it easy to read.

For this reason it

is possible to

change the

column headers

so that they

make more sense

to the user.

Go to the

Statistics menu

and click the Edit button for the statistic that you want to re-label.

Select the use Custom Statistics Name and then add a sensible label.

Finally click OK

and the cube will

be updated;

there is no need

for a refresh.

In this example, both of the value columns have been given custom labels.



Selections

A selection returns a true or false (1/0) result and so if a selection is used it will give a frequency

count of the value in each cell. For example, if the selection is Gender of Female, it will return the

number of females in each group or category.

To use a selection as a statistic, drag and drop the selection onto the dialog box as shown below.

Here the selection Gender of Female has been added as a

statistic.

The cube now shows the number of

females as well as the number of

people by the type of recruitment.

Table

If the resolve level is Person, it is possible to add the Gift level as a statistic by dragging the gift table

on to the dialog box.

Here the gift table has been dragged and dropped onto

the selections options.



The cube now shows the number of

gift transactions as well as the

number of people.

Calculated Measures The final type of statistic has a more complex interface as there are far more types of interactions

that can be investigated. We will look at using one variable to create our statistic and then two

different variables.

One Variable

In this example, we are going to look at manipulating a single variable to get a cumulative total

income statistic. First, select Calculated Measures.

The next step is to select the type of calculated measure; here we are

going to select Running to get a cumulative value.

This drastically changes the look of the dialog box.



If there were more than one row variable we could change the running across option, but this is not

necessary in this

case.

We are going base

the measure on the

Total RG Gift Value.

Note that the

custom labels

created earlier are

being used.

We will give the new statistic a name; if no name was specified the statistic would be given the type

name, in this case Running.

Finally we select the function to be used, in this case Sum.

Click OK and the cube will be updated.



Using Two Variables

In this example, we are going to look at the proportion of income coming from regular gifts in any

year.

First specify Calculated Measure and use the options in the diagram below.

The cube now shows the additional column with the proportion of income.



Adding a Legend When only a row variable is used the variable names appear at the top of the columns. If another

variable is used as a column variable the labels are not displayed by default. In the example below,

Gender has been added as a column and the statistic labels have now been hidden (only Male and

Female are being shown for clarity purposes).

To show the labels, click the legend tool

and they will reappear.

Grouping Statistics By default the statistics are grouped by the column variable, in the above example by Gender.

It is possible to group by the statistics themselves

by using the Sigma (Σ) tool (this is different from

the statistics tool in the toolbar).

Move this tool to the other side of Gender and the

table will be grouped by the statistics instead.



Missing Statistics? As seen earlier, it is possible to restrict the categories that are shown in the rows and columns.

If we had restricted the available

categories in the cube, this would

also affect the output.

In this case the unclassified year

group (although actually empty)

has been removed from the cube.

It can be seen that the percentage values are no longer displayed.

If there are missing statistics, the first course of action is to check the rows and columns to see if any

categories have been excluded.

It should be noted that some statistics may be

shown and other not.

If you want to exclude any categories, always

do so as part of the selection if any statistics are

not displayed.

Here Males and Females

are going to be displayed

by default and so would

have no effect on the

statistics displayed.



Changing the Primary Statistic The Primary Statistic controls which set of cells is used to shade the cube. The primary statistic is

selected in the first statistics menu.

Here the primary statistic is set using the Person values. To change the primary statistic, open the

statistics menu from the toolbar and select a new one. Here the Total Gift Value has been selected

as the primary statistic.

When changing the primary statistic it is not

necessary to rebuild the cube as this change is

applied automatically. Now if the cells are

selected and dragged onto the workspace, the

selection created will be based on that statistic.

Cycling Through Statistics When adding the statistics, we selected the specific one that we were interested in. It is

possible to change this value by cycling through the primary statistic using the toolbar.

This allows us to cycle backwards and forward through all of the available statistics.

In this example we are going to look at Total Gift Value.

As can be seen, when cycling through the statistics, not all are available or valid.

Previous Next



Cube Size It is possible that you will get a warning about the size of the cube being too big. It is possible to

increase the parameters or display a partial cube (excluding some of the data). This tends to happen

when a vast number of categories have been requested.

Partial Cube

The partial cube can be restricted based on minimum

value of the statistics (here the number of gifts –

enter a minimum group size). Or the partial cube can

be restricted by the number of records based on the

statistics in the tree

Exporting the Cube To export the cube to Excel, select the Excel tool and the type of

export required. If a Thematic cube is selected, the cube with all of

the thematic shading will be exported; otherwise just the data will

be exported.

The cube is exported and given the tab name Cube. If another cube is

exported it will also be give the name tab, but this time with a suffix

(2): each additional cube is named using this convention.

This is one of the reasons that sensible

names are given to each cubes as there is

an index created that allows the user to

jump to each cube, tree etc.

Excel with more sensible labels added. Excel with no labels added.



Trees Trees are similar to Cubes in that the number of people and gifts can be seen as grouped counts, or

additional statistics can be added. The main difference is that the Tree only allows variables to be

dropped across the top (Drop your variable here).

Adding Variables To add a variable drag and drop it on “Drop your variable here”.

Here Gift Type has been added to the Tree and the number of gifts in the last 5 years (base selection)

is shown.

Another variable is now added by right-dragging and dropping the Gift Payment Date onto the top

bar.

Select Years and the number of gifts by type and year will be displayed.



Changing the order of the variables

To exchange the order of the variables, drag the Gift Type and drop it on the other side of the Gift

Date or drop the Gift Type onto the Gift Date to transpose the two.

Sorting the Categories

To sort the categories, click the variable column.

Flattened and Collapsible Views

There are two main ways of looking at the data: these

are flattened and collapsible trees.

Collapsible Tree

A collapsible tree

groups all of the

categories

together.

These categories

can be opened up

to see lower level

values in a similar

manner as a

computer folder

structure.



Flattened Tree

A flattened tree is the default view and here all of the groups are shown in full for all levels of

the tree.

Adding Statistics

Additional statistics can be

added as shown in the

Adding Statistics section.

Here Gift Value is being

added.

It is possible to show the statistics, side by side (column view) and stacked (row view). The table

above shows the side by side view and the one below the stacked view.



These views are selected from the toolbar.

Exporting the Tree

The data in the tree can be exported to Excel in a number of formats; it

should be noted that the tree is exported as seen and so if a tree is

exported as a Thematic Tree whilst in the collapsible view only part of the

data may be exported.

Only the parts of the

tree that have been

opened up will show all of

the data. In this case it is

not possible to drill down

into 2013 or other

subsequent years by Gift

Type.

As mentioned before –

always give the output a

sensible name.

Outputting the data as a pivot table or pivot source does not create this issue.

Stacked view Omit Zero Axes

Side by Side view Include records with

no transactions



Table Size There may be a warning about the size of the table being too big. It is possible to increase the

parameters or display a partial tree (excluding some of the data). This tends to happen when a vast

number of categories have been requested.

Partial Tree

The partial tree can be restricted based on

minimum value of the statistics (here the

number of gifts – enter a minimum group

size). Or the partial tree can be restricted

by the number of records based on the

statistics in the tree



Visualisation

Venn Diagrams Venn diagrams are extremely useful as they are simple to use and very visual. Up to 5 selections (and

another underlying selection) can be used with a Venn. The Venn is built up by dragging and

dropping selections onto the Venn dialog box. In this example, we are going to use selections at the

person level built from the Gift Type in the Gift table; they look at whether a person has given a

single gift in any particular year.

They are all similar to this:

They have a Gift Type of Single and a

transaction in a particular year.

A base selection of given in the last 5

years is also been applied.

To use the Venn, drag and drop

and drop it onto the workspace.

The Basic Venn

Adding Segments/Selections Now drag and drop a

selection onto the Venn. We

are using the selection

discussed at the start of this

section (a base selection of

gift in the last 5 years has also

been applied) and then

refresh the Venn.

We are going to build the

Venn up, one selection at a

time, but it is possible to add

several selections before

refreshing the Venn .

We can see that there are 20099 people with a single gift in 2012 and 68,506 who have not.



A second selection can now be added. The two selections can now be seen and also the intersection

between them; there are 7,499 people who gave in both years.

A new selection, Single Gift in 2014 has new been added and a 3-by Venn has been created; there

are 4,272 people who have given in each of the three years.

Creating Selections from the Venn

Any of the segments can be dragged off the Venn and a selection created; to do so, click on the

segment and then drag and drop it off onto the workspace. If the segment has been correctly

selected it will look like it has been shaded, the difference is slight – but can be seen.

Unselected Selected



This is the selection created from the intersection of the three circles.

The segments can also be selected using the colour bar at the side of the Venn, but this can be

difficult is small segments are being used.

Multiple segments can be selected at the same time by clicking on a segment whilst holding the

CTRL down. These can now be dragged and dropped onto the workspace.

Using the Venn

Exporting a Venn

The Venn diagram can be exported using the copy to Word/Excel/PowerPoint tools. The Venn is

exported as an image.

Tool-Tips

If the mouse is moved across the Venn a tool-tip will

appear for each segment. It shows which group is

included and which excluded (as shown in the diagram).

Hiding and Removing Selections

There is a menu connected with each group; this is accessed by

clicking the down arrow on the right side of the label. This allows the

user to delete, hide or edit the selection or label.

If a selection is hidden it is temporarily removed from the Venn but

can be added back at any point. If removed, the selection cannot be

accessed in the future without re-applying it.



Venn with hidden selection.

To reapply the selection, click on the label.

Changing Colours

In addition to the standard colours where each segment has its own colour, the segments can be

shaded thematically (that is based on the population or value in each segment). To access the colour

panel, click the arrow at the top of the colour bar.

It is possible to change the order

of the colours and also add

thematic shading. The available

colours are shown to the right.

Any Hidden Selections

appear here.



Adding More Selections

As mentioned earlier it is possible to add more than the three selections to the Venn; sometimes this

should be covered by “Just because you can – doesn’t mean that you should!”.

4by Venn

5by Venn



One idea is to add all of the selections and the hide those that are not needed.

Here 2015 and 2016 have been hidden.

Adding Statistics

It is possible to add statistics to the Venn in a similar manner as adding statistics to a Cube or a Tree;

to add additional statistics, click the Statistics (Σ) tool on the toolbar.

Adding information from another variable, table, expression or selection is covered in more detail in

the Adding Statistics section. We will look at the additional functions that use the Resolve Table.



Resolve Table

It is possible to add

percentages to the Venn as

well as the populations.

Select the Percentage option

and the type of calculation

can be selected.

The first option creates

percentages based on the

whole population (base

selection) and included people

who are not in the Venn

segments (in this case people

who have not given a single

gift between 2012 and 2014).

The second option calculates percentage value for people in the Venn and does not include those

people who are not.

The final option allows the percentages to be calculated by comparing the segments against one of

the selections.

Here, the percentages are calculated based on the people each segment and excludes any person

outside of the segments.



Other Statistics

Another statistic is now being added, this gives the means Single Gift Value for each segment.

Here the Percentage of the Base and mean Single Gift Value statistics have been added to the Venn.

Adding a Legend

Unfortunately, it is difficult to understand what the values mean. A legend can be added to give

titles for each statistic. Click the legend tool.



Word Clouds Word clouds are used to create a graphical view of a frequency count. To use a word

cloud, drag and drop it onto the workspace. Select a variable and drag and drop it

onto the word cloud variable list.

Here Gift Source Channel is being used.

With a word cloud, the bigger the font size the greater the

frequency. Here, the same information is being displayed in a cube

and a bar chart for comparison.



Publish

Charts and Graphs The graphing and charting engine in FastStats has been much improved and gives

an alternative to exporting data to Excel and building charts there. To produce a

chart, click the Chart icon in the tool bar. In addition of opening a chart dialog box,

a new toolbar will be created.

Chart toolbar

The Anatomy of a Chart The chart dialog box or window can be broken into a number of separate areas; these are shown in

the diagram below.

When trying to understand the interface and what charts and options are offered, it is a good idea to

have a play with the toolbars and chart types.



Producing a Chart To create a chart, drag and drop a variable onto the Category/Dimension Axis. Here the variable

Charity has been dragged onto the Category Axis and a bar chart created.

Modifying the chart

Using the Chart toolbar it is possible to add

information to the chart without having to rebuild it.

By default, unclassified records are excluded from the

chart; this can be changed clicking the Omit

unclassified tool icon.

It should be noted that only one type of labels can be applied at a time.

Removing a Variable

To remove a variable, click the label and select Remove.

3 Value % Percentage



Changing the level

It is possible to display the chart at either Person or Gift level, although this

does need the chart to be rebuilt

The two charts show the Number of people and gifts by Charity.

Adding a Base Selection

To add a new selection, click the New filter button and enter the selection as usual. It should be

noted that the selection can only be created at the same level as the chart.

The Chart will now be built using the base selection.

Changing the Chart Type It is possible to change the type of the chart,

without the need to rebuild, by clicking the

respective type chart type on the Chart

Toolbar.

Here the bar chart has been converted into a pie chart.

The chart can be changed into any of the types in the

toolbar.

Person Gift



Adding Another Category To add a second or subsequent variable drag the variable onto the Category/Dimension Axis.

1st Gift Type has been added to

the chart and both variables are

shown on the same type; the

legend colour is based on the

second variable. The choice is

shown in the toolbar that is

shown when more than one

variable is being used.

Changing the Variable Order

To change the order of the

variables, just drag them

around and place them as

required.

It should be noted that the

chart does not need to be

refreshed: it is updated

automatically.



Other Types of View

When a variable with a large number of categories is added it is not possible to show all of the bars

and so the Chart tends to be created with a Paged View. The Paged, Trellis and Windowed views can

be seen on all of the chart types.

Paged View

Here, individual bar charts for each category in the second variable can be selected. There are other

ways in which to show charts with a large number of categories.

Trellis View

One of these is the Trellis View where there is a scroll bar at the bottom of the chart.

Clustered (Windowed)

Where there are a lot of categories and a clustered view is requested, a windowed view is created so

that the user can scroll through the chart using window panes.

The panes can be scrolled

left or right and even

elongated to encompass

the whole Chart.

Scroll bar



Adding Measures and Statistics So far all of the charts created have only used variables and data on the Category/Dimension Axis.

Changing the Value Shown

Click the arrow at the top of the variable name and then select change to alter the statistic being

used.

The Chart is now automatically updated to show

percentage values rather than counts.

Variables & Other Statistics

In addition to changing the type of value, it is possible to add additional statistics to the chart by

dragging and dropping a variable onto the Statistic/Measure axis. This can either replace the current

variable being used or add an additional measure.

Here a second variable has been added

and it appears on the right hand measure

access.

Having two measures being displayed at

the same time can make the chart difficult

to understand and so we will concentrate

on one.



Changing the Statistic

In the same way that the Person metric can be altered, so can the

added statistic.

Click the arrow at the top of the variable name and a number of

functions can be selected. Unlike changing the form of the value,

seen earlier, the chart will need to be rebuilt when a new statistic is

used.

Chart Storyboard

Whenever a chart is created a copy is retained in the chart storyboard area on the

right hand side of the dialog box. Mousing over any of these charts will give a

preview of the chat and if the chart is clicked it will replace the current one. The

charts can be dragged and dropped from here onto the main Storyboard.

In this way a series of charts can be shown built and then shown in succession to

build up a story using the charts.

Saving and Exporting the Chart The chart can be saved as a whole to disk by selecting the Save tool in the toolbar. Alternatively the

chart can be exported to Microsoft Office or in an image format by selecting the Export option from

the toolbar.

The type of format, the positioning of

the legend and the size of the export

can all be selected here.



These are the options for exporting the chart.

Finally, click the Export button.

Templates & Objects As mentioned earlier, it is possible to save any of the objects created in FastStats. There are two

main ways of doing this. The first is to drag and drop to file (or click Save on the object toolbar). The

second is to save the object as a template.

A basic cube is created to produce a frequency count of supporters who are contactable by email.

The cube and selection.

This can be saved to disk or dragged and dropped onto the Template ribbon.

The objects saved as

templates are grouped by

type. It should be noted

that only the user that

created the template can

access it, unlike saving it to

a public folder.



Comparing Templates and Objects

If the Template is retrieved and then re-run the following will be seen:

If the same cube is loaded from disk and re-run then the following is seen:

As can be seen they both return a different number of people.

This is because when an object is saved as a Template it tends to lose any base selection; the idea is

that a report or view is being created that will have different selections applied to it.

Retaining the Selection in a Template

To include the selection in a template, drag and drop the

cube (or other object) as a workbook rather than the cube

itself. This is done from the Cover Sheet.

This will be displayed slightly differently using a different icon.

Workbook Cube



The Storyboard The Storyboard option allows the user to create a sequence of objects (Cubes, Venns etc.) such that

they can be shown in a particular order. The objects are dropped onto the Storyboard toolbar in the

required sequence. Any items can be removed by right clicking and selecting Delete. If necessary the

objects can be rebuilt all together or individually (right click and select Rebuild).

Adding Items Here a Venn has been created and all the multiple response segments have been dragged off to for a

selection. A cube has been added to the selection to see how many people in each charity have been

selected and then a percentage value added. Finally, a bar chart has been added which looks at the

distribution by charity (this was dragged and dropped from the Chart Storyboard section). All of

these have been dragged and dropped onto the storyboard ribbon, as shown below.

This can now be saved, viewed or exported.

Annotating the Story Click preview and the user can access all of the objects in the ribbon.

Here each of the objects can be examined in turn and notes added to each

page.

This can then be sent to a Word or PDF document.



Expressions One very powerful aspect of FastStats is the expression engine. This allows the analyst to

create user-defined expressions or calculations. Drag and drop the Expression tool onto

the workspace and the Expression dialog box will appear.

The Expression syntax is very similar to that of Excel and anyone who has use Excel formulae should

not have great difficulty using the Expression engine.

Logical Example We are going to build a basic expression using IF. First select Logical Functions and then IF.

The description area now shows what is required for the equation. Click Insert and the equation will

be pasted to the build area.

The syntax checker now says that a logical expression is needed.

Expression Build Area

Expression

Description Area

Tool Bar

Group Sub Group

Syntax Checker



Drag and drop Maximum value of Single Gifts into the build area and the syntax checker now states

that a comma (,) is required.

Complete the logical construct and

then add a comma.

Now continue to build the expression.

The syntax checker says that the

expression is valid.

If a person has made a single gift donation of over 1000 than they are being classified as high value

and given a value and otherwise zero.

Expression Toolbar

We can let FastStats decide on the type of variable being created (auto) or it can be selected by the

analyst.

The types of variable available are shown in the drop down

menu if Auto is unchecked. In this case, the Auto type is fine

and will be used.

Next refresh the equation and a preview of

the results will be shown. It can be seen

that if there is no Single Gift Value the

Expression returns 0; the same happens if

the Single Gift Value is less than 1000. If the

Single Gift Value is greater than 1000 then

the expression returns a 1.

Using the Expression

The expression can now be added to a Cube, Tree or Venn and used to calculate a statistic.

Here the sum has been

used and then a “Between

cell calculation” to get a

proportion as a Calculated

Measure.



Equation Using Selections When looking at the Venn we used 5 selections that described Single Givers in any particular year.

We could use these selections to create an expression to calculate the number of years that a person

has given a single gift.

Any selection has two possible outcomes True (1) or False (0), we can use this fact to create a sum of

the selections by simply adding up the values.

Drag each of the selections on in turn and add them together.

It can be seen that the first person did not give a single gift in any of the years, the second person

gave in 4 of the years and the fourth only gave in two of the years.

Right drag and drop the equation as a variable onto a

cube and select Simple Banding and then define the

banding from 0 to 5.



The cube now shows the number of years in

which a person has given a single gift (the base

selection was that they must have given at

least one single gift).

A percentage Statistic has also been added.

If the top two cells are dragged off, the

following selection will be created. This refers

to the equation built earlier and remains valid even when the expression is closed.

Date Example It is possible to use date arithmetic within the equations to look at specific ranges. For this example

we are going to produce the supporter lifetime by calculating the time between the first donation

and the last donation.

Select a Date Function Group and the Datediff Sub Group.

The equation requires two dates and a set of units, in this case months is being selected. It should be

noted that Year 0 can mean that the first and last dates are in the same Year.

We are going to use two functions here, one to find the time between two dates and the other to

create a reference date.



This gives the Equation:

If this is added to a cube the distribution can be seen.

This means that 633 supporters gave their first gift

(of the 5 years used) in 2016 and 38,571 in 2012.



Appendix 1: Other Training Materials

Training Videos In addition to this manual, Adroit have created of set of videos to use in conjunction with the

material found here; they can also be seen as a way for a user to get into the FastStats system

quickly.

There are two main types of video, these are:

How to videos

Informational Videos

How to Videos

These training videos use FastStats being used to complete a function using in app recording and

voice overs. These are easy to follow guides to show a user how to get into the FastStats system and

quickly get up to speed and use key functions.

These include:

Creating Selections

Creating Basic Cubes, Trees and Venns

Informational Videos

These are more detailed than the How to Videos and are used to highlight important parts of the

FastStats system. These use PowerPoint to show information with a voice over to amplify the

information.

These Include:

The FastStats User Interface

FastStats Variables

Adding Statistics to Cubes, Trees and Venns

The IFL FastStats Training System This is a virtual mirror of the main FastStats system that has been statistically modelled to keep the

underlying relationships valid, but making it difficult to identify the actual information used.

The system is based on three hypothetical Charities in two countries:

Charity Country Children Without Families Germany People in Need France Save the World

This system has been used to create this manual and all of the training videos. It may also be used as

a test bed to examine changes to the main IFL FastStats system.

Other Sources of Information Apteco, who wrote the FastStats software, have a library of training materials and manuals; these

also cover functions in FastStats that have not been enabled in the IFL FastStats system.



Notes:

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