Finding new major gift prospects can be a real challenge. You do not want to keep asking for gifts from the same few prospects, but identifying and qualifying new prospects can be daunting. Sometimes it is hard to know where to even start. That is where prospect research can step in and help organizations find their best new prospects. But there are several misconceptions about prospect identification. Following are five of the most common misconceptions.
Misconception 1: Prospect ID is the same as wealth screening.
While wealth screening can help with finding new prospects, it is only a tool. It takes the names and addresses from your database and compares it with other databases to find possible matches. But that’s only a start. Wealth screenings need to be verified; wealth screenings can and do make mistakes. For example, people with common names may get a lot of false positives.
But prospect ID is more than just verifying data. It’s using the knowledge of an organization, its best prospects, as well as an understanding of wealth and philanthropy to determine which prospects are the best ones. Wealth screening can get you a list of names, but prospect research will help figure out if they are the right names for your organization. Fundraising is critically important to you nonprofits. Why leave such an important part of the process to a machine?
Misconception 2: We know everyone in our database; there are no other major gift prospects there.
Sometimes it feels like the proverbial well has gone dry. You’ve talked to all your major gift prospects in your database and need to find more prospects. But has your organization figured out what makes a good prospect? Are there certain characteristics of your organization’s good prospects that you can use to find other people who are like them?
Even if you have done a wealth screening, there are going to be people who fall between the cracks. We’ve seen that wealth screenings tend to overlook or underestimate people with less traditional wealth – even company owners! And they tend to overestimate people with less wealth and underestimate some of those ultra-high net worth prospects. Have you looked at people who work in finance in your database?
Like with sales, it’s always easier to engage someone who has already interacted with your organization – whether as a donor, member or alumni – than finding someone totally new to your organization.
Misconception 3: Any wealthy person wants to give to your cause.
It’s easy to get excited about someone in your community who has a lot of money, but being wealthy is not enough. Some people are philanthropic — and others are not. Even if someone is wealthy and philanthropic, they may not have affinity for your cause. For instance, Jane Smith may give a lot to the Museum of Art but has no interest in animal-related causes. You can try to reach out to her to convince her otherwise, but that might be a lot of wasted time both for you and Jane Smith.
Prospect research can help identify people who are wealthy and philanthropic – and who have an affinity to your cause. That’s going to be a better use of everyone’s time.
Misconception 4: Sending an email or a letter is enough to get started.
Great news! Research has found a great prospect for your organization. Now it’s time to reach out to them and start cultivating them to a major gift. But how do you go about it?
While writing an email or a letter is a good starting point, it may not be enough to get the prospect to respond. After all, we get a lot of email and mail any given day; it could get lost in the mix. Sometimes you really do have to pick up the phone. Usually you have to reach out a few times before you get to a live person. Because some people may have preferred communication methods and it may take time to reach them through that preferred one.
If you are having difficulty reaching a prospect, it might be worthwhile asking prospect research to find confirm and/or find new contact information. Or if the person is very wealthy or high profile, prospect research can try to find out what people in your organization, like board of trustees and leadership, may have contacts with the person. Relationship mapping is a very powerful research approach that can help find a pathway to new prospects.
Misconception 5: Prospect ID is a one-time thing.
While it would be nice if you could just find all the prospects one time and then move on, nothing works like that. Even if your organization just finished a campaign, your organization should continue identifying new prospects for the future. Since prospects take years to cultivate, on average 3-5 years, you do not want to tap out all of your known prospects. You will want to have a ready pool of new prospects for the future, like another campaign.
Plus, if your organization is always acquiring new donors, there are going to be new prospects in the mix. Today, a prospect may have just started a company and have no money for philanthropy. Five years from now, they may sell that company and become flush with cash. The only way to be prepared is to keep identifying new prospects, whether it is for now or for the future.
Like anything in fundraising, prospect identification is a continual process. At Aspire, we help organizations that need to identify prospects for campaign, understand the potential of their donor base for ongoing major gifts, leverage board member networks, or fund a special initiative.
Do you need to find major gift prospects? Or train your research staff? Contact Aspire for a free Discovery Call.
Additional Resources
Affinity First or ‘Why is My Prospect Not on the Forbes List’? l Jen Filla Blog, 2023
The Magic Rainbow of Prospect Identification l Jen Filla Blog, 2024
Will a Wealth Screening Really Help Me? l Aspire Research Fundraising Insights, 2024