 Hello, 80s? I'd like to order some data for my Annual Fund. Earlier this year, I offered two free mini-courses on prospect research tools to friends and colleagues in NM and Chicago. Thirty minutes. Tell me your data hopes and dreams, and I'll share a couple time-saving hacks that I developed to cut through a list of 1,500 names (times 30 data points = 45,000 things too dang many).
The differences in attitude about this topic shocked me -- despite the fact that they had the same ballpark budget size for their organizations: My Chicago contingent: "We wealth screen annually for our Annual Fund base and set their ratings accordingly. We do it a few times over a special campaign. We upload the data to our database so it's in the donor record and we can reference it throughout the year as needed." Those are A-student answers, my friends. Those answers optimize fundraising year over year on repeat. My New Mexico contingent: "We don't use it because we don't actually trust it... Where does it all come from? It can't be right -- can it?" GASP. WHEEZE. Where do I begin? Here's the thing: We've been living in the Information Age since Alex P. Keaton carried a briefcase to high school. Email fundraising wasn't a thing until the mid-90s, but can you even imagine fundraising without it now? Without social media asks or texting? Data is BIGGER than those things combined! It's far more fundamental. It drives the underlying structure and rationale of your development program asks. It's the info to prioritize your time on relationship building. It's about understanding your donors beyond what you can gather from a couple of conversations a year and observing their taste in handbags. The results speak for themselves -- and it doesn't even have to be expensive to access when there are resources like me to run and analyze a list for you. A few days after the mini-courses, the Santa Fe Community Foundation serendipitously reached out and said, "If you could teach anything in northern NM this year, what would it be?" Welcome to my one-day virtual course, A Prospect Research Road Map for Beginners -- scheduled for Thursday, November 2nd. Let's do this, NM!
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 Here are the documents from the Making the Major Gift Ask training session. Thanks again for participating. Feel free to reach out with questions.
 An article in Albuquerque Business First today touts the use of LinkedIn as a free, easy relationship mapping tool to prospect for major gifts. While it’s not the worst fundraising advice I’ve ever heard (in a category of journalism that can often range from the tone deaf to the truly misleading), it is flawed. Here are a few reasons why you shouldn’t over-rely on LinkedIn for this task, especially for gifts that trustees will solicit:
So my advice – whether you have a consultant or are doing this solo – is that the quickest, most effective method is still a largely human-centered one:
 Here's my outline for a thorough yet succinct major gifts donor bio. It's universally useful and not too fussy. I use it constantly.
Primary Names Aliases (include nicknames and maiden names) Record number in your database Contact info Photo Relationship with Your Organization • How they became connected to your organization • Years of involvement, key groups and leadership roles • Current donor status • Key relationships within your organization, especially board • Two sentence max summary on last key contact with organization Professional and Civic Background • Companies and leadership roles • Important business info, especially newsworthy events • Involvement in other nonprofits or civic groups • Giving to other organizations (quick to read chart form is ideal) • Schools attended, alumni roles Family and Personal Background • Key family members and relevant history • Spouse, basics about children • Residences • Interests, hobbies not otherwise covered • Anything else important that didn’t fit in above Optional: Possible Interest Areas • Briefly identify 3-4 possible interest areas within your organization Footer: Your name, date, and possibly list key sources |
AuthorEmilie, Principal and Owner Archives
September 2023
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