Applying data analytics into charity operations
13 October 2025
A pioneering Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between Cardiff University and Cerebra is reshaping how the Carmarthen-based charity operates, using advanced data analytics to boost donor engagement, streamline operations, and build long-term sustainability.
The KTP scheme helps UK organisations innovate and grow by linking them with academic institutions and skilled graduates. The academic partner recruits a graduate, known as a KTP Associate, who works within the organisation to deliver a strategic innovation project.
In this collaboration, Dr Simon Jang, Reader in Marketing Analytics at Cardiff Business School, provided academic expertise, while Tengxiang Su, a PhD candidate from Cardiff School of Engineering, led the transformation at Cerebra.
Cerebra support children aged 0–16 in the UK with brain conditions such as autism, ADHD, Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and developmental delay. These conditions often lead to complex medical, educational, and social needs. Cerebra funds research and works with universities and families to provide evidence-based information and practical support.
Key services include:
- Cerebra Innovation Centre (CIC): Designs bespoke products to help disabled children engage with the world
- Sleep Advice Service: Offers guides, tips, workshops, and one-to-one support for families facing sleep challenges
- Postal Library: Lends books and toys tailored to children with special needs
- Guides and Factsheets: Provide expert advice on health, education, legal rights, and social care
- Legal Rights Service & LEaP Project: Help families access the support and services they’re entitled to
Cerebra were suffering from declining donor numbers, fragmented data systems, and a lack of digital infrastructure when they were first partnered with Cardiff University. The charity was facing a financial sustainability crisis, and the KTP project aimed to shift operations from trial-and-error approaches to analytics-driven campaigns focused on donor acquisition, retention, and resource optimisation.
Running from August 2023 to August 2025, the two-year project has delivered measurable results through a strategic shift to data-informed decision-making.
Key focus areas
- Donor Acquisition: Face-to-face campaigns, Facebook ad testing, and national donor surveys
- Donor Retention: Customer lifetime value modelling and supporter segmentation
- Resource Allocation: Optimising call centre operations using sentiment analysis and agent performance data
- Digital Transformation: Integration of 10 databases, workflow automation, and robust data pipeline development
Impact highlights
- New Donors: Contributed towards strategic decision to invest in face-to-face campaign to acquire 1,600 new supporters and 68 through online raffles (85% increase in raffle conversion rate)
- Revenue Growth: Contributed towards projected increase from £53K in 2025 to £248K by 2028, with £122K in profit
- Cost Reduction: 46% decrease in cost-per-acquisition their raffle advertising campaign
- Operational Resilience: Cerebra become better able to benefit from AI/machine learning models, Python-based analytics, and a data-driven culture.
This partnership hasn’t just improved operations, it’s helping to reshape how Cerebra operates. By embedding data-driven decision-making into the heart of the charity, this collaboration demonstrated how analytics can unlock growth, strengthen donor relationships, and future-proof the organisation in a competitive market. It stands as a powerful example of innovation delivering tangible outcomes.
Our KTP with Cerebra shows how Cardiff University collaborates with organisations to deliver meaningful change. By combining our expertise in marketing, data analytics, and AI, we developed strategies that strengthened Cerebra’s donor engagement and long-term sustainability. This partnership has driven both organisational growth and wider public value.
Ricky Howells, Business Partner Supervisor at Cerebra, said:
“This KTP has underpinned the necessity of applying data-driven decisions across all aspects of fundraising. As a result, we’ll be able to reach and support more families in the future—making a meaningful difference to the lives of children living with brain conditions.”
For these children and their families, everyday experiences, learning, playing, making friends, enjoying and exploring the world, can feel difficult, sometimes even impossible. But we believe there is no challenge that cannot be overcome.
At Cerebra we listen to families and learn from them; we work alongside them. We carry out research, design and innovate, create and share. From developing new equipment to producing learning resources, to finding new ways to play and support each other, everything we discover together makes life better. It opens doors to experiencing the world.
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