Initially posted in March 2014, up to date in March 2023
One of the vital pleasurable facets of main reward fundraising is getting to construct relationships with donors—relationships that final past one donation and stay sturdy even when it’s difficult for donors to present. However typically nonprofits squander the relationship-building alternatives given to them by not doing any analysis.
Conducting thorough donor analysis lays the muse for attending to know your donors as individuals first and supporters second. On this information, we’ll take a better have a look at the donor analysis course of and find out how to compile donor prospect profiles that may inform your interactions with potential donors.
What’s a donor prospect profile?
A donor prospect profile is a donor administration instrument that organizes all the data a corporation gathers a few potential donor.
Based on DonorSearch’s information to prospect profiles, this could embody particulars in regards to the particular person’s:
- Group involvement
- Hobbies
- Household
- Schooling
- Profession and employer
You may also use a prospect profile to maintain monitor of interactions with a prospect. Consider it as a dwelling doc that you simply’re all the time including to once you get new data.
7 Instruments You Can Use to Create Prospect Profiles
Making a profile for a potential new main donor begins with conducting thorough analysis, and to take action, you’ll want the appropriate instruments in your facet.
Under are eight instruments you should use to get a fuller image of who your potential donors are.
Earlier than we get began, a phrase of warning: the objective of analysis isn’t to snoop. We’re solely going to take a look at publicly accessible data, however it nonetheless would possibly really feel intrusive. Your integrity is all the time price greater than the largest donation an individual might give. At all times. (Click on right here to tweet that.)
A great follow is to run your self by the prospecting instrument first that can assist you see what comes up and the way correct it’s. Once I lately ran myself by the steps outlined beneath, I used to be shocked to see myself listed on the boards of nonprofits I’d fully forgotten about. It’d been over a decade for the reason that organizations closed, however they nonetheless confirmed up on the listing.
1. Your Donor Database
One of the best place to begin your analysis is in your individual database.
For every potential donor, have a look at:
- Their fundamental handle data (comparable to metropolis or state)
- The “notes” on their information
- The “actions” or “interactions” tab
- The “relationships” or “associations” tab
This data is barely nearly as good as the continued record-keeping of main reward officers. In my expertise, main reward officers and nonprofit leaders rely far an excessive amount of on their reminiscence when working with main donors. Most appointments and interactions have to be documented. One consumer known as this the “hit by a moose” plan: what would occur should you have been hit by a moose? May your nonprofit decide up the place you left off? (For these of you not in rural areas, should you’re hit by a moose, the moose often wins.)
Be persistent and tenacious in recording all of the pertinent data in your prospect profile.
2. WhitePages.com
In case you don’t have the prospect’s handle or cellphone quantity, WhitePages.com is a good place to look. (Once more, attempt looking out your self first to see what addresses come up.) This data helps fill out their profile and is required to do the extra detailed wealth screening later.
3. Google
Among the best donor analysis instruments is Google. Looking out a prospect’s identify tends to tug up plenty of data. Relying on the prospect, you can see company bios, alumni notes, and even neighborhood volunteer lists. You possibly can refine your search by placing the identify in quotes, including a location, or looking out their identify and their enterprise identify collectively.
Once you copy and paste any useful tidbits onto your prospect profile, embody the URL of the reference so your crew can shortly learn extra. I like to avoid wasting useful webpages as a PDF and add them to the prospect’s file on my laptop or my nonprofit’s shared server. This fashion, anybody can see the supply materials even when the webpage is eliminated sooner or later.
I additionally do a picture search on Google. As soon as I discover a picture that appears to be correct, I reserve it to the prospect’s folder within the shared drive and paste it into the highest of their prospect profile. It’s a lot simpler to speak with a donor when you might have a face to place to their identify.
4. Wealth screening instrument like DonorSearch
Wealth screening instruments like DonorSearch, WealthEngine, or iWave pull collectively all kinds of publicly-accessible wealth data and indicators: actual property holdings, inventory holdings, directorships, aircraft or yacht licenses, and many others. In addition they report on prospects’ charitable giving and lists if individuals are on boards of foundations as listed by Guidestar. And it offers you a urged vary to ask for a donation based mostly on the prospect’s capability.
However watch out. Many wealth screening instruments solely concentrate on whether or not a prospect has the monetary means to donate, not in the event that they’d be taken with making a serious reward. And so they don’t allow you to customise the report, eradicating listings don’t belong to the donor. Right here’s the place DonorSearch shines! They let you take away listings in a profile that to be inaccurate. They even rating data reliability based mostly on their expertise doing this form of analysis.
Extra importantly, DonorSearch is weighted extra towards demonstrated philanthropy than towards wealth. They’ve all of the wealth indicators and so they offers you an estimated capability based mostly on wealth. However they’ve a way more full listing of items the prospect has made. So additionally they counsel a present ask degree based mostly on the giving, not simply the wealth. A prospect might have the potential of creating a $25 million to $50 million reward. But when the best reward they’ve ever given is $100,000, it’s higher to think about asking at that degree, at the very least at first! Plus, an perceived capability to present could also be based mostly on the worth of their home. However I’ve not but met a donor who’ll promote 1/10 of her home to help your nonprofit.
No matter instrument you utilize, make sure you add a PDF of the profile to the shared drive. And jot down any objects of notice on the prospect profile sheet.
5. Zillow
Placing the prospect’s handle into Zillow can assist you discover an estimated price of their home (or homes you could have found within the property listings in WealthEngine or DonorSearch). This may be helpful to incorporate on the prospect profile.
6. GuideStar
In case you’ve found clues that point out the prospect might have their very own basis, wanting up their Kind 990s on GuideStar can assist you get a extra full sense of their giving.
The Kind 990s listing each what organizations they’ve supported and the way a lot they gave to every. Jot any worthwhile data onto the prospect profile.
7. Matching Present Database
Some prospects may fit for an employer that gives reward matching as a part of their company philanthropy efforts. Realizing which prospects are eligible for matching is efficacious, as employers will typically supply a 1:1, 2:1, and even 3:1 match.
Leverage an identical reward database to test prospects’ eligibility and report it in your prospect profiles. Then, when the time comes, be certain that to coach your donor about matching items to allow them to submit the required data to get their donation doubled!
Robust Donor Relationships are Well worth the Effort
Your nonprofit’s relationship with donors is price taking time to get proper. Utilizing these instruments to arrange a prospect profile can assist you concentrate on what’s essential to particular person donors and discover the best methods to talk with them.
Creating prospect profiles may assist your nonprofit leaders. One of many prime nonprofit CEO fundraising frustrations shouldn’t be being correctly ready for a gathering with a serious donor. Donor profiles like these will assist your leaders be their greatest of their conferences!
