Prospect/Donor Research

Jessica White

Hi Everyone,

Hoping to gather some feedback from similar orgs on prospect research. We do not have a prospect researcher on staff and rely on Blackbaud generated info along with a Wealth Engine screen monthly for new donors and once a year for existing donors (where we compile a few data points to assign them a 1-5 and import that into RE). We are planning an upcoming campaign and want to know the best tools for obtaining detailed wealth info, other orgs they give to, boards they serve on, etc. We also want to obtain names/info of prospects that fit the mold of our current donors to try to bring in new major donors. Lastly, we want to identify donors in both our system and externally that support specific giving areas like Education, Agriculture, etc. What tools are you all using? We use prospect insights, Wealth Engine, and research point but have found that all of this is a very manual effort; for example, can't query database on info held under Prospect Insights. We have also used USA Data to gather together a Look-alike file.

In summary -

Orgs without prospect researchers, what are you doing to streamline this process since even the auto generated tools are very manual to sift through?
Orgs with prospect researchers, if we had the capacity to hire you what would you suggest as a strategy for the goals I listed above and using what tools?
Both scenarios - what does this process look like to you from a database perspective? Are you tagging people somewhere as a match for this campaign, a targeted giving level for the campaign, specific designation for the ask?

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read/respond!

Jess

Joe Moretti

@Jessica White We use Windfall, which people are really happy with. They provide a Networth and various triggers like Plane Owner, Boat Owner, Top Political Donor, Philanthropic Giver, Political Party, Giving Score, etc. These can be entered as an attribute such as Net Worth, Triggers and can be easily queried off of. Works well with Raiser's Edge. Our organization is happy with Windfall.

Faith Murray

@Jessica White
Hm… we took a multi-tiered strategy in our last campaign. First, we cleaned all our data, did a deceased record finder and an Address Finder (different than address updater), and appended ages, phone numbers, and emails. Our mail rental house was able to do it at cost for us since they get bulk rates, so it was only $5-700 per append. Then we put our entire database through a persona screening with Ruf, which was admittedly a few thousand dollars, but it gave us estimated net worth and interest fields for each of our donors (overseas tours, families with children, educated professionals, etc.) We imported all of that data; then we skimmed the best looking prospects from the top of these lists, compiled with our own previous giving histories, and picked out about 500 to put through DonorSearch's seasonal free screening service. (Most years, they will offer a small free screening to potential new customers.)

Eventually, we did hire a campaign consultant firm who was able to put our entire database through DonorSearch screening for a lower bulk cost, but they were impressed that we had already identified most of our top donors through our previous processes.

Personally, I don't mind importing DonorSearch data directly into RE, where it can then be queriable. Because it is queriable, I find it much more usable than Prospect Insights when screening an entire database, and it then removes the manual element during prospect identification. Rather than importing a 1-5 rating alone, we import several key factors from DonorSearch's massive spreadsheet, including annual ask, 3-year campaign pledge ask, real estate, stocks, political donation amounts, maximum gift to other orgs, planned giving likelihood score, etc.

The process is so intensive though that we don't pay for the service every year. We only do it before the launch of a big campaign, every 5-10 years. Realistically, unless one of your donors wins the lottery or hits it big in stock investments, wealth assets don't change dramatically over a span of a few years, and once you've done a comprehensive screen, if you then maintain a relationship with your top donors, you'll already know if they've sold the family business or retired.

Jessica White

@Faith Murray
This is incredibly helpful! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your strategy, including specific tools and consultant piece.