The VSE Data Miner service is a Web-based benchmarking and fundraising analysis tool. Subscribers gain access to 10 years of VSE survey data. Hundreds of data variables are collected from 950 higher education institutions and 250 precollege institutions. Subscribers can also view individual surveys and make reports, tables, graphs, and ranked lists using comparative data.

VSE Data Miner has ready-made peer- institution comparison groups arranged by institution control (public/private) and type (Carnegie Classifications: Doctoral, Research, Masters, Liberal Arts, Specialized, Two-year). Commonly used reference groups such as Ivy League, Historically Women's and Historically Black Colleges and Universities are also included.

A report wizard helps you create your own "peer groups" - groups of institutions you use to compare your performance - by listing institutions individually or by selecting schools based on location, enrollment or by a combination of several factors. VSE Data Miner can then produce longitudinal or detailed single-year analyses of aspects of fundraising results for your comparison group. These results can be pasted into a spreadsheet for further analysis or publishing.

Some institutions use VSE Data Miner to assess their own performance over time. Is our alumni giving increasing? Do our trustees contribute as much as they did 10 years ago? When we were in a capital campaign, how did that affect the purposes to which gifts were restricted? How did it affect gifts of securities or real estate?

Subscribers can save the reports they create. Once saved, reports can be modified in any number of ways. For instance, a frequently used report can be run using last year's data, updated to reflect new survey data, or using various comparison groups.

VSE Data Miner can also adjust figures in several ways: for inflation, using the Consumer Price Index or the Higher Education Price Index; or for the number of students, or full-time equivalents (FTEs).

Click here to sign up for a free VSE Data Miner account with limited access (three data variables) to the service.