Summer Institute for Educational Fundraising Pre-Institute Sessions-Intro Prospect Research and Management_CASE SIEFR FY2023_LaRue

Intro Prospect Research and Management_CASE SIEFR FY2023_LaRue_Final

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This document provides an introduction to prospect research and management for non-profit organizations. Prospect research is a technique used to gather information about potential or existing donors in order to evaluate their ability to give. This includes seeking out publicly available information, identifying connections, estimating capacity and inclination, and using the information to develop cultivation and solicitation strategies. Prospect management involves planning, recording, and reporting on significant moments in the relationship between prospects and the organization that lead to a gift. It includes tracking portfolio movements, recording prospect interactions, estimating pipeline activity, and tracking progress towards goals.<br /><br />A prospect refers to an individual or entity that exhibits potential to donate to the organization. Different levels of giving are categorized, such as leadership annual giving, midlevel giving, major gift, leadership level, and principal gift.<br /><br />Prospect management focuses on tracking and reporting metrics and progress of development officers, coordinating face-to-face solicitation activity, managing prospects through the fundraising cycle, and maintaining continuity in relationships with prospects.<br /><br />Ethics in prospect research are crucial, balancing the individual's right to privacy with the organization's need for information. Four fundamental ethical principles include integrity, accountability, practice, and conflict of interest.<br /><br />Research products in prospect research include basic biographical information, event attendees, capacity scores, wealth screenings, validation and single source ratings, travel lists, regional analysis, engagement scores, and more.<br /><br />Financial factors, such as income, charitable giving, real estate values, luxury items, stock, and company value, are used to estimate a prospect's capacity for giving. However, it is important to note that capacity estimation is based on publicly available information and may not be 100% accurate.<br /><br />Affinity refers to an individual's connection to the organization, including known areas of interest, passion areas, and engagement scores. Identifying affinity can help identify strong prospects.<br /><br />Tips for prospecting include knowing the basics, writing comprehensive contact reports, not spending too much time researching, conducting discovery visits, learning wealth signals from the prospect development team, and having realistic expectations.<br /><br />Prospecting is not limited to development officers but involves various roles within the organization, such as development assistants, annual giving, alumni relations, engagement teams, stewardship and donor relations, government and community relations.<br /><br />Good partnerships between different departments within the organization are essential for effective prospect research and management. Regular meetings, accurate and timely data, and strategic collaboration are key.<br /><br />Additional resources and organizations that provide support and knowledge in prospect research and management are listed.

Keywords

prospect research

management

non-profit organizations

donors

cultivation strategies

solicitation strategies

prospect management

relationship tracking

development officers

ethics in prospect research