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Young Nonprofit Professionals Network Learning Circle The Essentials of Fundraising & Donor Development Week 3 - Prospect Research (Identification & Qualification). Jessica Haynie October 11, 2011. Today’s Agenda. Exercise - elevator pitch Review data evaluation Presentation
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Young Nonprofit Professionals Network Learning CircleThe Essentials of Fundraising & Donor DevelopmentWeek 3 - Prospect Research (Identification & Qualification) Jessica Haynie October 11, 2011
Today’s Agenda • Exercise - elevator pitch • Review data evaluation • Presentation • Review homework 2
Steps in Donor Development Identification Qualification (major donors) Cultivation Solicitation Stewardship 3 3
Step 1 • Set your criteria
Who are you looking for? • A few prospects or a few hundred? • New donors or upgrading current donors? • What giving level are you looking for? • What do you want donors to give to?
Step 2 • Start gathering names and develop a list of prospects
Develop a list of prospects • The best prospects include: • Current and former Board Members • Key volunteers • Staff • Current donors • Lapsed donors • Vendors • Those generous to similar organizations • Affluent individuals with whom someone in the organization has a relationship with
Lisa Dietlin: Individuals are the key! • Develop strategies for identifying: • Entrepreneurs • Women • Gay and Lesbian Individuals • Minority Communities • Baby Boomers
Develop a list of prospects • Start from within first • Do you have a pile of names, articles, notes, etc? • Has anyone been flagged in your database? • Who in your database has given $100 or more for a number of consecutive years? • Talk to staff and board for recommendations • Past major donors 10
Develop list of prospects • Then work your way to external sources • Look at the annual reports of similar organizations • Review top lists (i.e. Santa Fe’s most wealthiest list, national philanthropic reports on top givers) • Talk to other development directors/share names • Keep up on the New Mexico Business Weekly, your local newspaper and magazines 11
Step 3 • Qualification - do brief research to identify: • Capacity • Interest • Connection
Step 4 • Rate your prospects (1-3)
Step 5 • Do in depth research on your 3’s and create research profiles • Set the 1’s and 2’s aside, as they are suspects and you can research them later
What do we need to know about prospects? • Background/Bio • Hobbies/Interests • Connections • Capacity • Inclination to give/charitable contributions • Interest in your organization/cause • Contact information 15
Family Family History Education Employment Career Achievements Google search (name, name + biography, name + Santa Fe/New Mexico) Company website www.fec.gov for employer LinkedIn Facebook Wikipedia Background/Bio 16
What is time spent on beyond family and career responsibilities? What is the prospect passionate about? Google search Biographies Company bio LinkedIn Facebook Wikipedia Hobbies/Interests 17
Who is in the prospect’s circle of colleagues or friends? Who is in your organization’s circle who can influence the prospect? Advisory boards Board of directors Trustee Volunteer Member Company website LinkedIn Facebook Connections 18
Company ownership, salary & compensation Family wealth Real estate Family foundation Google Company annual reports Zillow Foundation website Guidestar-search 990s Foundation Directory Company site www.hoovers.com www.zoominfo.com Capacity 19
What other causes does the prospect support? What amounts? How often? Annual reports (paper and online) Google search (name + donor) For political contributions: FEC and NM Secretary of State Inclination to give/charitable contributions 20
Are they already involved in your organization/cause? Volunteer or giving history? Have they shown interest, but are not engaged yet? Talk to board, staff and volunteers Look at organization’s database, files Interest in your organization/cause 21
Home address/ phone/email Vacation home? Work address/ phone/email Assistant’s name and contact info 411.com Phone book Company website Call general company number and ask for assistant’s contact www.mapquest.com Contact information 22
Review of Strategy • Set your criteria • Start gathering names and develop a list of prospects • Do brief research to identify: capacity, interest and connection • Rate your prospects (1-3) • Do in depth research on your 3’s and create research profiles
Myths in Donor Research • With all of the electronic databases these days, finding information is easy and fast • Development officers need a full research profile before contacting a prospect • Researchers are back-room information gatherers 25
Myths in Donor Research • The research function should be kept low-key and secret if possible, donors would be upset if they were aware of it • Researchers should only concentrate on finding wealth information: it is the most important thing • If we hire a researcher, we will immediately come up on an enormous gift 26
Ethics & Confidentiality • When faced with what you feel might be an ethical dilemma, consider how any action or use of information would impact your organization’s relationship with the prospect or donor. • In our line of work, it is “all about the relationship.”
What makes your information confidential? Research is gathered from publicly available resources but… When all the information is put together into a profile format the information is highly confidential! 28
Ethics & Confidentiality Everyone that handles confidential information should sign a confidentiality statement Include APRA Statement of Ethics & Donor Bill of Rights with statement http://www.aprahome.org/Portals/0/APRAStatementofEthics.pdf http://www.afpnet.org/files/ContentDocuments/Donor_Bill_of_Rights.pdf 29
How to maintain ethics in research Honesty Transparency Respect Privacy Relevance Responsibility It is “all about the relationship!” 30
Homework Identify your top 20 existing major donors Base on total lifetime giving or highest gift Identify your top 20 non-major donors who have been giving $100 or more for at least 3 consecutive years Using the techniques and resources discussed today, identify 20 suspects to research further and qualify For each, identify which stage they are currently in (qualification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship) 31
Any questions? Three Stones Consulting, LLC Santa Fe, NM Jessica@threestonesconsulting.com www.threestonesconsulting.com 315-729-3994 32