Monkeying around with numbers

Matt delves into the mysteries of data analysis in this latest instalment of our office blog relay, a whistle-stop tour of Greenpeace staff here in the UK. Click here to catch up on the other entries.

"Oi monkey!" started a recent note left on my desk. This was, I hasten to add, a reference to my job here at Greenpeace. I work as a business analyst in the supporter development department. How, you ask, does monkey relate to this? The answer is data – data monkey (or, on a good day, data wizard)!

My role is a combination of the following; business process analysis, business intelligence, fundraising supporter selections, supporter information analysis and integration and any other data related work. That's great, fascinating, you say - but what are you actually talking about?

As you can (but hopefully don't) imagine, we have a database with supporter information and my job is to provide services such as: produce list of supporters to send our magazine Connect to (for fundraisers Katie and Renuka); produce direct debit income reporting (for the fundraising director Cathy); set up a report to provide a list of supporters with non-violent direct action training (for active supporters co-ordinator Rachael); and identify which of our thousands of new Airplot signups are already Greenpeace supporters (for supporter services manager Chris).

As you can see, nothing that on its own will stop companies from slaughtering the Amazon, but rest assured that almost all communication with supporters will have involved me in some way.

But enough about my role. ("Boo," I hear you cry, “that was the most interesting blog so far.") Unlike most people working for Greenpeace, it seems, I did not one day have an epiphany, an awakening or a life changing experience . I applied to work for Greenpeace for a combination of personal and professional reasons while also wanting to have a job with a social impact and do not regret it.

Coming from a marketing analytics consultancy in the private sector (is that another "boo"?), it would be quicker to list the comparisons rather than differences between organisations. I will, however, pick out two particular differences to mention. The first being colleagues, I have not worked anywhere where people are so enthusiastic and passionate about their work and doing a good job. The second is a sense of personal satisfaction to be working in an organisation fighting to save the world.

So while I don't have much to bring to the bonus conversation with friends and ex colleagues, I am one of the few people I know who reply to the question, "How's work?" with a positive response. Not bad from monkeying around with numbers!