Prospect Research for Fundraisers: The Essential Handbook Book

Foreword xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction xix

CHAPTER 1 The Big Picture 1

What Is Prospect Research? 1

Why Do Prospect Research? 4

How Does Research Fit into My Work and into the Gift Cycle? 7

Communication 10

Dispelling Myths and Corroborating Evidence 11

Summary 12

For Further Reading 13

CHAPTER 2 Identifying New Prospects 15

Overview: Why We Identify New Prospects 15

Capturing and Maintaining

Constituent Information 18

Manual Prospect Identification Methods 24

Wealth Screenings 27

Surveying 40

Simple Data Mining 41

Advanced Data Mining 43

Donor Modeling 45

List Rental 46

Summary 49

For Further Reading 51

CHAPTER 3 Researching Prospects 53

Different Levels of Research 54

Types of Donor Profiles 55

Assembling Your Research Toolkit 61

Search Techniques Every Fundraiser Should Know 65

Capacity Ratings: Putting the Information Together 79

Summary 82

For Further Reading 83

CHAPTER 4 Donor Relationship Management 85

What Is a Relationship Management System? 87

The Three Moving Pieces 89

Creating Your Own System 93

Summary 115

For Further Reading 116

CHAPTER 5 Managing Prospect Research 117

Managing to Your Fundraising Goals 118

Hiring Employees and Volunteers 125

Skill Sets for Hiring 129

Managing Expectations 132

Defining Common Terms and Using Forms 134

Purchasing Resources 136

Options for the One-Person (or Small-Team) Development Office 144

Summary 148

For Further Reading 149

CHAPTER 6 Ethics, Risk, and Data Protection: What’s the Big Deal? 151

Starting with Donor Trust 151

Risky Business 152

Ethics 154

Legal Issues 155

Outside of the United States 157

Some Practical Tips 158

Summary 159

For Further Reading 159

CHAPTER 7 International Prospect Research 161

Making International Fundraising Work 162

Getting Started with International Prospects 167

Summary 169

For Further Reading 170

CHAPTER 8 Trends and Opportunities: The Future of Prospect Research 171

Big Data and Segmentation 172

Data Visualization 174

Relationship Mapping 175

Social Media and Social Scoring 178

Content Curation 180

What the Future Might Look Like 185

Summary 186

For Further Reading 187

Appendix A: AFP Code of Ethics 189

Appendix B: Donor Bill of Rights 190

Appendix C: APRA Statement of Ethics 191

Appendix D: APRA Skill Sets—Advanced 193

Appendix E: APRA Skill Sets—Fundamentals 196

Appendix F: APRA Skill Sets—Relationship Management 199

Appendix G: APRA Skill Sets—Research Management 202

About the Authors 207

Index 209