The number of family offices and their investable wealth has exploded over the past few years, but that isn’t the most exciting trend for fundraising. The exciting trend is the level of sophistication and intention behind their investing, which continues to evolve in ways that creates a tremendous opportunity for the organizations who can build successful, authentic relationships with these families.
Why Your Next Major Donor Won’t Look Like Your Last: We’re standing at the edge of the largest wealth transfer in history—and most organizations aren’t ready.
Your board chair just cornered you after the meeting. “We need to focus on major gifts,” she declares. “We don’t want to waste time on $25 donations. Find us some real money!”
You need $1.5 million for your new program. The board meeting is next month. The president is breathing down your neck, and someone just suggested hiring a researcher to find wealthy prospects in the community.
Just in case you missed the memo from your air conditioning bill, it’s officially summer 2025. And while others are busy curating beach reads and poolside mysteries, we’re here with something far more thrilling: a summer reading list that’ll make your fundraising neurons do the happy dance.
We may have heard the phrase “company insider” before but it may not be clear what it means. It definitely does not mean insider trading, which is something entirely different.
When I first heard of a family office, I thought it was a fancy way of saying a family business. Boy, was I wrong! Family offices are a way for families to manage their wealth – as if that wealth was a business. This can include managing family investments and companies, estate planning, education planning, vacations, and philanthropy.
When meeting a new prospect, it’s quite exhilarating to find out that they are philanthropic and have given generously to other organizations. But occasionally, fundraising professionals may find a gap between what the prospect says and what is publicly available. Why? This article addresses that question!
When you are looking to find qualified major gift prospects in your database, want to segment your donor database for targeted asks, or want to realign your fundraisers’ portfolios for optimum performance it can seem daunting — especially if your database has thousands of records. It isn’t a magic bullet, but a wealth screening can take you pretty far, even in this age of A.I.
Finding new prospects is often compared to fishing. You throw out a proverbial net and hopefully get an incredible number of fish in return. Some are going to be bigger than others; hopefully, you’ll throw the smaller fish back into the water to grow and thrive.