If your nonprofit has ever fundraised for major or planned gifts, you likely know that developing donor relationships is essential for successfully securing these types of donations. Most donors are only willing to commit a significant amount of money to organizations where they feel valued as an integral part of furthering their missions.
You may have also conducted prospect research to gather data that helped you identify potential high-impact donors. This information can provide useful insights for reaching out to and building relationships with prospects!
In this guide, we’ll discuss some of the best strategies for incorporating prospect research into your efforts to cultivate donors. No matter what cause or campaign you’re fundraising for, these tips can help you make tailored donation requests, boost donor lifetime values, and increase supporters’ loyalty to your organization. Let’s get started!
Holistically Screen Prospects
When discussing prospect research, you may have heard the phrase “wealth screening” come up. While these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, wealth screening has traditionally involved analyzing donors’ financial situations to determine their ability to make a major gift.
Wealth screening is a valuable tool, but relying solely on it overlooks other key factors about your donor. It only provides insights into donors’ giving capacity—not whether they have a strong connection to your mission or a history of charitable giving that would make them willing to contribute significant amounts. To fill in this gap, DonorSearch’s wealth and philanthropic screening guide recommends looking for three types of indicators with each prospective donor:
- Capacity indicators: Real estate ownership, SEC transactions, business affiliations, history of political giving
- Philanthropic indicators: Previous donations to your nonprofit or other similar organizations
- Affinity indicators: Deep love for your cause, nonprofit involvement history (volunteering, event attendance, board service, etc.), personal information (e.g., values, hobbies, family ties)
Not only does looking for all three types of indicators help you find more viable prospects, but the information you glean through holistic screening is also more useful for tailoring your outreach and cultivation efforts to each donor. For instance, you might frame your messaging around their motivations for supporting your mission or reference their history of philanthropy as you tell them about your current initiatives that are similar to projects they’ve previously contributed to.
Expand Your Potential Donor Pool
Some nonprofits use prospect research only to find brand-new potential donors who are philanthropically inclined but haven’t supported nonprofits or causes that are directly competitive with their organization. However, comprehensive screening allows you to expand your prospect list beyond these initial contacts.
As you begin the prospecting process, review the data stored in your nonprofit’s constituent relationship management (CRM) system first. You might find that some of your mid-level donors have the financial capacity and engagement history that would make them likely to upgrade to the major donor level. It’s often worthwhile to start the major donor cultivation process with these loyal supporters, and it’ll likely go more smoothly since you’ve already built a foundation with them.
Additionally, don’t discount prospects who are involved with similar nonprofits—even if they supported your organization in the past and have since taken their charitable activities elsewhere. Many donors are willing to give to multiple nonprofits to maximize their philanthropic impact. If they previously engaged with you, dig deeper into why they may have left and use that reasoning to inform your outreach.
Pair Major Donor Fundraising With Corporate Philanthropy Outreach
A key type of data you’ll likely find during prospecting is information on a potential donor’s employment situation—where they work, how long they’ve worked there, what position they hold, and how much they’re compensated. Take note of these details, since they can not only help you understand prospects’ giving capacity and interests but also earn more for your nonprofit through corporate philanthropy.
Research your prospects’ employers to see if they participate in any of these common corporate philanthropy programs, as outlined by Nonprofits Source:
- Matching gifts occur when companies financially match their employees' contributions to eligible nonprofits, usually at a 1:1 ratio. This allows donors to double the impact of their donations without giving more out of pocket.
- Volunteer grants are similar to matching gifts in that companies give in response to their employees’ engagement with nonprofits, but these contributions are based on team members’ volunteer hours with the organization. If you promote volunteer opportunities to prospects as part of your cultivation strategy, let them know about volunteer grants so they can make even more of a difference with their time.
- Sponsorships provide financial or in-kind support for your nonprofit’s events, campaigns, or programs. While these don’t directly help donors make a bigger impact, they’re still worth pursuing so your organization can create connections in the community.
Create two sets of tailored communication materials for these opportunities: one for prospects and one for their employers. This way, you’ll be able to develop long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with your donors and with businesses in your area.
Personalize the Donor Journey
Every donor’s journey, from being an unengaged prospect to a loyal supporter, will take a slightly different course. However, your goal from the moment you identify a potential donor through prospect research should be to move them through the donor management lifecycle, which usually consists of six stages:
- The first step, acquisition, occurs when your nonprofit initially reaches out to a prospect and receives a response.
- Next, you’ll cultivate a relationship with them by first meeting with them one-on-one, then following up consistently to send resources about your organization’s work or introduce them to other staff members who are working on initiatives that may interest them.
- It’s often helpful to make smaller engagement requests of each prospect (volunteering, attending a fundraising event, consulting on a project that aligns with their professional experience, etc.) in the lead-up to your major gift solicitation.
- Once a donor responds positively to your solicitation, you’ll begin your stewardship efforts by expressing gratitude for their contribution. This should include a donor recognition strategy, which could range from hand-written cards to digital donor walls.
- Then, you’ll continue following up with them to retain their support.
- After they’ve remained involved with your nonprofit for a while, you’ll encourage them to upgrade or increase their contributions.
Your moves management process (how you guide donors from one stage to the next) should be personalized to each donor based on what you’ve learned about them through prospecting. Consider their professional and personal interests when choosing cultivation strategies and suggesting initiatives for them to support at your nonprofit.
Let’s say you usually invite major donors to your annual fundraising gala since most of them enjoy upscale events. However, you discover that one prospect is interested in health and wellness as evidenced by their past donations to public health nonprofits and participation in 5K races. It might be more effective to send them a personalized invitation to your upcoming walkathon rather than your gala since that event would allow them to experience your nonprofit’s mission and community in a way they’d enjoy.
As you apply these tips to your nonprofit’s major donor fundraising efforts, keep in mind that data can only tell you so much about a prospect. Have meaningful, personal conversations with each potential donor to truly get to know them and make your cultivation strategies even more effective.
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Disclaimer:
This blog is for informational purposes only and is not meant as financial, legal, or tax advice. Please seek professional advice from qualified tax, legal, and/or financial professionals before making any financial decisions.
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