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Fundraising Tuesday: Incorporating Prospect Research into Donor Communications

June 8, 2021 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

A guest post by Sandra Davis of Donorly

As a nonprofit marketing or fundraising professional, you know communication is critical for building relationships with donors and prospects. Your communication strategy is how you get to know supporters personally and earn their trust, and it can help you retain their support over the long term.

Whenever you face an obstacle in your role, such as trying to figure out how to boost donor retention or lead your organization through a crisis, a strong communication approach can help you get back on track. But if you work with a small staff or wear many hats within your organization, it can be easy to let your communication strategy take a backseat.

This is where prospect research comes in. Prospect research is a straightforward way to learn more about your audience and connect with them on a deeper level. It can also connect you with prospective donors you may not have even considered.

When you incorporate prospect research into your donor communications, it can help you:

  • Get in touch with the right people.
  • Connect with donors on a personal level.
  • Determine the most effective communication channels.
  • Leverage prospects’ personal and professional connections.

Before we dive in, keep in mind that prospect research is most often thought of in the context of identifying major donors for large-scale fundraising campaigns. Nevertheless, as Donorly’s fundraising strategy guide explains, it’s always worth it to take time to understand all of your audience members and figure out how to reach them effectively, even in smaller-scale fundraising efforts. Let’s get started!

Get in touch with the right people

Your first step is to make sure you’re talking to the right people. You don’t want to waste time and resources sending messages to people who aren’t likely to engage with them.

Insights gathered from prospect research help you get in touch with the people who are most likely to interact with and donate to your organization. Share on X

Using screening tools and publicly available data, you can not only identify wealthier prospects with the capacity to give to your cause, but also learn more about those who demonstrate an affinity for your work. DonorSearch defines affinity to give as “the strength of [a donor’s] natural connection to a cause. The inclination to support a cause can be emotional, social, or political in nature.”

In the prospect research process, this resource recommends searching for prospects with characteristics like:

  • An existing relationship with your nonprofit. Search for prospects who have remained engaged with your organization over a longer period, actively volunteering, donating, or interacting in other ways. These supporters are more likely to be open to continued communication from your organization.
  • Past involvement with similar organizations. The prospect research process can also reveal information about those who’ve never interacted with your organization. In this case, you can use charitable giving databases or the annual reports of other nonprofits to search for people who’ve given to similar causes in the past. This reveals individuals who care about your issue area and may want to get involved with your organization.
  • Past political donations. Political contributions signify the causes that motivate prospects. They also reveal those who are willing and able to give to causes they care about.
  • Wealth indicators. Readily available data such as an individual’s real estate holdings, stock ownership, and sometimes even their job description can reveal information about their level of wealth. This can help ensure you’re focusing a more deliberate, personalized communication strategy on prospects who are capable of making a larger gift to your organization.

You can pursue prospect research on your own, using tools such as your internal donor records, government records, and prospect research databases. However, this can be a lengthy process, and you may feel like you don’t have the experience or time needed to fully dive into this research.

This is where it may be worth it to look into hiring a prospect research expert who can provide support and help gather insights.

Connect with donors on a personal level

Nowadays, supporters are bombarded with social media and email messages every day from brands and other nonprofits seeking to engage with them. Most of us have become skilled at detecting generic communications versus more personalized messages.

Generic nonprofit communications are easy to spot—these messages typically start with “Dear Supporter” and deliver a wide range of information that may or may not be relevant to all recipients. Personalized messages, on the other hand, speak directly to supporters and open the door to new relationships.

You can make your communications more personal and inspire greater passion in donors using prospect research. With your prospect research process, you can identify:

  • Prospects’ preferred names. Messages addressing supporters by name are much more effective because they make it clear that your organization sees its supporters as individuals and not just a nameless source of funding.
  • Causes that prospects care about. When you identify other nonprofits or political organizations that your prospects have been involved with, it provides clues about what they value. You can use this information to emphasize different aspects of your mission in your communications.

For example, let’s say your organization is focused on planting trees in an urban area. If a prospect has contributed to an organization dedicated to fighting climate change, you can emphasize the power of trees to remove carbon dioxide from the air and improve local environments. This could help influence them to give to your organization as well.

Determine the most effective communication channels

A powerful communications strategy isn’t just about what you say — it’s also about how you say it. You might have a solid message that you think is optimized to drive new donations and support for your cause, but if you’re not using the right engagement channels, you won’t be able to reach prospects effectively.

Prospect research can help you access information about prospects’ preferred platforms to ensure you’re speaking their language.

For instance, let’s say you discover that many of your prospects are older, retired individuals. In this case, you might decide to use direct-mail marketing to get in touch with them since this form of communication appeals to older generations.

On the other hand, you might discover many of your prospects are younger people. To connect with them, you might decide to place more emphasis on your social media posting and messaging to connect with them.

Lastly, if you discover that many of your prospects live in the same area, you can use flyers or targeted social media posts to catch their attention. For instance, you can create a paid Facebook ad and direct it toward people who live in a certain geographic area.

Leverage prospects’ personal and professional connections

The prospect research process can reveal another valuable piece of data about your potential supporters—their professional and personal connections. You can use these connections to understand your prospects better and communicate relevant information to them.

For example, you may discover a prospect has personal connections with other donors to your nonprofit, such as being family members or friends.

This signifies that they’ll likely be more willing to engage with your organization since their loved one is also involved. They might have even contributed in the past to support a friend’s peer-to-peer fundraiser on behalf of your organization.

Plus, when you reach out to these prospects, it won’t be completely out of the blue since they’re probably already aware of your organization through their family and friends.

When it comes to leveraging your prospects’ professional connections, the prospect research process can also give you access to information about where prospects work. This can help you identify opportunities to cash in on corporate matching gifts.

A corporate matching gift program is a type of philanthropy where businesses pledge to match donations made by their employees to eligible nonprofits. When you know where a certain prospect works, you can use a matching gift database to research their eligibility. Or, if you already have several current donors who work at the same organization and who have submitted matching gifts, you’ll know that your prospect is also eligible.


Sandra Davis prospect researchFounder and President Sandra Davis leads Donorly with 30 years of fundraising experience and leadership. Sandra has consulted on numerous capital campaigns, led strategic planning and feasibility study efforts,

and managed board development and recruitment efforts, planned giving, special events, and annual giving programs. Under her leadership, Donorly has grown to support the fundraising efforts of over 75 clients to date.

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Get to Know Your Donors: 4 Tips

February 11, 2020 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

A guest post from Sarah Tedesco of DonorSearch

donors at the center

Donors at the heart

Each year, you and your fundraising team work hard to raise money for your cause and make a meaningful impact on your mission.

In the center of all your hard work are your donors, the people who genuinely believe in your cause and take the time and action to support your nonprofit.

It’s more cost-effective and beneficial to retain donors than acquire new donors, so focus your efforts on developing those current donor relationships. And the right tools can help.

Even though fundraisers are now equipped with amazing tools, you still have to learn the best ways to use these modern solutions to build truly authentic relationships. The better you know your donors, the stronger your relationships will be.

In this guide, you’ll be learning about the best ways to get to know your donors and the tools you can use to truly understand why donors give to your organization. Consider these top tips:

  1. Ask donors for their preferences.
  2. Record all donor data.
  3. Invest in a prospect research tool.
  4. Incorporate donor data into marketing initiatives.

1. Ask donors for their preferences.

In order to foster relationships with donors who continuously support your cause, it’s good practice to determine their engagement preferences at the start. This can be as simple as asking them to check off a box in your donation forms!

The more personal and targeted your fundraising engagements are, the better your donors will respond to your outreach efforts. For instance, say a donor doesn’t want any direct mail sent to their home address. Once you know this preference, the worst thing that you can do is to continue sending materials and physical letters. They’ll just get annoyed with the barrage of mail and start to ignore your engagements.

Ask your donors’ preferences on your online donation form. This way, you can record these preferences in their donor profiles right off the bat. It’s also a good idea to let them change their preference as your engagement continues. You can include a link in your email signatures for easy access.

Make sure you keep track of these preferences:

  • Do your donors want to receive email communications, direct mail, mobile text messaging, or all?
  • How often do your donors want updates? Do they want to subscribe to your newsletter?
  • What kind of communications do they want to receive? Event invitations, volunteer opportunities, or donation request letters?
  • If they opted to give a recurring donation, what is their preferred payment preference?

Once you actively make an effort to meet your donors’ preferences, it’s more likely that they’ll stick around and your retention rates won’t stagger. The best place to keep track of all these preferences is your donor database.

2. Record all donor data.

To truly reach your donors and build life-long bonds, ensure that you’re recording all the important donor data. This will depend on your constituent relationship management (CRM) system, also known as your donor database. 

Your CRM system should be recording every donor engagement and all key donor metrics in relation to your nonprofit organization. This means every email sent, every donation given, and each fundraising event ticket sold.

Investing in a capable CRM system is crucial in order to get a comprehensive view of your donors. Once you know their current relationship with your nonprofit, you can better ascertain the ways to improve your future engagement strategies. For example, if you notice that a lot of your donors are active on social media, maybe consider investing more time in that engagement channel.

How do you know if your CRM is doing the best it can for your nonprofit fundraising? Consider its integration capabilities. When the tools within your entire fundraising system are integrated with your CRM, you ensure that your donor data is centralized and accurate. Even as actions and engagements are happening in real-time, the information seamlessly flows into your CRM.

Make sure you’re receiving data from these key fundraising tools:

  • Online donation tool. Ensure your CRM captures the donor name, key financial information, donation amount, and any other information that was required in your form.
  • Event registration tool. If your nonprofit often hosts events, ensure that your CRM records data regarding event attendance, registration level, payment preference, and more.
  • Email marketing tool. Make sure you have all the essential information to communicate effectively with your donors. For example, as soon as a donor makes a gift, your CRM should keep track of their email and send them an appreciation email thanking them for their contribution with that donor’s name and donation amount. Additionally, track which emails are opened and which are ignored to know which engagements are working.

3. Invest in a prospect research tool.

Prospect research is a fundraising strategy that involves screening your donor database to identify high-impact donors. 

While it’s possible that prospect research can be done manually and in-house, the efforts and resources your staff will use up might not be worth it. Many modern fundraisers turn to a digital solution to help. With a capable prospect research tool, you can effectively screen your donors against the nation’s largest philanthropic databases.

To determine which of your supporters are likely to be high impact donors, your prospect research tool is looking out for wealth markers and philanthropic indicators:

  • Wealth markers provide a clue about your donors’ capacity to give. Your prospect research tool is looking at your donors’ real estate ownerships, stock ownerships, and business affiliations.
  • Philanthropic indicators help determine how charitable your donors are and their affinity to give. Your prospect research tool is looking at your donors’ past giving, political giving, and other nonprofit involvement.

Your prospect research tool is great at highlighting donor metrics that you can incorporate into targeted and high-impact marketing initiatives. Donors with both wealth markers and philanthropic indicators are likely to want to give and have the means to give. Read on to learn how you can leverage this information to increase fundraising.

4. Incorporate donor data into marketing initiatives.

Major gifts make up a large percentage of your revenue, with 76% of yearly giving coming from only 4% of donors. Because your prospect research tool is screening for both a donor’s affinity to give and capacity to give, this tool can accurately highlight those who might become major donors.

Identifying your major donor prospects doesn’t mean that they’re automatically going to make large gifts. You need to cultivate this relationship and set the stage for future giving. Your best bet is to segment these potential high-impact donors for targeted communications and other meaningful engagements. For instance, segment these donors and:

  • Give them event perks like early-bird registration or a discount code.
  • Consider writing a handwritten letter instead of an email for a more personal touch. Make sure to keep in mind their communication preferences!
  • Other non-ask communications like interesting nonprofit announcements, upcoming events, and volunteer opportunities.

Not only can your prospect research tool identify potential major donors, but it can also supplement other fundraising efforts.

Increase your corporate matching gifts.

Corporate matching gift programs are great opportunities for nonprofits, but are not taken advantage of as often as they should. Eligible donors can double or even triple their donations if they just submit a matching gift request. According to one study, an estimated $4-7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed per year.

Corporate matching gift programs aren’t as well known as other fundraising initiatives, so often donors don’t even know that they can increase their gift without giving any additional funds.

Using your prospect research tool and a corporate philanthropic database, screen each of your donor’s business affiliations. Then, send out specific matching gift letters to let them know of their eligibility! For a list of matching gift letter templates from a wide range of organizations, click here.

Target donor advised funds.

Another way you can leverage your prospect research data in smart ways is to look out for donor advised funds (DAFs). As stated in this DonorSearch flash class webinar, DAFs are the fastest growing form of philanthropy today.

A DAF account is a dedicated savings account for charity where an individual will deposit cash, stock, or other assets. However, the donor doesn’t choose a recipient right away and instead makes this decision later on.

Finding out one of your supporters has a DAF is an exciting opportunity for your nonprofit. The supporter has already dedicated these funds to charity, it’s just up to you to convince them that your organization is the right one.

Use your prospect research tool and highlight donors who might have DAFs by screening their wealth metrics. Segment those donors and start fostering those relationships to increase the likelihood of them choosing your nonprofit as their DAF recipient. Focus on non-ask communications so they know that this relationship isn’t purely based on them giving you money.

Getting to know your donors is one of the most important jobs for your fundraising team. After reading this guide, you now know how to effectively reach them and can genuinely develop those donor relationships for future engagement. Good luck!


Sarah TedescoSarah Tedesco is the Executive Vice President of DonorSearch, a prospect research and wealth screening company that focuses on proven philanthropy. Sarah is responsible for managing the production and customer support department concerning client contract fulfillment, increasing retention rate and customer satisfaction. She collaborates with other team members on a variety of issues including sales, marketing and product development ideas.

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DIY Prospect Research: 5 Must-Know Tools For Your Nonprofit

August 1, 2017 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

A guest post by Sarah Tedesco of DonorSearch

If your nonprofit is just starting out or has a tight budget, your fundraising team may be facing some serious pressure to set a promising prospect research or wealth screening game plan in motion.

Never fear however; there are plenty of DIY tools out there for one or more nonprofit team members to successfully put to use, including:

  1. DonorSearch (best for comprehensive prospect research).
  2. Double the Donation (best for matching gifts).
  3. IntellectSpace (best for nonprofit networking).
  4. Government-related search engines (best for public records)
  5. Online social connections (best for individual profiles).

These handy resources will not only single out key major giving prospects, but also help your nonprofit build a diverse prospect research network to rely on for years to come.

 

DonorSearch

1. DonorSearch (Best for Comprehensive Prospect Research)

When it comes to making the most of prospect research, no one has a more refined and easy-to-use collection of services than DonorSearch.

Apart from their blog which delves into every area of prospect research imaginable, DonorSearch also offers two essential resources for budding nonprofits: DS Giving Search and their charitable giving database.  

To begin with, DS Giving Search is a FREE one-of-a-kind tool that provides a condensed version of all of DonorSearch’s philanthropic data — and it’s available to everyone!

Many prospect research professionals use DS Giving Search to identify top donor prospects — individuals and corporations alike — at lightning speed by honing in on major giving identifiers like:

  • Past giving to your organization or other nonprofits
  • Philanthropic history and nonprofit affiliations
  • Political giving or real estate ownership

This exceptional tool works best on mobile devices to help you perform prospect research on-the-go, but is also effective on tablets, laptops, and desktop computers.

DonorSearch’s charitable giving database is another must-know source for print and online philanthropic data — including past giving, annual reports, print references, and more — to construct prospect profiles around.

By gathering this information in your donor profiles, your nonprofit can better target old and new donors’ giving potential in areas like annual giving, major giving, and planned giving. DonorSearch even offers free prospect profile templates to help you get started cultivating donors right away!

Takeaway: DonorSearch provides younger nonprofits FREE expert tools to make growing a substantial prospect research database that much easier.

Double the Donation

 

2. Double the Donation (Best for Matching Gifts)

Another prospect research resource for nonprofits to utilize involves examining matching gift programs and donor profiles.

Matching gifts can encourage donors to reach new levels of giving with your nonprofit by teaming up with their place of work.  

A matching gift search tool can help your nonprofit access a corporate directory of matching gift programs. You can then determine top corporate and individual prospects from this list as well as identify donors who may have already made matching gifts to your nonprofit.

Luckily, Double the Donation’s matching gift search tool is the best in the business for helping your nonprofit coordinate prospect research through matching gifts.

Let’s take a moment to break down how this practical tool works:

  1. Matching gift prospects enter their employer’s name in Double the Donation’s matching gift search tool.
  2. The matching gift search tool then directs the prospect to their employer’s matching gift program (if it has one) and to the necessary forms and guidelines for participating.

The brilliance behind matching gift search tools for prospect research lies in nonprofits using this crucial data to initiate matching-gift related communications with eligible donors.

A matching gift search tool can also be added to donation forms and matching gift pages to provide donors with easy access to their employers’ programs. This allows them to learn more about corporate giving programs during the donation process.

For more top-of-the-line prospect research tools, check out Double the Donation’s exclusive ranking, including favorite features and pricing!

Takeaway: Matching gift search tools and programs are an excellent way for nonprofits to get in on the ground floor of prospect research.

 

IntellectSpace

 

 

3. IntellectSpace (Best for Nonprofit Networking)

This form of DIY prospect research takes a more analytical approach to navigating your best bets for major giving donors.

IntellectSpace specializes in “relationship mapping,” a technique that visually lays out all of your nonprofit connections, including donor prospects.

This service provides you with the most up-to-date information on all of your nonprofit ties, allowing you to develop a reliable database of constituents.

For example, if your nonprofit wanted to launch a fundraising campaign for a medical cause, IntellectSpace could help you draw lines between existing contacts and top prospects with a giving history to grateful patient programs or healthcare facilities.

IntellectSpace also offers a portfolio of tailored networking solutions that make it easy for your nonprofit to reach out to prospects and encourage donation opportunities, such as:

  • LiveAlumni: An online app that hosts current alumni and donor data to help nonprofits identify major giving prospects, find corporate sponsors, and more.
  • ProspectVisual: A relationship mapping tool that helps nonprofits connect the dots between existing supporters and target prospects.
  • SalesVisual: A plug-in app for Salesforce that helps nonprofits visualize internal integrations to reveal new prospect research opportunities.

Once you’ve uncovered these valuable relationships, your nonprofit can then get to know these prospects even better with tailored solicitation strategies.

Takeaway: New and established nonprofits can utilize IntellectSpace to reveal lucrative connections you didn’t even know you had!

 

Government Search Engines

4. Government-Related Search Engines (Best for Public Records)

One of the most important steps of prospect research is to look into financial markers that set donors apart in their giving capacity. That’s why it’s always a good idea to look into government-related search engines for filtering through essential public records.

These resources not only display influential wealth markers, but also reveal personal factors that help you understand the little details that make every prospect unique.

Check out our favorite FREE government-based prospect research tools below that nonprofits can’t go wrong with:

  • SEC.gov (The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission): Discover prospects’ stock ownership and corporate filings.
  • FEC.gov (Federal Election Emission): Research donors who generously supported a political committee or campaign.
  • County Tax Assessor’s Site: Explore prospects’ real estate ventures and property values to determine their financial standing.

On top of researching wealth factors, your nonprofit can really go the extra mile by investigating individual and organization philanthropic data from other public records like:

  • The Foundation Center’s online grant database and site-specific nonprofit libraries.
  • GuideStar’s virtual finance documents for all IRS-registered nonprofits.
  • Biographical, business, and newspaper databases from your library.

As a side note, while your nonprofit is gathering valuable prospect research data, don’t forget to organize it efficiently by investing in the right donor management software.

 

Takeaway: Use government-related search engines to track down notable wealth markers in a prospect’s public records.

Online Social Connections

 

5. Online Social Connections (Best for Individual Profiles)

Last but not least, never underestimate the power of your nonprofit’s virtual community.

By tapping into your online social connections, your nonprofit can not only spread the word about major donation opportunities, but also research personal and professional facts of key donors.

For instance, social media platforms like Facebook allow users to fill out their online profile with all kinds of individual information from hobbies and interests to belief systems and relationships.

On the other hand, your nonprofit can examine someone’s LinkedIn profile to get a better idea of their professional background and network connections.

As noted earlier, social media channels also provide your nonprofit with the perfect opportunity to generate a call-to-action for donations. This can be accomplished simply by connecting with online donors directly through videos, storytelling, pictures, and infographics.

Rest assured, if your nonprofit’s development team isn’t too keen on social media research, you can always take the more simplified route of Googling a top prospect.

These straightforward online search results can uncover just about anything about a potential donor, including but not limited to:

  • If the prospect works for a company with a matching gift program.
  • If the prospect has a history of philanthropic work at similar nonprofits.
  • If the prospect has a record of giving to nonprofits, charities, and community projects.

All in all, a shrewd DIY prospect researcher should take full advantage of these online avenues to discover as much as they can about a potential donor before reaching out with a tailored solicitation strategy. After all, chances are higher that your donors will renew their gifts if your team puts the effort into making a personal impact first.

Takeaway: Online social connections are a foolproof resource for prospect research that not enough nonprofits are following up on.

No one ever said that launching a nonprofit was easy, and unfortunately neither is securing the funds your organization needs to thrive and survive. With these DIY essentials for prospect research though, your nonprofit can lay the groundwork for a trusted community of donors in no time.

Sarah TedescoSarah Tedesco is the Executive Vice President of DonorSearch, a prospect research and wealth screening company that focuses on proven philanthropy. Sarah is responsible for managing the production and customer support department concerning client contract fulfillment, increasing retention rate and customer satisfaction.

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