Smarter Fundraising at Scale: Inside Taylor University’s Capital Campaign Strategy with DonorSearch AI

Client: Taylor University
Sector: Higher Education

“We’re in the largest capital campaign of any institution our size, and DonorSearch AI is helping us prioritize who to call and make the most of our limited resources.” – Noah Huseman, Annual Giving, Taylor University

Client Overview

Taylor University is a nationally ranked Christian liberal arts university in Indiana. Its mission is to develop servant leaders marked with a passion to minister Christ’s redemptive love, grace, and truth to a world in need.

The advancement team supports this mission by raising funds for the Taylor Fund and other philanthropic priorities that empower students to impact their communities locally and globally.

The Challenge

As Taylor University embarked on the largest capital campaign of any institution its size, the development team needed to identify and engage the right donors more effectively—without increasing staff or hours.

With limited resources and thousands of alumni, parents, and friends in their database, the team needed a more precise way to prioritize outreach, especially for time-sensitive efforts like their Phoneathon.

The Results

• Improved Pledge Rates: DonorSearch AI helped Taylor identify the constituents most likely to make a gift by phone, which improved pledge performance and saved time.
• Efficient Outreach: AI scoring allowed the team to better allocate student caller hours to the highest-potential prospects.
• Data-Driven Strategy: The team began pairing DonorSearch AI scores with internal data to refine segmentation and inform future outreach.

The Solution

DonorSearch AI helped Taylor University move from traditional segmentation (based on 3–4 metrics) to AI-powered scoring built from dozens or hundreds of data points.

Using these engagement scores, the team prioritized call lists, targeting those with the highest likelihood to give. This not only streamlined Phoneathon operations but also opened new strategic possibilities—such as building predictive tools for donor journey mapping and developing donor personas for longer-term engagement.

The Benefits

• Targeted Calling: With limited student callers and calling hours, DSAI helped the team focus efforts where they would have the most impact.
• Granular Insights: According to Huseman, DonorSearch AI’s scoring system is a “more refined version” of what teams are already doing—only vastly more accurate and continuously improving.
• Innovation Catalyst: DonorSearch AI encouraged Taylor’s team to think outside the box and begin building new analytical frameworks to track donor engagement over time.
• Responsive Support: Noah highlighted the Client Success Team as being valuable in offering reporting, strategic advice, and peer connections to help shape Taylor University’s fundraising programs.

Conclusion

DonorSearch AI is helping Taylor University do more with less—amplifying the work of a small annual giving team during a major campaign. From better Phoneathon results to long-term strategy development, AI-powered prospecting is proving to be a valuable investment—helping the university focus on relationships, not just responses.