how to do prospect research

Your screening results will provide a wealth of useful information. Take the time to analyze the screening results so you can pick out the prospects who are most likely to contribute significantly. Internet Archive Tools: Tools like the Wayback Machine can help you search past versions of websites for crucial information. And because the tools analyze philanthropy as well as wealth indicators, this results in more qualified leads for nonprofits to pursue. These are also great sources of information. Step 1: Learn About the Company Visit the company website. Creating Perfect Donor Prospect Profiles: A Guide & Template. This research includes details about a donors career and salary estimates, which can indicate wealth and ability to give. Prospect research, also called prospecting or donor research, is the process of identifying potential major donors for your nonprofit, helping you take a more focused approach to secure major gifts, capital campaign contributions, planned gifts, and more. Usually this will involve consolidating duplicate profiles, updating outdated contact information, and removing lapsed donors from your records. Donors are an excellent resource for board members. Examples of typical affinity markers include: Donation history and past involvement with your organization or similar organizations, Professional and personal connections with current donors in your database. Youre not just selling to them, youre constantly building a relationship with each one of your prospects. You'll be able to begin stewarding him toward making a larger gift in the future. Does this company have its own blog? In this section, well cover some of the frequently asked questions nonprofits often have when jumping into the world of prospecting. Double the Donation Top Matching Gift Tool for Prospects. Make note of its mission and vision. When an individual donates to your nonprofit online, they will be prompted to enter their employers name into a matching gift search tool, which can be embedded on your website. prospects in your existing donor database. Capacity markers, also known as wealth markers, are pieces of information that indicate a donor is in a financial position that would allow them to be a high-capacity donor for your nonprofit. A.K.A. Many tools can help with prospect research, some of which are free and others that cost money. These leads will then be able to take the next step in your buying process, like requesting more information about a service/product or registering for an event youre hosting. It has a ton of great features and lets you keep your LinkedIn prospecting organized. But in the end, the efforts you expend to refine your technique will be well worth it as youre able to find more prospects and grow your organization! Make sure youve cleaned up your data prior to performing prospect research so you get the most Validate the results. Although it wont be a sustainable long-term solution as your organization grows, its an accessible way to begin prospect research so you can kickstart that growth. Top Volunteer Grant Companies: Do You Work For One. If you need to use them, explain them or provide a glossary. Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Learn and get certified in the latest business trends from leading experts, Interactive documents and spreadsheets to customize for your business's needs, In-depth guides on dozens of topics pertaining to the marketing, sales, and customer service industries, Multi-use content bundled into one download to inform and empower you and your team, Customized assets for better branding, strategy, and insights, All of HubSpot's marketing, sales CRM, customer service, CMS, and operations software on one platform. Each week, hosts Sam Parr and Shaan Puri explore new business ideas based on trends and opportunities in the market, Redefining what success means and how you can find more joy, ease, and peace in the pursuit of your goals, A daily dose of irreverent, offbeat, and informative takes on business and tech news, Each week, Another Bite breaks down the latest and greatest pitches from Shark Tank, Build your business for far and fast success, HubSpot CMO Kipp Bodnar and Zapier CMO Kieran Flanagan share what's happening now in marketing and what's ahead. If you can afford it, LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a must. We recommend the following: Make a plan. Use free or low-cost prospect research tools to examine donors giving and philanthropic histories in your nonprofits donor base. You are seeking results that are comprehensive and actionablenot just a supplement to your existing research. https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Prospect-Research-Feature.jpg, https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svg, Prospect Research: The Ultimate Guide for Nonprofits, Copyright 2009 - 2023 Double the Donation. Confirm your findings whenever possible, and make sure your records and donor profiles are up-to-date. Table of Contents What Is Prospect Research? Start by organizing portfolios for each of your prospects. 1. Contact us and let's discuss your ideas! However, prospect research can require a lot of time and resources, especially for organizations that are new to the process. This includes: 501(c)(3) nonprofits of all sizes and missions, Educational institutions (K-12 schools, colleges, universities, etc. You have a few different options when it comes to how you conduct prospect research. Does it list bios of employees? Prospect research consultants can provide heavy-duty donor research databases, fully-customized services, time-effective solutions, and training for your fundraising team. There are three main strategies for conducting prospect research: Determining which strategy is best for your team is a consideration of the time, resources, and expertise you have available to dedicate to the effort. Effective prospect research allows you to evaluate potential donors for both high giving capacity and affinity. Prospect research, also known as donor prospecting or donor research, is a systematic approach used by nonprofit organizations to identify, analyze, and prioritize potential donors. Perhaps the company's using banner ads and paid search, which can be costly. They provide a clear window into a donors finances. LinkedIn should also become your best friend. Youve spent considerable time building out your donor profiles, so you should definitely use them! With LeadFuze, itll take care of all the hard work for you from researching your target audience to providing them with the best possible customer experience. The information gleaned before even reaching out can turn you from a salesperson into a consultant. Its incredibly important not only that you reach out to the right company, but also to the right person at that company. The development team needs to know what prospects might be interested in a particular major gift program, for example, so they can develop the proper messaging and solicitation strategy. According to Demand Gen Reports 2018 Content Preferences Survey, 78% of B2B buyers say that they place more emphasis on how trustworthy the source of information is and 65% say that they prefer content from credible influencers. Clean your database and ensure you have strong data hygiene procedures. WebProspect research, also called donor prospecting, screening, or donor research, is a technique used by nonprofit fundraisers, major gift officers, and development teams to identify high-impact donors within and beyond an organizations current donor pool. Among the various areas of fundraising that prospect research can help, there are a few that tend to benefit the most. (Bonus Tip:What is the company tweeting about? Wealth indicators and philanthropic indicators are both crucial to finding the most viable prospects for your nonprofit. link:LinkedIn, which would only return LinkedIn-related sites in the search results, filetype: operator helps you find PDFs, Word Documents, or other file types related to your research subject (e.g., filetype:pdf), intitle: operator helps find a word or phrase within the title of the web page (e.g., intitle:LinkedIn), allinanchor: finds web pages that have all the words in links to them on their respective pages, define will give you definitions for keywords from Dictionary.com, info will provide information about the site e.g., when it was created, age of domain registration, linkdomain: operator is useful for finding sites that are related to your topic (e.g., linkdomain:LinkedIn), siteinfo helps you find out how popular a site is with Google PageRank, search operator helps you find documents that may be related to your research terms, inurl: is useful for finding web pages that contain a specific string of text in the URL (e.g., inurl:LinkedIn. Some platforms, like CrunchBase, have a paid option that allows you greater visibility and functionality when searching. Have they worked with your company in the past? Make note of its mission and vision. Research involves a certain amount of strategy and thoughtfulness, which no software can provide for you. info@donorsearch.net, 11245 Dovedale Ct, So, cleaning up your data before conducting fundraising research is essential to receive the most accurate and helpful results efficiently. There are some cases where, as someone familiar with your industry, you just know a prospect is not workable. Irreverent and insightful takes on business and tech, delivered to your inbox. The listserv members are often our closest supporters, and prospect research helps us communicate with them in a way that will be most helpful for them personally. Prospect research, also called prospecting or donor research, is the process of identifying potential major donors for your nonprofit, helping you take a more focused approach to secure major gifts, capital campaign contributions, planned gifts, and more. Appending data, such as adding an address or a date of birth to your existing information, helps you build a more complete picture of your prospects. While your organization is likely asking all of your existing supporters for donations to your annual fund, you can now search for new annual donors with the help of prospect research. When you prospect, you will be able to: To successfully conduct prospect research for your nonprofit using prospect research tools, youll need a solid understanding of its key elementsthe tools youll be using and the indicators youll be looking for in the data you gather. If you need help finding new prospects, then this can be the answer! Have they worked with your company in the past? After your team has conducted prospect research (or partnered with a consultant or research service), there are five general next steps to follow: Review the research. Wealth indicators represent an individuals ability to give to your organization. For example, you might segment your outreach to potential donors in a specific geographic location, or make prospects who work at a certain company aware of the potential for their gift to be matched by their employer. Take a look at their about section in their profile to learn about their areas of expertise. Once your results are in, youll want to validate them to ensure that theyre accurate and make the most logical sense. Prospect screening companies like Wealth Engine and Donor Search, the SEC, and FEC fill out your donor database. Webidentify relevant donors who have an interest in a particular cause; ensure all communications to donors are tailored to their interests and relevant to them; and avoid sending donors unwanted or irrelevant communications which Prospect research can help to identify which prospects are most likely to give and prioritize them in collaboration with outside agencies. After all, 84% of donors say theyre more likely to donate to a nonprofit if a match is offered. You can also use MarketWatch. Prospect research goes a few steps further and uses both wealth indicators and philanthropic indicators to determine a donors willingness and capacity to give. Take a look at their about section in their profile to learn about their areas of expertise. But if the positions are just administration or sales-related roles, it might not be worth investing in their stock because the growth will most likely come from acquisitions and mergers rather than organic growth. Use short sentences and paragraphs that focus on one main idea each. As such, look for candidates who have analytical minds, understand the minutiae of databases, and know how to synthesize data. Most funders will request that these documents be uploaded or included with your grant application. Here are a few questions to ask yourself if youre interested in working with a prospect research consultant: A prospect screening company can be a valuable partner if youre actively seeking out major gift donors from your current donor pool. Without it, you are just guessing where to start your marketing, public relations, advertising, or sales campaign. During the prospect research process, youll be looking for two kinds of indicators: philanthropic (warmth) indicators and wealth (capacity) indicators. become more efficient and focused in their fundraising outreach. Plus, you may find that a prospects political leanings give them greater affinity for your mission. As you research, hypothesize different scenarios a potential prospect might be facing so you can be prepared to address it. Let's say you work for an animal shelter thats conducting a capital campaign to fund an expansion of its facilities. You can typically find what youre looking for by searching through archived versions of the site, and then clicking on any links to external sites with information related to your subject. Look for them through social media or other methods of communication! Look for information such as recent job changes, their job function, and their education. Here are a few examples of philanthropic indicators: As past giving has always been one of the greatest indicators of a prospects willingness to donate in the future, previous donations to your nonprofit should be included as a part of a thorough prospect profile. Want to help contribute to future articles? This route works best if: You have the team members to dedicate to the effort, such as a major gifts or development officer. Another great way to prepare for grant prospect research is to gather all of your organizations documents such as proof of nonprofit status, articles of incorporation, board meeting minutes, tax documents, etc. Prospect research is a research process performed by a nonprofits fundraising and development teams to gather more data about their donors and prospects. Prospect briefs to provide snapshot information for meetings, calls or events. in conjunction with prospect research. Does it seem to be trying to push one or two types of content -- maybe ebooks for a specific product or service, or a thought leadership piece? Remember that your organizations CRM will be a valuable tool during the prospecting process. Full-time research is a challenging job that requires a combination of both extensive fundraising experience and a naturally inquisitive and investigative nature. This means checking for issues like common names and outdated real estate records. Use short sentences and paragraphs that focus on one main idea each. If your nonprofit is just starting out or if you have a tight budget, this may be a great initial option. Prospect briefs to provide snapshot information for meetings, calls or events. In order to conduct prospect research successfully, youll need the right tools to help you collect and analyze information about your prospects. Dont miss out on our complete capital campaign plan! Prospect Research Databases: Full databases like those from DonorSearch can be indispensable resources for sourcing donor data. Having as much information as possible about your prospects allows you to be more sophisticated in your outreach to prospects. Researching potential prospects before you first email or call them can make a world of difference between a deal or a bust. WebStep 1: Choose your topic Step 2: Identify a problem Step 3: Formulate research questions Step 4: Create a research design Step 5: Write a research proposal Other interesting articles Step 1: Choose your topic First you have to come up with some ideas. Some basic information you should quickly gauge include: You should also do some more in-depth sleuthing that gives context to that information.

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