With HNWI’s typically donating 0.1% of their wealth to charity, increasing high-value contributions is a must. And while prospect research is pivotal to the success of high-value fundraising, all too often fundraisers struggle to master the basics due to lack of time or resource. The slides explain the fundamentals of prospect identification and wealth screening, how (and when) to write great donor profiles, useful tools and techniques for fundraisers getting started in prospect research, using data-drive techniques in the research process and why you should join your local library.

1. cc: Cristiano Betta - https://www.flickr.com/photos/45488928@N00
Prospecting & Wealth
Screening: A Beginners Guide
Ben Rymer
November 24th 2016
Major Donor SIG
workshop

2. Introduction
Why do we need profiling or screening?
Consent & Regulations
Screening and Profiling Methods &
Resources
Q&A

3. A Small Target

4. Plenty of Room
at the Top?
Giving at the top can grow
- with the onus on not-for-
profits to build trust
5,000: HMRC estimate of UK HNWIs
with £20m+ in assets
c.£10bn: CAF estimate of amount
donated to charity by UK adults
£1.56bn: total donated in £1m+ gifts
£485m raised by HE institutions in £m
gifts
£575bn: value of 2016 Sunday Times
Rich List (1,000 members donated
£2.7bn)
0.1%-1%: Average proportion of
wealth donated to charity by HNWIs

5. Your future major donors are probably already known to you

7. Consenting
Adults?
● Donor consent is a
live issue
● Key concepts are
‘Fair Processing’ &
‘Legitimate Interest’
● A further factor is
the introduction of
the General Data
Protection
Regulations in 2018
● Threat or

8. “A privacy policy / privacy notice / fair
processing statement (call it what you like)
has a single, real purpose. It might seem like
you’re writing it to tick a legal box, but if
that’s what you think you’re doing, you’re
doing it wrong. The purpose of the fair
processing statement is to tell the client
or customer in simple, everyday language
how their data will be used”
Accessed at https://2040infolawblog.com/2016/09/27/specific-heights/ on 19112016

9. Accessed at
http://www.cancerrese
archuk.org/privacy-
statement on
19112016

10. Accessed at http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/reform/files/regulation_oj_en.pdf on 19112016

11. (32) Consent should be given by a clear affirmative act establishing a
freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data
subject's agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or
her, such as by a written statement, including by electronic means, or an
oral statement. This could include ticking a box when visiting an internet
website, choosing technical settings for information society services or
another statement or conduct which clearly indicates in this context the
data subject's acceptance of the proposed processing of his or her
personal data. Silence, pre-ticked boxes or inactivity should not
therefore constitute consent. Consent should cover all processing
activities carried out for the same purpose or purposes. When the
processing has multiple purposes, consent should be given for all of them.
If the data subject's consent is to be given following a request by electronic
means, the request must be clear, concise and not unnecessarily disruptive
to the use of the service for which it is provided.
Accessed at http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/reform/files/regulation_oj_en.pdf on 19112016

12. (32) Consent should be given by a clear affirmative act establishing a
freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the
data subject's agreement to the processing of personal data relating
to him or her, such as by a written statement, including by electronic
means, or an oral statement. This could include ticking a box when
visiting an internet website, choosing technical settings for information
society services or another statement or conduct which clearly indicates
in this context the data subject's acceptance of the proposed
processing of his or her personal data. Silence, pre-ticked boxes or
inactivity should not therefore constitute consent. Consent should
cover all processing activities carried out for the same purpose or
purposes. When the processing has multiple purposes, consent should be
given for all of them. If the data subject's consent is to be given following a
request by electronic means, the request must be clear, concise and not
unnecessarily disruptive to the use of the service for which it is provided.
Accessed at http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/reform/files/regulation_oj_en.pdf on 19112016

13. Screening
● Many organisations screen for all
sorts of things on a regular basis
● The principle is simple: data are
checked against another dataset to
identify matches
● In the wealth space, constituents
are matched against a wealth
dataset (30%-40% converage)
● The datasets themselves have
been handbuilt from mainly public
domain information
● Once chosen and paid for, matches

14. Screening
Screening is ‘just’ another technology. It will not raise money for you and
should be seen as the ‘end of the beginning’ of the fundraising process.
● Have a clear goal in mind when making
the decision to screen
● Small, frequent jobs often work best
● Shop around. Choose the vendor who
fits your needs
● If in doubt, start with only a few of the
highest value prospects
● Stick to the budget
● If the member of staff managing the
project leaves, make sure they handover
to a replacement
● ROI between 8:1/20:1 (!)
● There are many providers offering
many different products. Typical
products are:
○ Wealth screening
○ Propensity Modelling
○ Further data appending:
Charity Trustee, Livery
Membership etc
● Data cleaning is often offered
during a screening job

15. Pitfalls
● Buying data indiscriminately
● Not using the data once
bought
● Lacking a clear goal
● Lacking organisational buy-in
● Lacking long-term vision of
how to develop relationships
with those identified
● Seeing the screening as the
goal

16. ● Who is responding to more than one in ten appeals? (‘responding’ not necessarily
meaning sending gifts)
● Which supporters contact us unprompted to update details, chase up to re-send
something or asks unprompted questions about the work?
● Who donates via active methods, ie internet donations, cheques, telephone calls
or mail donations?
● Who attends advocacy events? Are there repeat visitors?
● Which households have more than one family member who is a supporter?
● Who supports in memory? Which supporters have direct experience of the cause?
● Whose giving is uplifting spontaneously?
Wealth Does Not Equal Propensity to donate!

17. Donations
- Philanthropic history of your most
generous donors
- What is the behaviour chain leading
up to big donations
- Sizable first donations, or any single
cash donations of £500/£1,000
- Active donation methods: card
payments, cheques, phone calls,
website payments
- Many consecutive years giving can
correlate inversely with future uplifts,
however SYBUNT donors more likely
to uplift…

18. Engagement...
- ...is like snakes & ladders.
Who is on a ladder?
- Website or online
community logins
- Calling campaign
information
- Call length
- Times asked before gift
- Response ratios
- Complaints & Do Not
Contacts

19. - Reverse Engineer a
Wealth Screening
- Private Banks
- Where are significant
gaps between capacity
and Lifetime Value
- What’s in an email
address?...
Capacity

20. Profiling Pro Tips
● Good profiles rely on knowledge
management, not only desk research
● Speak with colleagues, find paper files &
correspondence, scour the shared drive
& supporter database (and the
inevitable 23 duplicate records…)
● Include detail on past gifts and projects
funded, project visits, meetings and
event attendances
● Spousal information is key - partners
often greatly influence philanthropic
decisions
● If in doubt, leave it out
1. Full-length profile
a. They take a day’s staff-time to write. Is it
worth it?
b. Once produced, use as a base for future
bio’s. Don’t reinvent the wheel each time
2. 1-pager
a. Condensed version of the above
3. Meeting briefing
a. Same
4. Event bio
a. 1-para conversation starter
b. Includes a goal for the event/with the
relationship

21. “After graduating magna cum laude from
Harvard Law School in 1976, Adrian began
work at JPMorgan, where he remains as
CEO of their Wealth Management Unit. A
keen baseball fan, he follows the New York
Mets; he also enjoys cooking and modern art,
especially Vasilly Kandinsky and Paul Klee.
He lives in New York with his wife; they have
three grown up children.”
Helen Brown: “a full profile contains all data
that a professional prospect researcher can
ethically find in publicly-held sources that are
relevant to the successful fundraising process
and which help build a stronger bond
between the donor and the organization”
Access at https://www.helenbrowngroup.com/elements-in-a-full-
prospect-research-profile/ on 20112016

22. 3 Great Tips from Helen Brown
1. Don’t bury the lead. Put the best stuff right up front,
page one. Make it clear: what are the significant points
busy people need to know about this prospect? Shout it
out just as if you were running down the hall.
2. Go out on a limb. Have an opinion, and tell people
what it is right up front. Until a prospect is met, you are
the person who knows the most about them. Make it
clear: why do you think a fundraiser should take action
on this prospect?
3. Follow up. We’re all fundraisers, whether we work on
the front-lines or behind a computer screen. We work
together as partners. If you aren’t seeing action on a
significant prospect-in-waiting you found, speak up!
Maybe you can help research a way to involve them.
Accessed at https://www.helenbrowngroup.com/why-most-prospect-research-profiles-are-dead-on-arrival/
on 191120126

23. Pitfalls
● Too much information leads
key details to get lost
○ Add an executive summary
‘above the fold’
● Including unverified
information, or, even worse,
hearsay
● Including old or out-of-date
information

24. International Company Information
Free
www.companieshouse.gov.uk - links to different company
registries from around the world
www.commercial-register.sg.ch - links to different company
registries from around the world
www.bvdinfo.com - international company directory, basic
information for free or pay for more details
www.sec.gov - searchable database for companies registered
in the USA
www.asic.gov.au - Australian searchable registers of banned
& disqualified persons in relation to the business & finance
industry
www.opencorporates.com - free basic company information
from many places around the world
www.business.govt.nz - search the New Zealand companies
office register for company & director details
www.icij.org - a database from the International Consortium
of Investigative Journalists, containing ownership information
about companies in a number of offshore jurisdictions over a
30 year period up to 2010
Useful UK & International company resources
Paid For Sites
www.companieshouse.gi - searchable database for
companies registered in Gibraltar
www.icpcredit.com - international credit status reports on
registered companies
www.gov.hk - Hong Kong compulsory winding-up of
companies & bankruptcies database
www.infocreditgroup.com - business & credit information for a
wide selection of countries around the world
www.ebr.org - the European Business Register (EBR) is a
network of National Business Registers & Information
Providers from various European countries
Accessed at http://www.uk-osint.net/favorites.html on 19112016

25. Join a Public Library!

26. FREE STUFF!!
From London Libraries:
● Economist Intelligence Unit
● Experian B2B Researcher
● Fame
● Lexis Library
● Lexis Nexis
● Mint Global
● Mint UK
● Who’s Who and Who Was
Who
● Datamonitor 360
Westminster alone offers:
● Experian MarketIQ
● Grantfinder
● News Vault: (Economist, FT,
Illustrated London News, Picture
Post, Times)
● Library Press Display:
newspapers from around the
world, often online before the
print edition
● Mintel
● MarketLine Advantage

27. FREE STUFF!!
From London Libraries:
● Economist Intelligence Unit
Single report = £500-£1,000
● Experian B2B Researcher
● Fame
● Lexis Library
● Lexis Nexis £10k-£15k
● Mint Global £10k-£15k
● Mint UK £5k-7k
● Who’s Who and Who Was
Who
● Datamonitor 360
Westminster alone offers:
● Experian MarketIQ
● Grantfinder £500 p/a
● News Vault: (Economist, FT,
Illustrated London News, Picture
Post, Times)
● Library Press Display:
newspapers from around the
world, often online before the
print edition
● Mintel
● MarketLine Advantage (A
Progressive Digital Media
business)

28. Lists!
- Different editions of lists
have different information,
worth trawling through
several years
- Buy the 2006/07 Sunday
Times Rich List top 5,000
- Search
regionally/thematically by
industry

29. Where the heck do I begin?

30. Where the heck do I begin?

33. Site searches

34. Useful search terms & techniques
‘Filetype:’ searches for specific file formats ie.
spreadsheet, powerpoint
Limit to UK; sort by date
Use quotation marks for "exact phrases"
Use * if unsure of a spelling of a name
Use different nationalities of Google; .co.uk,
.com, .fr, .de, .za etc
Remember the Filter Bubble! Turn on
Tracking Protection/Private Browsing

35. Summary
● Keep the goal of the project in mind
● Consider the scale of the screening carefully
● Use the information once produced!
● Make a note of income received to assess ROI
● Build relationships for the long-term and inspire your
donors!

36. Thanks & Q&A
Find me at:
benrymer@protonmail.com
@BenRymer
https://fundraisingvoices.wordpress.com/