Prospect research presentation
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Presentation to Grant Writing class at Fairfield University about Prospect Research. Textbook referenced is Achieving Excellence in Fundraising 3rd Edition by Tempel, Eugene R., Seiler, Timothy L., Aldrich, Eva E., Maehara, Paulette
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Prospect research presentation
- 2. What is Prospect Research? “Prospect Development professionals are the individuals most able to meet the growing information needs of the fundraising community. Using the Internet and other technologies, they collect, evaluate, analyze, organize, package and disseminate publicly available information in a way that maximizes its usefulness and enables accurate and educated decision-making.” Source: APRA website (http://www.aprahome.org/p/cm/ld/fid=10) LAI Principle Linkage Direct connection to your organization (donor, volunteer, board member, etc.) Ability Capacity to make a gift Interest Likelihood to give
- 4. Identify Start with your existing donor pool These donors are already familiar with your organization and have made gifts Major gift donors Clearly define what qualifies as a major gift Research – Look for indicators: increased giving, changes in family situation, retirement, etc. Annual donors Determine who might be ready for further cultivation Board of Directors Leadership gifts! Board giving sends a message to the community and to other donors Board members can make introductions to people in their network
- 5. Qualify Peer Screening – ask board and other high-level volunteers to review lists of potential donors Ask the to share what they know about giving habits, interests, ability, etc. Confidentiality is key! Database Screening Be strategic – whole database or narrow to certain donor segments or donors with certain characteristics Financial investment and costs staff time Data Mining Mine your existing database for donors and prospects that meet specific criteria Giving patterns, volunteer activities, etc.
- 6. Conducting Research Add’l Resources Fee Based Resources Free Resources WealthEngine Google LexisNexis Zillow iWave Newspapers Alumni Finder GuideStar Hoovers magazines Use librarians Professional organizations APRA – Association of Prospect Researchers for Advancement AFP – Association of Fundraising Professionals Forbes 400 – “Top” lists NOZA CT Blockshopper – property tax records SEC.gov – Securities and Exchange Commission Annual reports LinkedIn CT Department of Justice court records Connecticut Council for Philanthropy Chronicle of Philanthropy Foundation Center Online
- 7. Writing Donor Profiles Verified Current Contact Information Linkage How is this person connected to your organization? Are they close with certain staff or board members? Background Current employment, career summary, family history, other non-profit affiliations, education, etc. Giving History Past gifts to your organization and select giving to other non-profits Wealth Indicators Real estate holdings, public stock holdings and options, compensation data, family foundations Remember, only public data are available. You will never have 100% of the story. Gift Capacity Choose the best guideline for your organization. Once determined, assign a numeric rating.
- 8. Tips for Profiles See page 134 (Exhibit 11.2) for a Sample Donor Research Profile Include a picture if possible. Personal hobbies Include information that will be relevant for the fundraiser. Consider which factors may affect that individual’s ability or inclination to give. Be sensitive and aware of information that might be considered intrusive.
- 9. Prospective Donor Management Regular prospect review meetings Record moves, target amounts, asks, results, visits, etc. Monitor and record the strategy for each person Dollars raised, proposals submitted, number of prospects in each stage, umber of significant contacts with prospective donors
- 10. Donor Bill of Rights Source: http://www.afpnet.org/files/ContentDocuments/Donor_Bill_of_Rights.pdf
- 11. APRA Statement of Ethics Source: http://www.aprahome.org/p/cm/ld/fid=110
- 12. Best Practices Your organization must have a method in place for protecting donor data. Do not send sensitive information via email to people outside of your organization’s network. Distribute printed copies of profiles at meetings, ask people to write on the pages, and then collect the papers at the end of meetings. Restrict access to sensitive information – “need to know” basis.
Editor's Notes
- Prospect research is a growing field. Many large non-profits like hospitals and universities have prospect research departments. The textbook explains that you are looking for three key things: linkage, ability, and interest (the LAI principle) Really, you are looking for a connection with the prospect, capacity, and their inclination to make a gift
- This is a visual representation of what the “moves management” cycle looks like. I’ve seen some models that show it as a circle with 5 steps. I like this one because it clearly shows that there is a pipeline and that prospects must be identified, qualified and cultivated before the move into the active cycle. Process includes receiving and acknowledging the gift and following up with a thank you Stewardship refers to staying in touch with the donor and engaging them in other opportunities at your organization Invite them for a site visit Provide them with an update about the impact of their gift, or provide materials and information about new programs at your organization
- Your best prospect is an existing donor Start with your existing database and identify your existing donors. They will likely fall into several pools including major gift donor, annual donor, etc. Board of Directors – your board members are so valuable in this process both for leadership gifts and assistance with identifying new prospects, making connections and introductions to new prospects, and stewarding your existing donors 100% board giving shows a clear commitment from your leadership and is a strong signal to the community. Some organizations set an expectation and minimum giving requirement for board members
- Review lists of potential donors. Your board and high-level volunteers may know a lot of useful information about your prospect lists! For example, they may sit on the same boards, be neighbors, or have some other connection to your prospects.
- I think this slide is particularly helpful. I have embedded the links for each resource into this slide and am happy to share this with your via email if that is helpful The textbook mentioned the top 5 fee-based and free resources which I have listed here WealthEngine – WE pulls from 65+ existing databases and provides details and a rating score for each person Google – usually start with a google search of name plus town – will pull up archived info on past events, annual reports where the person is listed as a donor, plus other info about who they are – career, etc. NYT wedding announcements are helpful in getting a sense of the family members Guidestar – we have talked about GS a few times in class. It’s free to create a login and it gives you access to nonprofit tax filings (990s and 990PF) – key info is available here. Can see the net assets, contributions, grants, and trustees AFP - $75 for “young professional” plus chapter dues of $25-50. FC chapter meets monthly. Learn from peers NOZA – database that compiles giving data from annual reports and gives you a summary for each person SEC.gov – stock options and compensation for top executives
- Indicators: Income, Assets For example, someone may have a very high income and/or high net worth but they may also have big expenses that go along with it – big mortgage, private school tuition, caring for other family members, other debts. You may be able to identify that they have high-value assets because a lot of that is public record, but you will never know the extent of their debts or what their bank account actually looks like because that information is not public. You also don’t know whether the individual has liquid assets. For example, a top paid executive may have a high compensation package from his company (available through sec.gov) but it could be that 90% of that compensation is in the form of stock options instead of cash. Their income then is very high but they may not actually have the capacity to write a big check to your organization today. Remember, just because someone has a high net worth, that doesn’t mean that they are philanthropic or that they will support your organization! Inclination matters too!
- Part of being a prospect researcher is managing your donor database and tracking the moves management as donors move through your pipeline and through the cultivation and stewardship process Regular meetings with your development team and key fundraisers (who may be board or other volunteers)
- Ethics This is the donor bill of rights from the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Each AFP member agrees to abide by these rules, if you work in non-profit/development it’s good to follow anyway Things like: transparency, adhering to donor intent, to remain professional in all interactions with donors (i.e., I’m not going to go out and become Facebook friends with my prospects or donors) Provide information upon request
- This is the APRA statement of ethics 4 fundamental principles: integrity, accountability, practice, and conflict of interest Key highlights: remain professional as you research prospects Disclose any conflict of interest that may exist Ensure confidentiality of donor data at all times and make sure that the information you record is strictly for fundraising purposes
- Donor data and privacy Be mindful of who has access to the data. For example, if you email it to a board member’s personal email, you don’t have access to who they might forward it to Old fashioned: paper copies – distribute at meetings and then collect back. WealthEngine has a whitepaper on their website that describes many of the best practices in this area (also mentioned in the textbook) – about how to develop a data privacy model and implement high standards of protection You are gathering sensitive data about your prospect’s background and assets – if that falls into the wrong hands bad things can happen In closing: prospect research is a growing field with great potential for both career development and also helping to have a positive impact on our world by informing fundraising efforts. As with anything, you want to remain professional and always be aware that you need to abide by the ethical standards in the field and always take precautions to protect your research data.